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Sample preparation for fatty acid analysis in biological samples with mass spectrometry-based strategies

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Abstract

Fatty acids (FAs) have attracted many interests for their pivotal roles in many biological processes. Imbalance of FAs is related to a variety of diseases, which makes the measurement of them important in biological samples. Over the past two decades, mass spectrometry (MS) has become an indispensable technique for the analysis of FAs owing to its high sensitivity and precision. Due to complex matrix effect of biological samples and inherent poor ionization efficiency of FAs in MS, sample preparation including extraction and chemical derivatization prior to analysis are often employed. Here, we describe an updated overview of FA extraction techniques, as well as representative derivatization methods utilized in different MS platforms including gas chromatography-MS, liquid chromatography-MS, and mass spectrometry imaging based on different chain lengths of FAs. Derivatization strategies for the identification of double bond location in unsaturated FAs are also summarized and highlighted. The advantages, disadvantages, and prospects of these methods are compared and discussed. This review provides the development and valuable information for sample pretreatment approaches and qualitative and quantitative analysis of interested FAs using different MS-based platforms in complex biological matrices. Finally, the challenges of FA analysis are summarized and the future perspectives are prospected.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 22125401 and 81973287) and Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi Province (grant number 202303021211109).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacy, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, 030001, People’s Republic of China

    Li Yang, Jie Yuan, Bolin Yu & Shuang Hu

  2. Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People’s Republic of China

    Yu Bai

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  1. Li Yang
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Published in the topical collection Advances in (Bio-)Analytical Chemistry: Reviews and Trends Collection 2024.

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Yang, L., Yuan, J., Yu, B. et al. Sample preparation for fatty acid analysis in biological samples with mass spectrometry-based strategies. Anal Bioanal Chem 416, 2371–2387 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05185-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05185-0

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