Metabolic profiling of body fluids and multivariate data analysis.

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Metabolome analyses of body fluids are susceptible to pre-analytical variations and dynamic biochemical changes.
• Proper sample handling from collection to analysis is critical for high-quality, reproducible metabolomics data.
• Existing protocols may not adequately address these challenges for diverse biological matrices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a standardized protocol for gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) based metabolic analysis of body fluids.
• To provide a method that accounts for pre-analytical variations, ensuring robust and reproducible metabolomics results.
• To offer a cost-effective and efficient protocol applicable to various biological samples.

Main Methods:

• Development of a protocol for GC-MS based metabolomics analysis.
• Inclusion of detailed steps for sample collection, pre-processing, and metabolite extraction.
• Application to human and vertebrate body fluids including blood serum/plasma, saliva, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

Main Results:

• The protocol yields robust and reproducible metabolomics results by mitigating pre-analytical variations.
• It requires only small sample volumes, enabling rapid and cost-effective processing.
• Logistic regression is utilized for biomarker signature determination in data analysis.

Conclusions:

• This GC-MS protocol offers a reliable method for metabolome analysis in various body fluids.
• The protocol's emphasis on sample handling ensures data integrity and reproducibility.
• It provides a valuable tool for biomarker discovery and in-depth data analysis in metabolomics research.