Plasma and Serum Lipidomics of Healthy White Adults Shows Characteristic Profiles by Subjects’ Gender and Age

Blood is a commonly used biofluid for biomarker discovery. Although blood lipid metabolites are considered to be potential biomarker candidates, their fundamental properties are not well characterized. We aimed to (1) investigate the matrix type (serum vs. plasma) that may be preferable for lipid biomarker exploration, (2) elucidate age- and gender-associated differences in lipid metabolite levels, and (3) examine the stability of lipid metabolites in matrix samples subjected to repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, we performed lipidomic analyses for fasting plasma and serum samples for four groups (15 subjects/group) of young and elderly (25-34 and 55-64 years old, respectively) males and females and for an additional aliquot of samples from young males, which were subjected to repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Lysophosphatidylcholine and diacylglycerol levels were higher in serum than in plasma samples, suggesting that the clotting process influences serum lipid metabolite levels. Gender-associated differences highlighted that the levels of many sphingomyelin species were significantly higher in females than in males, irrespective of age and matrix (plasma and serum). Age-associated differences were more prominent in females than in males, and in both matrices, levels of many triacylglycerols were significantly higher in elderly females than in young females. Plasma and serum levels of most lipid metabolites were reduced by freeze-thawing. Our results indicate that plasma is an optimal matrix for exploring lipid biomarkers because it represents the original properties of an individual's blood sample. In addition, the levels of some blood lipid species of healthy adults showed gender- and age-associated differences; thus, this should be considered during biomarker exploration and its application in diagnostics. Our fundamental findings on sample selection and handling procedures for measuring blood lipid metabolites is important for ensuring the quality of biomarkers identified and its qualification process.