Dried blood spot microsampling: A semi-quantitative 4D-lipidomics approach using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography - high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC - HRMS)
Roberts et al.
The finding, in our words
An optimized 4D-lipidomics UHPLC-HRMS protocol using stable isotope internal standards enabled semi-quantitative profiling of 432 unique lipid features from 10 ̢L dried blood spot samples with high analytical reproducibility. The workflow demonstrates the viability of capillary blood microsampling for large-scale, remote population lipidomics and metabolic profiling.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
Microsampling enables less invasive, patient-centric self-collection of capillary blood for remote monitoring of metabolites and lipids, overcoming conventional venipuncture constraints. Recent device innovations address dried blood spot limitations, particularly haematocrit and volume variations, expanding decentralised applications in population health, drug discovery and multi-omics research.
Volumetric absorptive microsampling showed better precision than dried blood spots and a metabolic profile closer to whole blood, with stable signalling lipids for 24 hours at room temperature but significant changes after one week unless stabilised, indicating feasibility for decentralised sampling with the need for storage strategies.
Capillary dried blood spots, after haematocrit-dependent conversion, showed good agreement with plasma for 25-hydroxyvitamin D quantification, with 90 per cent of results within 20 per cent of plasma and substantial to almost perfect agreement in status classification, supporting reliable home self-collection for large-scale vitamin D monitoring.
Capillary finger-stick dried blood spots demonstrated strong analytical agreement with venous serum for prostate-specific antigen (R² = 0.987) and remained stable for 31 days across a wide temperature range. This less invasive microsampling approach enables at-home self-collection, supporting decentralised screening and tele-diagnostics for prostate cancer.
Self-collected dried blood spots from 40 healthy participants arrived intact and yielded good-quality DNA, with most immune and epigenetic biomarkers remaining stable for up to six weeks at room temperature. The study confirms that minimally invasive dried blood and plasma spot sampling is feasible for scalable, longitudinal biomolecular surveillance in occupational health settings.