Formic Acid Pretreatment Enhances Untargeted Serum and Plasma Metabolomics.

ABSTRACT: Untargeted metabolic profiling of plasma and serum by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is becoming increasingly important in clinical and translational research; however, sample preparation protocols can have a significant impact on study outcomes, and there is currently a lack of standardized approaches. In this study we demonstrate that pretreatment of serum and plasma samples with 1% formic acid (FA, v/v) prior to acetonitrile (MeCN)-induced protein precipitation significantly enhances analytical performance in untargeted metabolomics using reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC)-MS. We show an increase in sample preparation reproducibility and signal intensity across both positive and negative ionization modes. In two independent serum cohorts (OPTIMA and VITACOG), F

SUBMITTER: Kacerova T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12573228 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature