Differences in metabolite profiles caused by pre-analytical blood processing procedures

Recently, the use of metabolomic analysis of human serum and plasma for biomarker discovery and disease diagnosis in clinical studies has been increasing. The feasibility of using a metabolite biomarker for disease diagnosis is strongly dependent on the metabolite's stability during pre-analytical blood processing procedures, such as serum or plasma sampling and sample storage prior to centrifugation. However, the influence of blood processing procedures on the stability of metabolites has not been fully characterized. In the present study, we compared the levels of metabolites in matched human serum and plasma samples using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. In addition, we evaluated the changes in plasma metabolite levels induced by storage at room temperature or at a cold temperature prior to centrifugation. As a result, it was found that 76 metabolites exhibited significant differences between their serum and plasma levels. Furthermore, the pre-centrifugation storage conditions significantly affected the plasma levels of 45 metabolites. These results highlight the importance of blood processing procedures during metabolome analysis, which should be considered during biomarker discovery and the subsequent use of biomarkers for disease diagnosis.