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Sens A, Rischke S, Hahnefeld L, Dorochow E, Schäfer SMG, Thomas D, Köhm M, Geisslinger G, Behrens F, Gurke R. Pre-analytical sample handling standardization for reliable measurement of metabolites and lipids in LC-MS-based clinical research. J Mass Spectrom Adv Clin Lab 2023; 28:35-46. [PMID: 36872954 PMCID: PMC9975683 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmsacl.2023.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Revised: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The emerging disciplines of lipidomics and metabolomics show great potential for the discovery of diagnostic biomarkers, but appropriate pre-analytical sample-handling procedures are critical because several analytes are prone to ex vivo distortions during sample collection. To test how the intermediate storage temperature and storage period of plasma samples from K3EDTA whole-blood collection tubes affect analyte concentrations, we assessed samples from non-fasting healthy volunteers (n = 9) for a broad spectrum of metabolites, including lipids and lipid mediators, using a well-established LC-MS-based platform. We used a fold change-based approach as a relative measure of analyte stability to evaluate 489 analytes, employing a combination of targeted LC-MS/MS and LC-HRMS screening. The concentrations of many analytes were found to be reliable, often justifying less strict sample handling; however, certain analytes were unstable, supporting the need for meticulous processing. We make four data-driven recommendations for sample-handling protocols with varying degrees of stringency, based on the maximum number of analytes and the feasibility of routine clinical implementation. These protocols also enable the simple evaluation of biomarker candidates based on their analyte-specific vulnerability to ex vivo distortions. In summary, pre-analytical sample handling has a major effect on the suitability of certain metabolites as biomarkers, including several lipids and lipid mediators. Our sample-handling recommendations will increase the reliability and quality of samples when such metabolites are necessary for routine clinical diagnosis.
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Key Words
- 1-AG, 1-arachidonoyl glycerol
- 1-LG, 1-linoleoyl glycerol
- 2-AG, 2-arachidonoyl glycerol
- 2-LG, 2- linoleoyl glycerol
- ACN, acetonitrile
- AEA, arachidonoyl ethanolamide
- BHT, 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol
- CAR, carnitine
- EC, endocannabinoid
- FC, fold change
- FT, freezing temperature/storage in ice water
- HETE, hydroxyeicosatetraenoate
- HRMS, high-resolution mass spectrometry
- IRB, Institutional Review Board
- IS, internal standard
- K3EDTA plasma sampling
- K3EDTA, tripotassium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
- LC, liquid chromatography
- LEA, linoleoyl ethanolamide
- LLE, liquid–liquid extraction
- LLOQ, lowest limit of quantification
- LPA, lysophosphatidic acid
- LPC O, lysophosphatidylcholine-ether
- LPC, lysophosphatidylcholine
- LPE, lysophosphatidylethanolamine
- LPG, lysophosphatidylglycerol
- LPI, lysophosphatic inositol
- Lipidomics
- MS/MS, tandem mass spectrometry
- MTBE, methyl tertiary-butyl ether
- MeOH, methanol
- Metabolomics
- OEA, oleoyl ethanolamide
- PBS, phosphate-buffered saline
- PC, phohsphatidylcholine
- PE, phosphotidylethanolamine
- PEA, palmitoyl ethanolamide
- PI, phosphatidylinositol
- Pre-analytics
- QC, quality control
- REC, Research Ethics Committee
- RT, room temperature
- Ref, reference sample
- SEA, stearoyl ethanolamide
- SPE, solid-phase extraction
- STD, calibration standard
- Sampling protocol
- VEA, vaccenic acid ethanolamid
- WB, whole blood
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Affiliation(s)
- A Sens
- Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/ZAFES, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Theodor Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - S Rischke
- Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/ZAFES, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Theodor Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - L Hahnefeld
- Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/ZAFES, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Theodor Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.,Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP, and Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence for Immune Mediated Diseases CIMD, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - E Dorochow
- Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/ZAFES, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Theodor Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - S M G Schäfer
- Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP, and Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence for Immune Mediated Diseases CIMD, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - D Thomas
- Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/ZAFES, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Theodor Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.,Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP, and Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence for Immune Mediated Diseases CIMD, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - M Köhm
- Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP, and Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence for Immune Mediated Diseases CIMD, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.,Rheumatology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - G Geisslinger
- Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/ZAFES, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Theodor Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.,Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP, and Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence for Immune Mediated Diseases CIMD, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - F Behrens
- Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP, and Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence for Immune Mediated Diseases CIMD, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.,Rheumatology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - R Gurke
- Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/ZAFES, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Theodor Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.,Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP, and Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence for Immune Mediated Diseases CIMD, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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Kratz D, Sens A, Schäfer SMG, Hahnefeld L, Geisslinger G, Thomas D, Gurke R. Pre-analytical challenges for the quantification of endocannabinoids in human serum. J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci 2022; 1190:123102. [PMID: 35026652 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2022.123102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Revised: 12/21/2021] [Accepted: 01/03/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Endocannabinoids (ECs) are potent lipid mediators with high physiological relevance. They are involved in a wide variety of diseases like depression or multiple sclerosis and are closely connected to metabolic parameters in humans. Therefore, their suitability as a biomarker in different (patho-)physiological conditions is discussed intensively and predominantly investigated by analyzing systemic concentrations in easily accessible matrices like blood. Carefully designed pre-analytical sample handling is of major importance for high-quality data, but harmonization is not achieved yet. Whole blood is either processed to serum or plasma before the onset of analytical workflows and while knowledge about pre-analytical challenges in plasma handling is thorough they were not systematically investigated for serum. Therefore, the ECs AEA and 2-AG, and closely related EC-like substances 1-AG, DHEA, and PEA were examined by LC-MS/MS in serum samples of nine healthy volunteers employing different pre-analytical sample handling protocols, including prolonged coagulation, and storage after centrifugation at room temperature (RT) or on ice. Furthermore, all analytes were also assessed in plasma samples obtained from the same individuals at the same time points to investigate the comparability between those two blood-based matrices regarding obtained concentrations and their 2-AG/1-AG ratio. This study shows that ECs and EC-like substances in serum samples were significantly higher than in plasma and are especially prone to ex vivo changes during initial and prolonged storage for coagulation at RT. Storage on ice after centrifugation is less critical. However, storage at RT further increases 1-AG and 2-AG concentrations, while also lowering the already reduced 2-AG/1-AG ratio due to isomerization. Thus, avoidance of prolonged processing at RT can increase data quality if serum as the matrix of choice is unavoidable. However, serum preparation in itself is expected to initiate changes of physiological concentrations as standard precautionary measures like fast and cooled processing can only be utilized by using plasma, which should be the preferred matrix for analyses of ECs and EC-like substances.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Kratz
- Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, pharmazentrum frankfurt/ZAFES, University Hospital of Goethe-University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - A Sens
- Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, pharmazentrum frankfurt/ZAFES, University Hospital of Goethe-University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - S M G Schäfer
- Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology (ITMP), and Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence for Immune Mediated Diseases (CIMD), Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - L Hahnefeld
- Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, pharmazentrum frankfurt/ZAFES, University Hospital of Goethe-University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology (ITMP), and Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence for Immune Mediated Diseases (CIMD), Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - G Geisslinger
- Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, pharmazentrum frankfurt/ZAFES, University Hospital of Goethe-University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology (ITMP), and Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence for Immune Mediated Diseases (CIMD), Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - D Thomas
- Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, pharmazentrum frankfurt/ZAFES, University Hospital of Goethe-University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology (ITMP), and Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence for Immune Mediated Diseases (CIMD), Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - R Gurke
- Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, pharmazentrum frankfurt/ZAFES, University Hospital of Goethe-University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology (ITMP), and Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence for Immune Mediated Diseases (CIMD), Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
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Gurke R, Thomas D, Schreiber Y, Schäfer SMG, Fleck SC, Geisslinger G, Ferreirós N. Determination of endocannabinoids and endocannabinoid-like substances in human K3EDTA plasma - LC-MS/MS method validation and pre-analytical characteristics. Talanta 2019; 204:386-394. [PMID: 31357310 DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2019.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2019] [Revised: 05/31/2019] [Accepted: 06/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The determination of endocannabinoids and endocannabinoid-like substances in biological human samples is a vibrant field of research with great significance due to postulated relevance of these substances in diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. For a possible use as biomarker in early prediction or diagnosis of a disease as well as examination of a successful treatment, the valid determination of the analytes in common accessible human samples, such as plasma or serum, is of great importance. A method for the determination of arachidonoyl ethanolamide, oleoyl ethanolamide, palmitoyl ethanolamide, 1-arachidonoyl glycerol and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol in human K3EDTA plasma using liquid-liquid-extraction in combination with liquid chromatography-tandem-mass spectrometry has been developed and validated for the quantification of the aforementioned analytes. Particular emphasis was placed on the chromatographic separation of the isomers 1-arachidonoyl glycerol and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol, arachidonoyl ethanolamide and O-arachidonoyl ethanolamine (virodhamine) as well as oleoyl ethanolamide and vaccenic acid ethanolamide. During the validation process, increasing concentrations of 1-arachidonoyl glycerol and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol while storing plasma samples were observed. In-depth investigation of pre-analytical sample handling revealed rising concentrations for both analytes in plasma and for arachidonoyl ethanolamide, oleoyl ethanolamide and palmitoyl ethanolamide in whole blood, dependent on the period and temperature of storage. Prevention of the increase in concentration was not possible, raising the question whether human K3EDTA plasma is suitable for the determination of endocannabinoids and endocannabinoid-like substances. Especially the common practice to calculate the concentration of 2-arachidonoyl glycerol as sum of 1-arachidonoyl glycerol and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol is highly questionable because the concentrations of both analytes increase unequally while storing the plasma samples in the fridge.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Gurke
- Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/ZAFES, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany.
| | - D Thomas
- Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/ZAFES, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - Y Schreiber
- Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Branch for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology TMP, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - S M G Schäfer
- Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Branch for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology TMP, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - S C Fleck
- Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Branch for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology TMP, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - G Geisslinger
- Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/ZAFES, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany; Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Branch for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology TMP, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - N Ferreirós
- Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/ZAFES, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
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