Table 1.
Advantages and disadvantages of nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectroscopy
| NMR | MS | |
| Sensitivity (detection limit) | Usually micromolar (nanomolar with cryosonde) | Picomolar |
| Reproducibility | High | Low |
| Detected | Non targeted approach | Targeted approach |
| Metabolite | Detect metabolite Only if contain proton on the molecule | Need specific preparation to well detected some metabolites (Lipids…) |
| Metabolite identification | Easy, using 1D and/or 2D spectra and databases | More difficult, need sometime complementary analysis |
| Number of know identifiable metabolites | More than 200 | More than 4000 |
| Sample | Simple preparation (minimal add of D2O, Buffer and sometime reference) | Preparation more complex (protein extraction, etc.) |
| Non destructive method | Destructive method | |
| Need 400 μL (less than 10 μL with microprobe) | Need few microliters | |
| Type of sample | Liquid (urine, whole blood, serum, plasma, etc.) and intact tissue | Liquid |
| Cost of machine | Very high | High |
| Cost of sample analysis | Lower | Higher |
| Signal acquisition time | 5 to 15 min for 1D spectra | Around 10 min |
| More longer for 2D spectra (few hours) |
NMR: Nuclear magnetic resonance; MS: Mass spectroscopy.