Simultaneous quantification of straight-chain and branched-chain short chain fatty acids by gas chromatography mass spectrometry

Liqing He; Md Aminul Islam Prodhan; Fang Yuan; Xinmin Yin; Pawel K Lorkiewicz; Xiaoli Wei; Wenke Feng; Craig McClain; Xiang Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.jchromb.2018.06.028

Simultaneous quantification of straight-chain and branched-chain short chain fatty acids by gas chromatography mass spectrometry

J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2018 Aug 15;1092:359-367. doi: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2018.06.028. Epub 2018 Jun 18.

Authors

Liqing He¹, Md Aminul Islam Prodhan², Fang Yuan², Xinmin Yin², Pawel K Lorkiewicz³, Xiaoli Wei², Wenke Feng⁴, Craig McClain⁵, Xiang Zhang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; University of Louisville Alcohol Research Center, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; University of Louisville Hepatobiology & Toxicology Program, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; Center for Regulatory and Environmental Analytical Metabolomics, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA. Electronic address: liqing.he@louisville.edu.
² Department of Chemistry, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; University of Louisville Alcohol Research Center, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; University of Louisville Hepatobiology & Toxicology Program, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; Center for Regulatory and Environmental Analytical Metabolomics, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA.
³ Institute of Molecular Cardiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; Diabetes and Obesity Center, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA.
⁴ University of Louisville Hepatobiology & Toxicology Program, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; Center for Regulatory and Environmental Analytical Metabolomics, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA.
⁵ University of Louisville Hepatobiology & Toxicology Program, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; Center for Regulatory and Environmental Analytical Metabolomics, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; Department of Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; Robley Rex Louisville VAMC, Louisville, KY 40292, USA.
⁶ Department of Chemistry, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; University of Louisville Alcohol Research Center, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; University of Louisville Hepatobiology & Toxicology Program, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; Center for Regulatory and Environmental Analytical Metabolomics, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA; Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA.

Abstract

Biomedical research in areas such as metabolic disorders, neuromodulatory, and immunomodulatory conditions involves lipid metabolism and demands a reliable and inexpensive method for quantification of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). We report a GC-MS method for analysis of all straight-chain and branched-chain SCFAs using pentafluorobenzyl bromide (PFBBr) as derivatization reagent. We optimized the derivatization and GC-MS conditions using a mixture containing all eight SCFA standards, i.e., five straight-chain and three branched-chain SCFAs. The optimal derivatization conditions were derivatization time 90 min, temperature 60 °C, pH 7, and (CH₃)₂CO:H₂O ratio 2:1 (v:v). Comparing the performance of different GC column configurations, a 30 m DB-225ms hyphenated with a 30 m DB-5ms column in tandem showed the best separation of SCFAs. Using the optimized experiment conditions, we simultaneously detected all SCFAs with much improved detection limit, 0.244-0.977 μM. We further applied the developed method to measure the SCFAs in mouse feces and all SCFAs were successfully quantified. The recovery rates of the eight SCFAs ranged from 55.7% to 97.9%.

Keywords: GC–MS; Hyphenated GC column; Metabolomics; PFBBr; Short chain fatty acids.

MeSH terms

Animals
Fatty Acids, Volatile / analysis*
Fatty Acids, Volatile / chemistry
Fatty Acids, Volatile / metabolism
Feces / chemistry
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / methods*
Limit of Detection
Linear Models
Male
Metabolomics / methods*
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Reproducibility of Results

Substances

Fatty Acids, Volatile

Abstract

MeSH terms

Substances

Grant support