MS-based lipidomics of human blood plasma: a community-initiated position paper to develop accepted guidelines

• Published in: Journal of lipid research Vol. 59; no. 10; pp. 2001 - 2017
• Main Authors: Burla, Bo, Arita, Makoto, Arita, Masanori, Bendt, Anne K., Cazenave-Gassiot, Amaury, Dennis, Edward A., Ekroos, Kim, Han, Xianlin, Ikeda, Kazutaka, Liebisch, Gerhard, Lin, Michelle K., Loh, Tze Ping, Meikle, Peter J., Orešič, Matej, Quehenberger, Oswald, Shevchenko, Andrej, Torta, Federico, Wakelam, Michael J.O., Wheelock, Craig E., Wenk, Markus R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 01.10.2018
• Subjects: absolute concentrations; Blood Chemical Analysis - methods; Blood Chemical Analysis - standards; Blood Specimen Collection; clinical research; clinical trials; data sharing; Demography; diagnostic tools; Female; Guidelines as Topic; Humans; lipids; Lipids - blood; Male; Mass Spectrometry; National Institute of Standards and Technology Standard Reference Material 1950; Patient-Oriented and Epidemiological Research; quality control; Reference Standards; lipids; quality control; clinical research; mass spectrometry; clinical trials; National Institute of Standards and Technology Standard Reference Material 1950; absolute concentrations; diagnostic tools; data sharing
• ISSN: 0022-2275; 1539-7262; 1539-7262
• DOI: 10.1194/jlr.S087163

Human blood is a self-regenerating lipid-rich biological fluid that is routinely collected in hospital settings. The inventory of lipid molecules found in blood plasma (plasma lipidome) offers insights into individual metabolism and physiology in health and disease. Disturbances in the plasma lipidome also occur in conditions that are not directly linked to lipid metabolism; therefore, plasma lipidomics based on MS is an emerging tool in an array of clinical diagnostics and disease management. However, challenges exist in the translation of such lipidomic data to clinical applications. These relate to the reproducibility, accuracy, and precision of lipid quantitation, study design, sample handling, and data sharing. This position paper emerged from a workshop that initiated a community-led process to elaborate and define a set of generally accepted guidelines for quantitative MS-based lipidomics of blood plasma or serum, with harmonization of data acquired on different instrumentation platforms across independent laboratories as an ultimate goal. We hope that other fields may benefit from and follow such a precedent.