2025 · Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry · open access
Pre-analytic assessment of dried blood and dried plasma spots: integration in mass spectrometry-based metabolomics and lipidomics workflow
Bossi et al.
The finding, in our words
Pure methanol extraction from a single dried spot gave the best simultaneous recovery of lipids and polar metabolites for mass spectrometry; a two-step methanol and water protocol improved polar metabolite yields and reproducibility for Capitainer and Whatman devices. Capitainer kept metabolites and lipids stable for six days at room temperature, while Whatman and Telimmune showed significant variation after three days, indicating that only Capitainer supports ambient-temperature workflows for decentralised sampling.
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.
Self-administered finger-stick blood collection enables routine healthcare assessments without clinic visits, but diagnostic utility depends critically on sample processing and storage. While new materials address haematocrit effects and enable precise low-volume sampling, no single device meets all clinical needs, and plasma separation remains essential for expanding applications.
Baillargeon & Mace, Bioengineering & translational medicine · source ↗
Untargeted metabolomic profiles from three blood microsampling devices aligned more closely with whole blood than with plasma, and all devices distinguished sex based on amino acids, lipids, and acylcarnitines. This validates that device choice can be tailored to the metabolites of interest for decentralised human biomonitoring.
Avella et al., Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · source ↗
A comparison of three patient-centric dried blood microsampling devices, paper DBS, Mitra and Tasso-M20, found strong to excellent correlation with traditional venous plasma for measuring branched-chain amino acids and ketoacids. Participants reported high acceptability and expressed a strong willingness to use these devices for decentralised self-collection.
In an untargeted metabolomics study, microsampling devices, particularly the Mitra and Capitainer, yielded metabolic profiles comparable or superior to plasma in feature number and intensity, and in the precision and stability of some metabolites. This supports their potential for large-scale, decentralised metabolic profiling, though the captured metabolite profile was application-dependent.