Capillary blood microsampling and LC-Orbitrap analysis for adherence monitoring of cardiovascular drugs: method development, cross-validation, and patient proof-of-concept using VAMS and Capitainer-B
Kretschmer et al.
The finding, in our words
This method validation for 15 cardiovascular drugs found that VAMS and Capitainer-B provided interchangeable patient results, although Capitainer-B showed higher matrix effects while VAMS exhibited stability losses for specific analytes after two weeks. The work confirms the suitability of these microsampling workflows for decentralised adherence monitoring but highlights the need for analyte-specific stability testing.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
This review found that volumetric microsampling devices, such as Mitra, HemaPEN, HemaXis DB10, and Tasso-M20, overcome haematocrit bias, whilst Telimmune plasma separation cards enable direct plasma collection without centrifugation. These technologies support patient-centric, decentralised sampling, though the authors note that clinical validation remains limited across different drugs and patient populations.
The study compared quantitative dried blood spot (qDBS) and volumetric absorptive microsampling (VAMS) devices for measuring ganciclovir levels in capillary blood from pediatric renal transplant recipients. This comparison provides evidence for choosing between microsampling devices in therapeutic drug monitoring, supporting decentralised sampling approaches that reduce patient burden while maintaining analytical accuracy.
This study established conversion methods for estimating plasma concentrations from whole blood VAMS samples for seven out of ten oral anticancer drugs, finding good agreement between capillary and venous samples. Patients reported a positive experience with home sampling using this microsampling technique.
Volumetric absorptive microsampling with Mitra devices permits minimally invasive, finger-prick blood collection for therapeutic drug monitoring of antiseizure medications without trained staff. The review concluded that stability, accuracy and precision are acceptable for specific drugs and haematocrit effects are minimised, but evidence is drug-specific and further validation is required for decentralised clinical use.
Volumetric absorptive capillary microsampling gave reliable tacrolimus measurements throughout the dose interval in renal transplant recipients, with mean biases of -3.1% for mailed samples and -4.2% for direct delivery versus venous blood. Dried microsamples remained stable for one month at ambient temperature, enabling home-based therapeutic drug monitoring with postal shipment.