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Analysis of institutional authors

Rey-Stolle, Maria FernandaAuthor

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May 20, 2025
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Analytical workflow for comprehensive blood metabolomics analysis by GC-MS. Application to children with ventilator associated pneumonia

Publicated to: Journal Of Chromatography a. 1753 465924- - 2025-07-19 1753(), DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2025.465924

Authors:

Ioannidis, M; Mouskeftara, T; Iosifidis, E; Simitsopoulou, M; Roilides, E; Gika, H; Rey-Stolle, MF; Virgiliou, C
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Affiliations

Aristotle Univ Thessaloniki, Dept Chem Engn, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece - Author
Aristotle Univ Thessaloniki, Dept Med, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece - Author
Aristotle Univ Thessaloniki, Fac Hlth Sci, Sch Med, Dept Pediat 3,Infect Dis Unit, Thessaloniki, Greece - Author
Ctr Interdisciplinary Res & Innovat CIRI AUTH, Balkan Ctr B1 4, Biomic AUTh, 10th km Thessaloniki-Thermi Rd, Thessaloniki 57001, Greece - Author
Hippokrateion Hosp, Thessaloniki, Greece - Author
Univ San Pablo CEU, CEU Univ, Fac Farm, Ctr Metabol & Bioanal CEMBIO, Boadilla Del Monte, Spain - Author
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Abstract

Metabolomics is a widely used approach for analyzing a vast array of low molecular weight compounds such as amino acids, organic acids, vitamins, biogenic amines and carbohydrates in biological samples, with the aim of investigating biomarkers in personalized medicine studies. Advancements in gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) instrumentation, along with the availability of commercial and public spectral libraries, have highlighted the relevance of GC-MS analysis as a valuable tool for metabolomics applications. Stability assessment in derivatisation and GC-MS analysis is a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of metabolomics studies. In this study, an untargeted GC-MS method workflow for large scale metabolomics studies is presented after assessment and optimization of whole blood sample's stability. The method consists of a common two-step derivatisation procedure including methoximation using methoxyamine hydrochloride, followed by silylation with N-methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide (MSTFA). To ensure the stability of the studied metabolites, extensive stability experiments were performed. The stability of the derivatives was evaluated over 24 h in the autosampler at room temperature, as well as after storage for 24 and 48 hat-20 degrees C for both derivatized and dried extracts. While derivatised samples remained stable for 24-48 h in the freezer, dried extracts exhibited variability after 48 h. Findings support the storage of derivatised samples over dried extracts, ensuring greater stability. To increase condidence in metabolite identification data from the analysis of 120 standard compounds were utilized. The developed method was applied to analyze blood samples from 32 children with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), collected at four different time points during ICU hospitalization. This analysis led to the identification of 43 metabolites. The results of multivariate and univariate statistical analyses demonstrated several statistically significant metabolites, including aspartic acid, alanine, and pyroglutamic acid, which showed a strong correlation with the disease's manifestation and may potentially serve as biomarkers in the diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia VAP at the stage of clinical suspicion.
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Keywords

BiomarkersBloodChildChild, preschoolChromatography-mass spectrometryDerivatisationDerivativesDiagnosisFemaleGas chromatography-mass spectrometryGc-msHumansInfantLinear modelsMaleMetabolomeMetabolomicsPneumonia, ventilator-associatedProcalcitoninReproducibility of resultsSerumStabilityUrinVentilator-associated pneumoniVentilator-associated pneumoniaWorkflow

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Journal Of Chromatography a due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position 17/86, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Biochemical Research Methods.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2026-01-21:

  • WoS: 2
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-01-21:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 6.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 6 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Greece.

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Awards linked to the item

This work was financially supported by the project "Biomic_AUTh, Center of Excellence in Metabolomics research (BiACEM) " (Project number: 101,079,370) , which is implemented under the Action"Horizon Europe Twinning grant". This research project was supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.) under the "2nd Call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects to support Post-Doctoral Researchers" (Project Number: 98,270) .
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