Establishing a Metabolite Extraction Method to Study the Metabolome of Blastocystis Using NMR

Blastocystis is an opportunistic parasite commonly found in the intestines of humans and other animals. Despite its high prevalence, knowledge regarding Blastocystis biology within and out-side the host is limited. Analysis of the metabolites produced by this anaerobe could provide in-sights that can help map its metabolism and determine its role in both health and disease. Due to its controversial pathogenicity, these metabolites could define its deterministic role in microbi-ome’s “health” and/or subsequently resolve Blastocystis’ potential impact in gastrointestinal health. A common method for elucidating the presence of these metabolites is through 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). However, there are currently no described benchmarked methods available to extract metabolites from Blastocystis for 1H NMR analysis. Herein, several extrac-tion solvents, lysis methods and incubation temperatures were compared for their usefulness as an extraction protocol for this protozoan. Following extraction, the samples were freeze-dried, re-solubilized and analysed with 1H NMR. The results demonstrate that carrying out the proce-dure at room temperature using methanol as an extraction solvent and bead bashing as a lysis technique provides a consistent, reproducible and efficient method to extract metabolites from Blastocystis for NMR.