Ex vivo instability of lipids in whole blood: preanalytical recommendations for clinical lipidomics studies

Qingqing Wang, Miriam Hoene, Chunxiu Hu, Louise Fritsche, Robert Ahrends, Gerhard Liebisch, Kim Ekroos, Andreas Fritsche, Andreas L. Birkenfeld, Xinyu Liu, Xinjie Zhao, Qi Li, Benzhe Su, Andreas Peter, Guowang Xu (Corresponding author), Rainer Lehmann (Corresponding author)

Publications: Contribution to journalArticlePeer Reviewed

Abstract

Reliability, robustness, and interlaboratory comparability of quantitative measurements is critical for clinical lipidomics studies. Lipids’ different ex vivo stability in blood bears the risk of misinterpretation of data. Clear recommendations for the process of blood sample collection are required. We studied by UHPLC-high resolution mass spectrometry, as part of the “Preanalytics interest group” of the International Lipidomics Society, the stability of 417 lipid species in EDTA whole blood after exposure to either 4C, 21C, or 30C at six different time points (0.5 h–24 h) to cover common daily routine conditions in clinical settings. In total, >800 samples were analyzed. 325 and 288 robust lipid species resisted 24 h exposure of EDTA whole blood to 21C or 30C, respectively. Most significant instabilities were detected for FA, LPE, and LPC. Based on our data, we recommend cooling whole blood at once and permanent. Plasma should be separated within 4 h, unless the focus is solely on robust lipids. Lists are provided to check the ex vivo (in)stability of distinct lipids and potential biomarkers of interest in whole blood. To conclude, our results contribute to the international efforts towards reliable and comparable clinical lipidomics data paving the way to the proper diagnostic application of distinct lipid patterns or lipid profiles in the future.

Original languageEnglish
Article number100378
JournalJournal of Lipid Research
Volume64
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2023

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

  • 301302 Lipidomics research

Keywords

  • blood
  • Clinical lipidomics
  • lipid stability
  • preanalytical
  • sample collection

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