1H NMR study of the effects of sample contamination in the metabolomic analysis of mouse urine

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to evaluate and optimize the strategy for collecting mouse urine samples. A series of normal urine samples and those mixed with folate-deficient food, turkey or mouse fecal particles were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA). The metabolic profile of urine mixed with folate-deficient food was found to be extremely different than that of clean urine. Changes in the urine composition caused by mixing with turkey or feces are relatively small as judged by the output of PCA. As a result, turkey may be considered as an applicable food source for obtaining uncontaminated urine samples for metabolomics-based research.