Recommendations for sample selection, collection and preparation for NMR-based metabolomics studies of blood

Abdul Hamid Emwas; Helena U. Zacharias; Marcos Rodrigo Alborghetti; G. A.Nagana Gowda; Daniel Raftery; Ryan T. McKay; Chung Ke Chang; Edoardo Saccenti; Wolfram Gronwald; Sven Schuchardt; Roland Leiminger; Jasmeen Merzaban; Nour Y. Madhoun; Mazhar Iqbal; Rawiah A. Alsiary; Rupali Shivapurkar; Arnab Pain; Dhanasekaran Shanmugam; Danielle Ryan; Raja Roy; Horst Joachim Schirra; Vanessa Morris; Ana Carolina Zeri; Fatimah Alahmari; Rima Kaddurah-Daouk; Reza M. Salek; Marcia LeVatte; Mark Berjanskii; Brian Lee; David S. Wishart

doi:10.1007/s11306-025-02259-7

Recommendations for sample selection, collection and preparation for NMR-based metabolomics studies of blood

Abdul Hamid Emwas
, Helena U. Zacharias
, Marcos Rodrigo Alborghetti
, G. A.Nagana Gowda
, Daniel Raftery
, Ryan T. McKay
, Chung Ke Chang
, Edoardo Saccenti
, Wolfram Gronwald
, Sven Schuchardt
, Roland Leiminger
, Jasmeen Merzaban
, Nour Y. Madhoun
, Mazhar Iqbal
, Rawiah A. Alsiary
, Rupali Shivapurkar
, Arnab Pain
, Dhanasekaran Shanmugam
, Danielle Ryan
, Raja Roy

Horst Joachim Schirra, Vanessa Morris, Ana Carolina Zeri, Fatimah Alahmari, Rima Kaddurah-Daouk, Reza M. Salek, Marcia LeVatte, Mark Berjanskii, Brian Lee, David S. Wishart

Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Hannover Medical School
Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory and Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials
The University of Washington
University of Alberta
Academia Sinica, Biomedical Translation Research Center
Wageningen University and Research Centre
University of Regensburg
Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine ITEM
Bruker BioSpin GmbH & Co.
National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE)
King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences
National Chemical Laboratory India
Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences Campus
Griffith University
University of Queensland
University of Canterbury
University of Dammam
Duke University School of Medicine
School of Clinical Medicine

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

24 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Metabolic profiling of blood metabolites, particularly in plasma and serum, is vital for studying human diseases, human conditions, drug interventions and toxicology. The clinical significance of blood arises from its close ties to all human cells and facile accessibility. However, patient-specific variables such as age, sex, diet, lifestyle and health status, along with pre-analytical conditions (sample handling, storage, etc.), can significantly affect metabolomic measurements in whole blood, plasma, or serum studies. These factors, referred to as confounders, must be mitigated to reveal genuine metabolic changes due to illness or intervention onset. REVIEW OBJECTIVE: This review aims to aid metabolomics researchers in collecting reliable, standardized datasets for NMR-based blood (whole/serum/plasma) metabolomics. The goal is to reduce the impact of confounding factors and enhance inter-laboratory comparability, enabling more meaningful outcomes in metabolomics studies. KEY CONCEPTS: This review outlines the main factors affecting blood metabolite levels and offers practical suggestions for what to measure and expect, how to mitigate confounding factors, how to properly prepare, handle and store blood, plasma and serum biosamples and how to report data in targeted NMR-based metabolomics studies of blood, plasma and serum.

Original language	English
Article number	66
Pages (from-to)	1-37
Number of pages	37
Journal	Metabolomics
Volume	21
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-025-02259-7
Publication status	Published - 10 May 2025

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

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10.1007/s11306-025-02259-7

604481633 Published articleFinal published version, 3.32 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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Emwas, A. H., Zacharias, H. U., Alborghetti, M. R., Gowda, G. A. N., Raftery, D., McKay, R. T., Chang, C. K., Saccenti, E., Gronwald, W., Schuchardt, S., Leiminger, R., Merzaban, J., Madhoun, N. Y., Iqbal, M., Alsiary, R. A., Shivapurkar, R., Pain, A., Shanmugam, D., Ryan, D., ... Wishart, D. S. (2025). Recommendations for sample selection, collection and preparation for NMR-based metabolomics studies of blood. Metabolomics, 21(3), 1-37. Article 66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-025-02259-7

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title = "Recommendations for sample selection, collection and preparation for NMR-based metabolomics studies of blood",

abstract = "BACKGROUND: Metabolic profiling of blood metabolites, particularly in plasma and serum, is vital for studying human diseases, human conditions, drug interventions and toxicology. The clinical significance of blood arises from its close ties to all human cells and facile accessibility. However, patient-specific variables such as age, sex, diet, lifestyle and health status, along with pre-analytical conditions (sample handling, storage, etc.), can significantly affect metabolomic measurements in whole blood, plasma, or serum studies. These factors, referred to as confounders, must be mitigated to reveal genuine metabolic changes due to illness or intervention onset. REVIEW OBJECTIVE: This review aims to aid metabolomics researchers in collecting reliable, standardized datasets for NMR-based blood (whole/serum/plasma) metabolomics. The goal is to reduce the impact of confounding factors and enhance inter-laboratory comparability, enabling more meaningful outcomes in metabolomics studies. KEY CONCEPTS: This review outlines the main factors affecting blood metabolite levels and offers practical suggestions for what to measure and expect, how to mitigate confounding factors, how to properly prepare, handle and store blood, plasma and serum biosamples and how to report data in targeted NMR-based metabolomics studies of blood, plasma and serum.",

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author = "Emwas, \{Abdul Hamid\} and Zacharias, \{Helena U.\} and Alborghetti, \{Marcos Rodrigo\} and Gowda, \{G. A.Nagana\} and Daniel Raftery and McKay, \{Ryan T.\} and Chang, \{Chung Ke\} and Edoardo Saccenti and Wolfram Gronwald and Sven Schuchardt and Roland Leiminger and Jasmeen Merzaban and Madhoun, \{Nour Y.\} and Mazhar Iqbal and Alsiary, \{Rawiah A.\} and Rupali Shivapurkar and Arnab Pain and Dhanasekaran Shanmugam and Danielle Ryan and Raja Roy and Schirra, \{Horst Joachim\} and Vanessa Morris and Zeri, \{Ana Carolina\} and Fatimah Alahmari and Rima Kaddurah-Daouk and Salek, \{Reza M.\} and Marcia LeVatte and Mark Berjanskii and Brian Lee and Wishart, \{David S.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025. The Author(s).",

year = "2025",

month = may,

day = "10",

doi = "10.1007/s11306-025-02259-7",

language = "English",

volume = "21",

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Emwas, AH, Zacharias, HU, Alborghetti, MR, Gowda, GAN, Raftery, D, McKay, RT, Chang, CK, Saccenti, E, Gronwald, W, Schuchardt, S, Leiminger, R, Merzaban, J, Madhoun, NY, Iqbal, M, Alsiary, RA, Shivapurkar, R, Pain, A, Shanmugam, D, Ryan, D, Roy, R, Schirra, HJ, Morris, V, Zeri, AC, Alahmari, F, Kaddurah-Daouk, R, Salek, RM, LeVatte, M, Berjanskii, M, Lee, B & Wishart, DS 2025, 'Recommendations for sample selection, collection and preparation for NMR-based metabolomics studies of blood', Metabolomics, vol. 21, no. 3, 66, pp. 1-37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-025-02259-7

TY - JOUR

T1 - Recommendations for sample selection, collection and preparation for NMR-based metabolomics studies of blood

AU - Emwas, Abdul Hamid

AU - Zacharias, Helena U.

AU - Alborghetti, Marcos Rodrigo

AU - Gowda, G. A.Nagana

AU - Raftery, Daniel

AU - McKay, Ryan T.

AU - Chang, Chung Ke

AU - Saccenti, Edoardo

AU - Gronwald, Wolfram

AU - Schuchardt, Sven

AU - Leiminger, Roland

AU - Merzaban, Jasmeen

AU - Madhoun, Nour Y.

AU - Iqbal, Mazhar

AU - Alsiary, Rawiah A.

AU - Shivapurkar, Rupali

AU - Pain, Arnab

AU - Shanmugam, Dhanasekaran

AU - Ryan, Danielle

AU - Roy, Raja

AU - Schirra, Horst Joachim

AU - Morris, Vanessa

AU - Zeri, Ana Carolina

AU - Alahmari, Fatimah

AU - Kaddurah-Daouk, Rima

AU - Salek, Reza M.

AU - LeVatte, Marcia

AU - Berjanskii, Mark

AU - Lee, Brian

AU - Wishart, David S.

PY - 2025/5/10

Y1 - 2025/5/10

N2 - BACKGROUND: Metabolic profiling of blood metabolites, particularly in plasma and serum, is vital for studying human diseases, human conditions, drug interventions and toxicology. The clinical significance of blood arises from its close ties to all human cells and facile accessibility. However, patient-specific variables such as age, sex, diet, lifestyle and health status, along with pre-analytical conditions (sample handling, storage, etc.), can significantly affect metabolomic measurements in whole blood, plasma, or serum studies. These factors, referred to as confounders, must be mitigated to reveal genuine metabolic changes due to illness or intervention onset. REVIEW OBJECTIVE: This review aims to aid metabolomics researchers in collecting reliable, standardized datasets for NMR-based blood (whole/serum/plasma) metabolomics. The goal is to reduce the impact of confounding factors and enhance inter-laboratory comparability, enabling more meaningful outcomes in metabolomics studies. KEY CONCEPTS: This review outlines the main factors affecting blood metabolite levels and offers practical suggestions for what to measure and expect, how to mitigate confounding factors, how to properly prepare, handle and store blood, plasma and serum biosamples and how to report data in targeted NMR-based metabolomics studies of blood, plasma and serum.

AB - BACKGROUND: Metabolic profiling of blood metabolites, particularly in plasma and serum, is vital for studying human diseases, human conditions, drug interventions and toxicology. The clinical significance of blood arises from its close ties to all human cells and facile accessibility. However, patient-specific variables such as age, sex, diet, lifestyle and health status, along with pre-analytical conditions (sample handling, storage, etc.), can significantly affect metabolomic measurements in whole blood, plasma, or serum studies. These factors, referred to as confounders, must be mitigated to reveal genuine metabolic changes due to illness or intervention onset. REVIEW OBJECTIVE: This review aims to aid metabolomics researchers in collecting reliable, standardized datasets for NMR-based blood (whole/serum/plasma) metabolomics. The goal is to reduce the impact of confounding factors and enhance inter-laboratory comparability, enabling more meaningful outcomes in metabolomics studies. KEY CONCEPTS: This review outlines the main factors affecting blood metabolite levels and offers practical suggestions for what to measure and expect, how to mitigate confounding factors, how to properly prepare, handle and store blood, plasma and serum biosamples and how to report data in targeted NMR-based metabolomics studies of blood, plasma and serum.

KW - Blood

KW - Metabolites

KW - Metabolomics

KW - NMR

KW - Plasma

KW - Serum

KW - Standardization

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UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105005235745#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1007/s11306-025-02259-7

DO - 10.1007/s11306-025-02259-7

M3 - Review article

C2 - 40348843

AN - SCOPUS:105005235745

SN - 1573-3890

VL - 21

SP - 1

EP - 37

JO - Metabolomics

JF - Metabolomics

IS - 3

M1 - 66

ER -

Recommendations for sample selection, collection and preparation for NMR-based metabolomics studies of blood

Abstract

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