Table 2.
Remote Biospecimen Collection Methodologies.
| Biospecimen | Targets of Interest | Participant | Remote Collection Method | Transportation | Processing | Storage | % of Sent Samples Returned Usable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blood (Plasma/Serum/Erythrocytes, White blood cells) | Nutriture, neurotoxicants, inflammation | Parent, Child (over 12 months of age) | Tasso |
4 °C |
Centrifuge |
-20 − -80 °C |
71% |
| Mitra | RT/4 °C | RT/4 °C | RT/4 °C | ||||
| DBS | RT | None | RT | ||||
| Urine | Drugs, EtOH, nicotine metabolites | Parent, Child | 4 °C | Aliquot | -20 − -80 °C | 78% | |
| Other Environmental Exposures | Parent, Child | 4 °C | Aliquot | -20 − -80 °C | |||
| Saliva | Genetics & epigenetics | Parent, Child | Oragene | RT | None | RT | 66% |
| Hormones, Inflammation | Parent, Child | Salimetrics | 4 °C | Aliquot | -20 − -80 °C | ||
| Finger/toe nails | Drugs, EtOH, nicotine metabolites | Parent, Child | RT | Weigh | RT | 65% | |
| Hair | Hormones, Drugs, EtOH, nicotine metabolites | Parent, Child (over 6 months of age) | RT | Weigh | RT, light-protected | 55% | |
| Stool | Microbiome Metabolome |
Parent, Child | Zymo Research DNA RNA collection kit Genotech |
4 °C or RT RT 4 °C |
None | -80 °C -80 °C -80 °C |
57% |
| Breastmilk | Inflammation, Nutriture, Drugs, Microbiome | Parent | 4 °C | Aliquot | -20 − -80 °C | 69% | |
| Deciduous Teeth | Nutriture & Neurotoxicants | Child (over 6 years of age) | RT | None | RT | – |
*DBS, dried blood spot; RT, room temperature; EtOH, ethanol; if not explicitly noted the biospecimen can be collected from the child at any age. The percentage of useable samples returned is reported for samples that were sent to participants from OHSU and NYU at the time of this report (n = 436), with the exception of urine, which was only reported for OHSU (n = 118 prenatal biospecimen kits). Notably, 76% of the participants (n=436) returned at least one sample. The samples described in the table met our initial quality criteria, which included arriving intact, with a sufficient volume, and in an insulated shipper that was still cold. Of note, few samples that were returned to our laboratories violated these quality criteria. Rather, most of the missing samples were ones where the participant did not return the biospecimen collection kit, or where a particular sample type was not relevant to them (e.g., not all women were still lactating at the time of the postnatal sample collection, and thus did not provide a breastmilk sample).