Development and application of an LC-MS/MS method for 8 antiepileptic drugs and 2 metabolites using microsampling techniques (DBS and VAMS)

Clinical validation for tacrolimus and mycophenolic acid monitoring showed that while volumetric absorptive microsampling met analytical criteria after concentration correction, conventional dried blood spots achieved superior adherence to strict clinical criteria, sample quality, and cost efficiency without significant haematocrit bias.

Comparison of conventional dried blood spots and volumetric absorptive microsampling for tacrolimus and mycophenolic acid determination — Paniagua-González et al., Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis (paywalled) · source ↗

• blood
• dried
• capillary
• vams
• dbs
• neoteryx-mitra
• self-collection
• validation
• venous-agreement
• tdm
• immunosuppressants
• economics
• haematocrit

In AML and CLL, 91% of VAMS venetoclax results fell within 20% of plasma after individualised haematocrit correction; in home sampling, 18 of 21 patients self-sampled independently and 76% of returned samples were analysable, which shows home microsampling is workable, though the authors ask for multicentre validation.

Clinical Validation of Venetoclax Volumetric Microsampling in Leukemia, with Whole-Blood-to-Plasma Conversion and Self-Microsampling Feasibility — Levens et al., Clinical Pharmacokinetics (paywalled) · source ↗

• vams
• venous-agreement
• blood
• dbs
• tdm
• self-collection
• haematocrit
• dried
• oncology
• capillary
• validation

In lung and renal transplant recipients, VAMS sampling with LC-MS/MS quantification of mycophenolic acid and tacrolimus showed good linearity and accuracy, and with a haematocrit-adjusted conversion formula achieved clinical agreement in most samples; tacrolimus did not require haematocrit correction. The approach is virtually painless and enables richer sampling for more accurate drug exposure estimates, supporting decentralised therapeutic drug monitoring.

Evaluation of hematocrit-adjusted conversion strategies for mycophenolic acid and tacrolimus monitoring using volumetric absorptive microsampling in lung and renal transplant recipients — Juan et al., Journal of pharmacy & pharmaceutical sciences : a publication of the Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Societe canadienne des sciences pharmaceutiques · source ↗

• blood
• dried
• vams
• neoteryx-mitra
• validation
• venous-agreement
• tdm
• immunosuppressants
• haematocrit

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.

A Review of Blood-Based Microsampling Devices for Patient-Centered Application in Therapeutic Drug Monitoring — Huhn & Scherf-Clavel, Therapeutic drug monitoring (paywalled) · source ↗

• vams
• volumetric
• acceptability
• neoteryx-mitra
• blood
• dbs
• tdm
• self-collection
• haematocrit
• dried
• capillary
• validation

In matched clinical samples from rheumatoid arthritis, VAMS and DBS showed strong agreement for methotrexate polyglutamates (slopes 0.95-1.07; bias within -4.21% to 0.36%; SRCC ≥ 0.969), with up to 100% of total MTXPG results within ±20% limits; capillary microsampling agreed closely with whole blood but differed from red blood cells, indicating matrix-specific differences that must be accounted for when interpreting against RBC-based reference values.

Multi-Matrix LC-MS/MS Validation of Methotrexate Polyglutamates: Comparison of VAMS, DBS, and Conventional Blood Sampling in Rheumatoid Arthritis — Kocur et al., International journal of molecular sciences · source ↗

• vams
• venous-agreement
• neoteryx-mitra
• blood
• dbs
• tdm
• dried
• capillary
• immunosuppressants
• validation