2026 · Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · open access
RPLC- and HILIC-based non-targeted metabolomics workflow for blood microsamples
Couacault & Witting
The finding, in our words
The authors developed and optimised a dual LC-MS workflow for non-targeted metabolomics from blood microsamples, comprising a 15-minute HILIC-MS method for polar metabolites and an RPLC-MS method for mid- to non-polar compounds. A 20% water/80% methanol extraction with rehydration offered a practical compromise that detected numerous metabolite features across amino acid, acylcarnitine and bile acid pathways, enabling decentralised metabolomic analysis.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
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.
This study found that dried blood microsamples, particularly those collected with the Mitra device, provided metabolic profiles comparable or superior to conventional plasma, supporting their use as a viable alternative for untargeted metabolomics.
Marques de Sá E Silva et al., The Analyst (paywalled) · source ↗
Dried blood microsamplers (Mitra) and dried blood spots maintained metabolite stability comparable to plasma at minus 80 degrees Celsius, and both dried formats remained stable at minus 20 degrees Celsius while plasma showed reduced stability. At refrigerated temperature, Mitra microsampler profiles were more stable than plasma or dried blood spots, particularly for lipids, suggesting capillary blood microsampling could support sample collection outside clinical settings where ultra-cold storage is unavailable.
Petrick et al., The Science of the total environment (paywalled) · source ↗
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.
Huhn & Scherf-Clavel, Therapeutic drug monitoring (paywalled) · source ↗