Figure 5

Biomarkers display metabolite- and individual-specific degradation. Panels A and B show the concentrations of the metabolites studied, at 24 (Panel A) and 48 hours (Panel B) under shipping conditions. Data are expressed as percentage of the original (Time 0) concentration. Arrows highlight some of the particularly variable metabolites. Note the log scale to emphasize fold-change. The left insert shows an example of two 48 hour samples in which individual changes are metabolite specific; the right insert shows a comparison in which almost all metabolites are more sensitive to time-associated changes in one individual than another. The diagonal lines have been added to emphasize the point at which metabolites undergoing equivalent degradation in both individuals would be located. Data from the study of plasma samples from 10 individuals are shown.