Separation and determination of saturated very-long-chain free fatty acids in plasma of patients with adrenoleukodystrophy using solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis

An improved method was developed for the isolation of very-long-chain free fatty acids (VLCFFAs) in plasma and their separation and determination by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The method includes sample clean-up using solid-phase extraction, fluorophoric labelling of the FFAs and reversed-phase HPLC separation. The solid-phase extraction was carried out with aminopropyl-bonded phase columns. The FFAs were then derivatized with 9-anthryldiazomethane (fluorescent) reagent and separated by HPLC on an RP-18 column with methanol as the mobile phase. Using this method, the concentrations of C20:0, C22:0, C24:0 and C26:0 were determined in the plasma of five adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) patients, one obligatory heterozygote, four healthy male volunteers and one child with cerebral leukodystrophy but without any other ALD symptoms. Statistically significant differences were found in the levels of C24 and C26 and in the ratios C24/C22 and C26/C22 in ALD patients and in normal controls. The values were higher in patients with X-ALD. This method therefore provides a rapid and accurate procedure for the laboratory confirmation of X-ALD.     

Quantitation of phenacyl esters of retinal fatty acids by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the separation and quantitation of retinal fatty acids containing long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids is described. Fatty acids from frog retinal lipids were converted to the corresponding phenacyl derivatives which were separated on a C18 reversed-phase column and detected at 242 nm. Molar absorptivities (peak area units/nmol) of up to seventeen fatty acid phenacyl derivatives were determined and used for quantitation of fatty acids separated by HPLC. Compared with gas chromatography, the HPLC method gave a similar molar percent distribution of the fatty acids and was twenty to fifty times more sensitive. This HPLC method provides a useful means for the study of chemistry and metabolism of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in retina and other tissues where amounts of material may be limited or recovery of individual components desirable.     

Measurement of polyunsaturated fatty acids of myocardial lipids by high performance liquid chromatography

Summary This report describes a modified method for the separation and analysis of polyunsaturated fatty acids such as 20:4, 20:5, and 22:6, using HPLC. The results show that these fatty acids are well separated from the saturated acids. Since the unsaturated fatty acids elute earlier than saturated acids, and this method does not require the fractionation of free fatty acids using thin layer chromatography, a necessary step for the gas chromatographic analysis, the recoveries of polyunsaturated fatty acids were significantly higher as compared to those from gas chromatography. Furthermore, HPLC and gas chromatographic methods gave identical results for the acyl chain composition of phosphatidylserine. The advantages of using HPLC over gas chromatography in determining the acyl chain composition of free fatty acids and phospholipids are also discussed.     

Microanalysis of free fatty acids in plasma of experimental animals and humans by high-performance liquid chromatography

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for microanalysis of thirteen free fatty acids using 200 microliter of plasma. Fatty acids were derivatized with 9-anthryldiazomethane for HPLC analysis. Use of an ODS minicolumn for pretreatment of plasma gave a more accurate determination of free fatty acids in plasma than by chloroform extraction. Using this method, thirteen free fatty acids in the plasma of normal human, dog, rabbit, guinea pig and rat were determined.     

Cellular Fatty Acid Composition of Vibrio parahaemolyticus by Reversed-Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

High-performance liquid chromatography was used to separate and identify cellular fatty acids isolated from Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a gram-negative estuarine microorganism associated with seafood-borne enteritis in man. Fatty acids were isolated from statically grown bacterial cultures, saponified, and derivatized with an ultraviolet tag. Aliquots of derivatized fatty acids were injected onto a reversed-phase column with water:acetonitrile gradient as the mobile phase and ultraviolet detection at 254 nm. The predominant fatty acids found for the V. parahaemolyticus strains studied were C12, C14, C16:1, C16, C18:1, and C18. In addition, previously unreported fatty acids C13, C17, C19, and C21 were identified. Comparison of HPLC with GLC fatty acid separations showed good agreement with the exception that HPLC was able to resolve previously unidentified fatty acid constituents.     

Plasma free fatty acid profiling in a fish oil human intervention study using ultra-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

A rapid method was developed for the simultaneous profiling of 29 free fatty acids in plasma using ultra-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC/ESI-MS/MS). Barium acetate was used as the cationization agent in the positive ion mode for sensitive multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) experiments. The cis- and trans-C18:1 and -C18:2 isomers were baseline-separated using two tandem reversed-phase C18 UPLC columns, while identification of two pairs of positional isomers of C18:3 and C20:3 required isomer-specific product ions, as the analytes were not chromatographically resolved. The assay linearity was greater than three orders of magnitude and correlation coefficients were >0.99; the limits of detections were typically less than 0.2 microM. The method was successfully applied to plasma free fatty acid profiling of samples from volunteers who participated in a randomized crossover study involving the administration of either placebo or fish oil capsules. The results clearly indicate the ability to measure the time profiles of the n-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in plasma for the volunteers given fish oil capsules while the concentrations of the other free fatty acids and the total free fatty acid concentration in plasma remained virtually constant.     

Simultaneous separation and sensitive determination of free fatty acids in blood plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography

Fatty acids are separated by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography after derivatization with a fluorescence reagent, 4-bromomethyl-7-acetoxycoumarin. Each derivative eluted from a column is successively hydrolysed by mixing it with an alkaline solution, and the produced fluorescence is detected. The derivatives of series of both saturated and unsaturated fatty acids (C6:0--C20:4) are simultaneously separated by a continuous gradient elution method using a methanol-based solvent containing acetonitrile. The quantitative detection of fatty acids is over a range of 5-1000 pmol per derivatization mixture. This method is applicable to the quantitative analysis of free fatty acids in normal human blood samples and blood samples from diabetic patients. Ten microliters of blood plasma are sufficient to carry out the determination. The analytical results show good recovery and good reproducibility. This sensitive method is very useful for the analysis of fatty acids in very low concentrations.     

Amino acid, fatty acid, and carbohydrate content of Artocarpus altilis (breadfruit)

A study is conducted to determine the amino acid, fatty acid, and carbohydrate content of breadfruit using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC). An HPLC method is used for the determination of amino acids and fatty acids in breadfruit. Representative amino acid samples are derivatized with phenylisothiocianate and the resulting phenylthiocarbamyl derivatives are separated on a reversed-phase column by gradient elution with a 0.05M ammonium acetate buffer and 0.01M ammonium acetate in acetonitrile-methanol-water (44:10:46, v/v). Representative fatty acid samples are derivatized with phenacyl bromide and the resulting fatty acid phenacyl esters are separated on a reversed-phase column by gradient elution with acetonitrile and water. Amino acid and fatty acid derivatives are detected by ultraviolet detection at 254 nm. The analysis of the carbohydrates in breadfruit employs a GC method. Carbohydrates are derivatized using trimethylchlorosilane and hexamethyldisilazane to form trimethylsilyl ethers. Compounds in the samples are separated by the temperature programming of a GC using nitrogen as the carrier gas. Percent recoveries of amino acids, fatty acids, and carbohydrates are 72.5%, 68.2%, and 81.4%, respectively. The starch content of the breadfruit is 15.52 g/100 g fresh weight.     

Adsorption and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography of p-nitrobenzyl esters of monohydroxy fatty acids

To enhance the UV detectability of hydroxy fatty acids, p-nitrobenzyl (PNB) esters of twenty-two different monohydroxy fatty acids of various chain-lengths (C16-C22) and differing positional isomers were formed using O-(p-nitrobenzyl)-N,N-(diisopropyl)-isourea (PNBDI) as alkylating agent. Reversed-phase and adsorption high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) of the twenty-two monohydroxy fatty acid PNB esters were studied. The PNB group did not dominate the chromatographic properties of monohydroxy fatty acids and it did not interfere with the HPLC separation of positional isomers. PNBDI was, however, found to be less than ideal for formation of PNB derivatives of monohydroxy fatty acids because UV absorbing contaminants of PNBDI interfered with the HPLC analyses.     

Assessment of fatty acids in cardiac tissue as 9-anthryldiazomethane esters by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic technique for the rapid assessment fatty acids in cardiac tissue is described. A level of 50.4 +/- 14.9 nmol fatty acids per g wet weight of rat myocardial tissue could be monitored. The content of the individual fatty acids C14:0, C16:0, C16:1, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2 and C20:4 amounted to 1.9, 13.5, 0.6, 14.4, 6.1, 6.5 and 7.2 nmol/g wet weight, respectively. A comparison of this method with a well established gas chromatographic technique yielded good agreement. In contrast with time-consuming gas chromatographic techniques, there is no need to isolate (unesterified) fatty acids from the other lipid classes with column chromatography or thin-layer chromatography, because the derivatizing reagent 9-anthryldiazomethane reacts highly specifically with fatty acids.     

Determination of the fatty-acid composition of soybean oil by high-pressure liquid chromatography

A method for determining the fatty-acid composition of soybean oil by using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) is discussed and compared with the determination using gas chromatography. The oil is saponified and an aliquot is treated directly to form the p-bromophenacyl esters of the fatty acids, which are separated by gradient-elution HPLC. It is shown that glycerol does not interfere with the esterification, thus obviating the solvent extraction previously used to isolate fatty acids from biological samples.     

A novel derivatization reagent possessing a bromoquinolinium structure for biological carboxylic acids in HPLC‐ESI‐MS/MS

A novel bromoquinolinium reagent, i.e. 1‐(3‐aminopropyl)‐3‐bromoquinolinium bromide (APBQ), was synthesized for the analysis of carboxylic acids. A simple and practical precolumn derivatization procedure using the APBQ in RP chromatography and MS (HPLC‐MS) has been developed using bile acids and free fatty acids, as the representative carboxylic acids in biological samples. The APBQ efficiently reacted with carboxylic acids at 60°C for 60 min in the presence of N,N‐dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and pyridine as the activation reagents. Because the APBQ possesses a bromine atom in the structure, the identification of a series of carboxylic acids was easily achieved due to the characteristic bromine isotope pattern in the mass spectra. The APBQ also has a quaternary amine structure, thus the positively charged derivatives are predominate for the highly sensitive detection of carboxylic acids. The APBQ was successfully applied to the selective determination of biological carboxylic acids in human plasma. The bile acids (chenodeoxycholic acid and deoxycholic acid) and several saturated (stearic acid and palmitic acid) and unsaturated free fatty acids (oleic acid and linoleic acid) were reasonably determined by HPLC‐MS under the proposed procedure. Based on the results of analyses of human plasma and saliva, the proposed procedure using APBQ seems to be applicable for the qualitative and quantitative analyses of a series of carboxylic acids in biological samples.     

Determination of selected fatty acids in dried sweat spot using gas chromatography with flame ionization detection

A method is described for the determination of fatty acids in dried sweat spot and plasma samples using gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. Plasma and dried sweat spot samples were obtained from a group of blood donors. The sweat was collected from each volunteer during exercise. Sweat was spotted onto collection paper containing butylated hydroxytoluene. Fatty acids were derivatized with acetyl chloride in methanol to form methyl esters of fatty acids. The fatty acids in dried sweat spot samples treated with butylated hydroxytoluene and stored at –20°C were stable for 3 months. Our results indicate that sweat contains, among fatty acids with short chain, also fatty acids with long chain and unsaturated fatty acids. Linear relationships between percentage content of selected fatty acids in dried sweat spot and plasma were observed.     

Utilisation of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography as an alternative to silver-ion chromatography for the separation of cis- and trans-C18:1 fatty acid isomers

Silver ion-high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been commonly used for the separation and the analysis of trans-18:1 isomers in partially hydrogenated oils and milk fat. This paper describes an easy HPLC method using two reversed-phase columns. The cis- and trans-18:1 fatty acids isomers as methyl esters were eluted as two separate fractions. The collected fractions were analysed by gas chromatography (GC). The purity of the two fractions were tested by GC-MS and GC-Fourier transform IR.     

Analysis of mixtures containing free fatty acids and mono-, di- and triglycerides by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with evaporative light-scattering detection

Commercial monostearates of glycerol, generally used as antistatic agents for thermoplastic polymers, consist of a complex mixture of mono-, di- and trisubstituted glycerides and the corresponding fatty acids. Thus far, the glycerides and the fatty acids have been analyzed separately by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). In fact, the simultaneous analysis of glycerides and fatty acids requires esterification of the acids in order to avoid overlapping of the chromatographic peaks. This paper describes an HPLC method which allows the direct separation and identification, simultaneously and in a single run, of the variously substituted glycerides, and also the corresponding saturated fatty acids that are found as by-products in commercial glycerol monostearates. The procedure is based on the use of a ternary gradient HPLC instrument equipped with an evaporative light-scattering detector; the stationary phase was a reversed-phase RP-8 end-capped (Merck) column; the mobile phase was two consecutive binary gradients consisting of acetonitile-water plus acetic acid (0.1%, v/v) and acetonitrile-methylene chloride. The method is fast and shows high sensitivity and selectivity, being able to separate also the positional isomers of mono- and digycerides in addition to the mixed di- and triglycerides.     

大鼠肝过氧化物酶体中脂肪酸的分析

 用双 (2 乙基己基 )酚酞酸酯 (DEHP)诱导大鼠肝过氧化物酶体增殖 ,再用蔗糖密度梯度离心法分离大鼠肝细胞过氧化物酶体 ,并用十七烷酸作内标 ,以毛细管气相色谱法在非极性SPB 1石英毛细管柱上对其中的 11种脂肪酸进行分离测定。正常组和诱导组的大鼠肝过氧化物酶体中的不饱和脂肪酸和长链脂肪酸所占总脂肪酸的比例及总脂肪酸的统计结果是 :诱导组的不饱和脂肪酸的含量高于正常组的 (P <0 0 5 ) ,而两个组的脂肪酸总量及长链脂肪酸的含量无明显差别。结果提示 :诱导组的大鼠肝过氧化物酶体的脂肪酸成分发生了变化 ,其膜结构与正常组的不相同。     

Purification of erucic acid by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography and crystallization.

Erucic acid (C22:l fatty acid) has been found to be useful in the treatment of adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). It appears to work by reducing the blood levels of very-long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) which destroy the myelin sheaths of the nerves. Erucic acid was purified by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on columns packed with YMC C18 (10-20 microns, 120 A). Using ethanol-water as the mobile phase, the recovery of erucic acid was 69% and the purity was more than 97% as measured by gas chromatography. The amount of saturated VLCFAs was found to be within the limits specified for ALD treatment. The production rate (yield per 8 h shift) was low, however. Using methanol-water instead of ethanol-water as the mobile phase, a ninefold increase in the production rate was achieved. The recovery of erucic acid was 65% and the purity of erucic acid was 98%. All other purity specifications were met. By performing a low-temperature crystallization after the preparative HPLC step, the production rate was increased a further 142%. This represents a 22-fold increase in production rate over the ethanol-water method. The crystalline erucic acid was found to be 99% pure. All other purity requirements were met. The yield for the combined process (HPLC plus crystallization) decreased to 55%, however.     

Determination of cuticular and internal fatty acids of Chorthippus brunneus males and females using HPLC‐LLSD and GC–MS

Insects are of growing significance in veterinary medicine and human healthcare; therefore, an understanding of their biology is very important. The cuticular and internal fatty acid compositions of Chorthippus brunneus males and females have been studied for the first time. The lipids of males and females were separated into classes of compounds using high‐performance liquid chromatography with a laser light scattering detector. The free fatty acid (FFA) fractions obtained by HPLC were silylated and then analyzed by GC–MS. The cuticular lipids of males contained 15 saturated, four unsaturated with even‐numbered and two unsaturated with odd‐numbered carbon chains, FFAs ranging from C8 to C25. The major free fatty acids in males were C16 (20.8%), C18:2 (8.5%), C18:1 (32.9%) and C18 (24.4%). The cuticular lipids of females contained 17 saturated, four monounsaturated and two diunsaturated free fatty acids ranging from C8 to C30. The major cuticular fatty acids in females were C16 (25.1%), C18:2 (6.2%), C18:1 (23.7%) and C18:0 (33.2%). The internal FFAs of males consisted of 20 compounds ranging from C8 to C26. Four of these compounds were detected as major compounds: C16 (14.1%), C18:2 (21.6%), C18:1 (38.0%) and C18 (22.5%). Among 18 internal free fatty acids of females, C16 (22.3%), C18:2 (10.9%), C18:1 (40.2%) and C18 (20.5%) were the most abundant compounds. The following cuticular fatty acids present in the lipids of females were absent in the lipids of males: C26, C27 and C30. On the other hand, only C24 was absent from the cuticular lipids of females. Only C10 and C24 internal fatty acids present in the lipids of males were absent in the lipids of females. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fast analysis by gas-liquid chromatography. Perspective on the resolution of complex fatty acid compositions

Separation of fatty acids as methyl ester (FAME) derivatives has been carried out using short and highly polar capillary column developed for fast gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) applications. The GLC parameters have been optimized in order to achieve separation of FAME ranging from 4:0 (butyric acid) to 24:1 in less than 5 min. Milk fat that has by far the most complex fatty acid composition among edible fats and oils has been used to optimize the method. The volume of the oven has been reduced in order to allow for a heating rate of 120 degrees C/min and to rapidly cool-down to the initial temperature (50 degrees C) of the GLC program. The GLC conditions developed are not suitable to achieve separation of positional and geometrical isomers of octadecenoic acid but are useful to perform separation of major fatty acids in milk fat. The conditions developed could be used to analyze edible fats and oils or biological samples such as plasma or red blood cell lipids. The results confirmed that short and highly polar fast columns operating under optimal conditions could be used to separate the fatty acids in various matrices.     

Exploring the fatty acids of vernix caseosa in form of their methyl esters by off-line coupling of non-aqueous reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry

Vernix caseosa is a greasy biofilm formed on the skin of the human fetus in the last period of pregnancy. This matrix is known to contain a range of uncommon branched chain fatty acids. In this study, we studied the fatty acid composition of vernix caseosa by non-aqueous reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) fractionation followed by gas chromatography-electron ionization mass spectrometry (GC/EI-MS) of the fractions. For this purpose the fatty acids from vernix caseosa were converted into the corresponding methyl esters. These were fractionated by non-aqueous RP-HPLC using three serially connected C(18)-columns and pure methanol as the eluent. Aliquots of the HPLC fractions were directly analyzed by GC/EI-MS in the selected ion monitoring mode. Data analysis and visualization were performed by the creation of a two dimensional (2D) contour plot, in which GC retention times were plotted against the HPLC fractions. Inspection of the plot resulted in the detection of 133 different fatty acids but only 16 of them contributed more than 1% to the total fatty acids detected. Identification was based on HPLC and GC retention data, GC/MS-SIM and full scan data, as well as plotting the logarithmic retention times against the longest straight carbon chain. In selected cases, aliquots of the HPLC fractions were hydrogenated or studied by means of the picolinyl esters. Using these techniques, the number of double bonds could be unequivocally assigned to all fatty acids. Moreover, the number of methyl branches, and in many cases the positions of methyl branches could be determined. The enantioselective analysis of chiral anteiso-fatty acids resulted in the dominance of the S-enantiomers. However, high proportions of R-a13:0, R-a15:0, and R-a17:1 were also detected while a17:0 was virtually S-enantiopure.