Background: Serum and plasma are widely used matrices in biological and clinical studies. To improve reliability and consistency of markers quantification, the influence of these matrices on proteins was evaluated by targeted mass spectrometry.
Results: 65 proteins were quantified in matched blood samples collected in serum, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and heparin plasma tubes from 40 healthy and 10 pathological individuals. Only 52% of the proteins were not impacted by any of the biological matrices tested, and the effects on quantification of proteins affected was matrix and protein dependent.
Conclusion: Matrix comparisons using mass spectrometry is therefore recommended to assess the relevance of using surrogate matrix, performing biomarker discovery study or evaluating the clinical use of biomarkers in large clinical cohorts.
Keywords: biological matrix; clinical chemistry; inflammatory biomarkers; mass spectrometry; plasma; proteomics; serum.