Journal of Bioanalysis & Biomedicine

Capillary Microsampling of Mouse Blood in Early Pre-Clinical Studies: A Preferred Alternative to Dried Blood Spot Sampling

Abstract

Jennie Roberts, Ian Wilson, Alan T Henley, Meirion Richards, Ching Thai and Florence I Raynaud

Recent advances in sensitivity of analytical instrumentation has resulted in the routine practice of low-volume blood sampling in pre-clinical pharmacokinetic studies. Mice, the species of choice in oncology, have a limited blood volume; hence demand a small volume sampling strategy to avoid unwanted physiological side effects. When assessing drug exposure in mice, a serial sampling methodology requires less than 20 μl of blood per time point in order to comply with animal welfare guidelines.

Various microsampling techniques have been employed in pharmacokinetic studies to achieve exact sampling of low blood volumes. The aim of this work was to explore capillary microsampling as an alternative methodology to dried blood spot sampling for the analysis of whole blood in mouse pharmacokinetic studies. Concentration-time profiles of both blood sampling techniques were compared following intravenous administration of four compounds to female Balb C mice. In each case pharmacokinetic parameters from the two different sampling methods were equivalent.

Compared to dried blood spots, capillary microsampling provided an inexpensive, reliable and robust method for low volume sampling in the pre-clinical pharmacokinetic setting. In vivo and bioanalytical workflows were integrated with the result of improving laboratory efficiency and lowering consumable costs. Compared to the previous blood spot method there was an improvement in animal welfare through faster handling times due to refined microsampling procedures.