Impact of sample containers on gas chromatography mass spectrometry based plasma untargeted and targeted metabolomics

Plasticware and glassware used in the sample processing stage could result in different analysis performance for macromolecules, which led to the speculation that a similar effect could happen to small molecules. To confirm the speculation, pooled human plasma sample spiked with and without metabolite standards was prepared with three most commonly used container materials (glass, deactivated glass and polypropylene) supplied by different manufacturers after a two-step liquid-liquid extraction, followed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) based untargeted and targeted metabolomics. The results showed that both GC-MS-based targeted and untargeted metabolomics could be influenced significantly by not only the container material but also the manufacturing procedures employed by different vendors. As a general guideline, it would be highly practical to use the same type of container from the same manufacturer during a whole project. Our study could be extremely valuable for the fellow researchers when dealing with the sample containers for GC-MS-based untargeted and targeted metabolomics.

Automated summary

The study found that different sample container materials and manufacturing procedures from different vendors can significantly influence GC-MS metabolomics analysis. It is recommended to use the same type of container from the same manufacturer throughout the entire project to ensure the accuracy of the results.