In this blog we review a follow-up study on lipidomics that was conducted by Marianne Fillet et al at the University of Liège in Belgium. In a previous blog we explored an initial lipidomics research study by Dr. Fillet et al that was published in the May 2021 edition of Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences.
In the previous study, samples from 20 healthy volunteers were collected at the following time points: before, during and after running 3 lengths (400, 800 and 1600 meters) and in between short rest periods.
The biomarkers analyzed were all small metabolites, such as amino acids and organic acids. The research group found that the metabolites creatinine, choline, and taurine were significantly increased during exercise.
In their previous study paper, the group concluded that the hemaPEN device “offers many advantages compared to classical blood sampling.”
During their first metabolomics study using the hemaPEN, the group analyzed just one dried blood spot sample from each hemaPEN device, and they stored the other samples at –20 °C. This allowed the group to conduct the follow-up study reviewed in this blog, which was published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis.
The follow-up study is entitled “A targeted UHPLC-MS/MS method to monitor lipidomic changes during a physical effort: Optimization and application to blood microsamples from athletes.” In this paper, the group reported that by using the stored samples, they were able to successfully measure changes in lipidomic profiles (for 5 out of 11 targeted analytes) during the exercise program.
The lipidome is part of the wider metabolome, which consists of thousands of lipid molecules from around 15 chemical classes. These make up two thirds of the wider metabolome.
Dr. Fillet and colleagues believe that understanding the role of the lipidome in diseases such as cancer, helps to better understand the pathology of such diseases. They reported that lipidomics can also be used to evaluate the effect that sport has on the human body. They decided to focus their studies on lipidomic changes during exercise.
However, understanding the effect that exercise has on biomarkers is difficult, due to the competing factors that affect metabolic pathways. Some of these factors include, for example: age, gender, health, and nutritional status. During exercise, when glucose, (our primary source of energy) is depleted, the body turns to fatty acid metabolism for its energy. Once fatty acids are depleted, protein and amino acids are then consumed, which is not desired for muscle tone.
To evaluate the effect of exercise on lipid biomarker levels, the group decided to measure blood samples obtained from the previously collected hemaPEN samples they had used in their first study. The group targeted three classes of lipid biomarkers: Lysophospholipids (LPs, found in cellular membranes), sphingolipids (SGs) and fatty acids (FFAs).
Significant changes in 5 of the 11 analytes were seen, which was consistent with the literature. This study demonstrated the utility of employing the portable hemaPEN microsampling device for collecting blood samples as an alternative to traditional phlebotomy.
This approach also opens the possibility of untargeted lipidomics to help further understand metabolic pathways. The methods used in this study could potentially be used to screen for specific diseases from self-collected samples.
The work conducted by Marianne Fillet et al further illustrates the utility of capillary blood microsampling in Omics research. The advantage that a device like the hemaPEN is that it can provide 4 replicates per sampling event, some of the samples could be stored for future studies. This then allowed for multiple separate study papers to be published without the need to repeat the collection event.
This article was summarized for our readers by James Rudge, PhD, Microsampling Technical Director. This is curated content. To learn more about the important research outlined in this blog, visit the original article in the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis.
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