Pre-analytical Sample Handling Conditions and Their Effects on the Human Serum Metabolome in Epidemiological Studies.

Pre-analytical Sample Handling Conditions and Their Effects on the Human Serum Metabolome in Epidemiological Studies.
Am J Epidemiol. 2020 Sep 22;:
Authors: McClain KM, Moore SC, Sampson JN, Henderson TR, Gebauer SK, Newman JW, Ross S, Pedersen TL, Baer DJ, Zanetti KA
Abstract
Many epidemiological studies use metabolomics for discovery-based research. The degree to which sample handling may influence findings, however, is poorly understood. Serum from 13 volunteers from the USDA Beltsville center were subjected to different clotting (30/120 minutes) and refrigeration (0/24 hours) conditions, as well as number (0/1/4) and temperature (ice/refrigerator/room temperature) of thaws (2016). Median absolute percentage difference (APD) between metabolite levels and correlations across conditions were estimated for 628 metabolites. The potential for handling artifacts to induce false positives was estimated using variable hypotheticals where 1-100% of case samples had different handling than control samples. All handling conditions influenced metabolite levels. Across metabolites, the median APD when extending clotting was 9.08%. When increasing from 0 to 4 thaws, the median APD was 10.05% for ice, and 5.54% APD for room temperature. Metabolites correlated highly across conditions (all r>0.84), indicating relative ranks were preserved. However, if handling varied even modestly by case status, our hypotheticals show results can be biased an...

Source: Am J Epidemiol - September 21, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Authors: McClain KM, Moore SC, Sampson JN, Henderson TR, Gebauer SK, Newman JW, Ross S, Pedersen TL, Baer DJ, Zanetti KA Tags: Am J Epidemiol Source Type: research