Impact of the delay in cryopreservation timing during biobanking procedures on human liver tissue metabolomics

• Published in: PloS one 2024-06, Vol.19 (6), p.e0304405-e0304405
• Main Authors: Goossens, Corentine, Tambay, Vincent, Raymond, Valérie-Ann, Rousseau, Louise, Turcotte, Simon, Bilodeau, Marc
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adenosine diphosphate; Adult; Aged; Alanine; Arrays; Aspartate; Biobanks; Biological Specimen Banks; Biology and Life Sciences; Biomarkers; Chromatography; Chromatography, Liquid - methods; Cryopreservation; Cryopreservation - methods; Delay; Fatty acids; Female; Glutamine; Glutathione; Glycerin; Glycerol; Glycerol-3-phosphate; Humans; Ischemia; Lactic acid; Leucine; Liquid chromatography; Liver; Liver - metabolism; Liver diseases; Magnetic resonance; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy - methods; Male; Mass spectrometry; Mass Spectrometry - methods; Mass spectroscopy; Medical research; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metabolism; Metabolites; Metabolome; Metabolomics; Metabolomics - methods; Middle Aged; Nitrogen; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Phosphates; Physical Sciences; Physiological aspects; Physiology; Research and Analysis Methods; Scientific imaging; Time Factors; Tissue Banks; Tissues; Type 2 diabetes
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304405

The liver is a highly specialized organ involved in regulating systemic metabolism. Understanding metabolic reprogramming of liver disease is key in discovering clinical biomarkers, which relies on robust tissue biobanks. However, sample collection and storage procedures pose a threat to obtaining reliable results, as metabolic alterations may occur during sample handling. This study aimed to elucidate the impact of pre-analytical delay during liver resection surgery on liver tissue metabolomics. Patients were enrolled for liver resection during which normal tissue was collected and snap-frozen at three timepoints: before transection, after transection, and after analysis in Pathology. Metabolomics analyses were performed using 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS). Time at cryopreservation was the principal variable contributing to differences between liver specimen metabolomes, which superseded even interindividual variability. NMR revealed global changes in the abundance of an array of metabolites, namely a decrease in most metabolites and an increase in β-glucose and lactate. LC-MS revealed that succinate, alanine, glutamine, arginine, leucine, glycerol-3-phosphate, lactate, AMP, glutathione, and NADP were enhanced during cryopreservation delay (all p