Peripheral blood collection: the first step towards gene expression profiling.

A crucial challenge for gene expression analysis in human biomonitoring studies on whole blood samples is rapid sample handling and mRNA stabilization. This study was designed to evaluate the impact of short bench times (less than 30 min) on yield, quality and gene expression of mRNA in the presence of different stabilization buffers (Tempus(TM) Blood RNA tube and RNAlater(®) Stabilization Reagent). Microarray analyzes showed significant changes over short periods of time in expression of a considerate part of the transcriptome (2356 genes) with a prominent role for NFкB-, cancer- and glucocorticoid-mediated networks, and specifically interleukin-8 (IL-8). These findings suggest that even short bench times affect gene expression, requiring to carry out blood collection in a strictly standardized way.