Targeted Metabolomics of Dried Blood Spot Extracts

Dried blood spot (DBS) samples are already successfully used in newborn screening and pharmacological analyses. The application of DBS matrix to further metabolomic methods will considerably extend the analytical options for the diagnostics of metabolic diseases. We present an MS/MS based method for the simultaneous extraction and quantification of 188 metabolites from dried blood spots. We provide a sensitive and reproducible method that adapts the AbsoluteIDQ™ p180 kit of Biocrates to the DBS matrix for the quantification of metabolites of different substance classes including amino acids, biogenic amines, free carnitine, acylcarnitines, hexoses, glycerophospholipids, lysophosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylcholines, and sphingolipids.