Evaluation of Small Molecules in Blank EDTA Plasma Tubes and Optimization of Metabolomic Workflow for Biomarker Studies Using Plasma Samples

Anal Chem. 2023 Jul 25;95(29):10859-10863. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c01864. Epub 2023 Jul 10.

Abstract

As the first step of metabolomic analysis in biomarker identification studies, various types of blood collection tubes are used in clinical practice. However, little attention is paid to potential contamination caused by the blank tube itself. Here, we evaluated small molecules in blank EDTA plasma tubes through LC-MS-based untargeted metabolomic analysis and identified small molecules with markedly varied levels among different production batches or specifications. Our data demonstrate possible contamination and data interference caused by blank EDTA plasma tubes when employing large clinical cohorts for biomarker identification. Therefore, we propose a workflow of filtering metabolites in blank tubes prior to statistical analysis to improve the fidelity of biomarker identification.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biomarkers
  • Blood Specimen Collection
  • Edetic Acid
  • Metabolomics*
  • Plasma*
  • Workflow

Substances

  • Edetic Acid
  • Biomarkers