Global metabolic profiling (metabonomics/metabolomics) using dried blood spots: advantages and pitfalls

“Conventional’ drug analysis aside, the current state of research into the use of blood spots in metabonomic/metabolomic research indicates that the incorrect choice of blood spot cards can adversely affect the metabolite profiles...” The use of dried blood spots in clinical applications has been common practice for many years, particularly for the detection and diagnosis of inborn errors of metabolism. More recently there has been a considerable amount of interest in the application of dried blood spots by the pharmaceutical industry for drug analysis. A third area where this type of sample might be expected to find applications is obviously...