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Rapid and miniaturized qualitative and quantitative gas chromatography profiling of human blood total fatty acids

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Abstract

The qualitative and quantitative profiling of fatty acids in human blood is a useful tool in disease prevention and health care, two concepts that are intimately related. In fact, fatty acid (FA) analysis can provide in-depth information on a specific metabolic state of individuals. The goal of the present research consisted of the development of a rapid and miniaturized analytical strategy for the complete characterization of the fatty acid profile in human blood. Sample collection was carried out by using the dried blood spot approach, while fatty acid derivatization to methyl esters was performed directly by using sodium methoxide and boron trifluoride. The following figures of merit were defined: intra- and inter-day repeatability, linearity range, limits of detection, and quantification. Additionally, the accuracy of the developed method was evaluated in the analysis of a certified reference human plasma sample. Apart from blood, the analytical procedure was also applied to samples of human serum and plasma. During the final stage of the research, the developed analytical method was performed in a fully automated manner.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge Shimadzu Corporation and Merck Life Science for their continuous support. The authors thank the “Programma Operativo Fondo Sociale Europeo (FSE) Regione Siciliana 2014–2020–Asse 3 Ob. 10.5” for the PhD fellowship to Giuseppe Micalizzi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, 98168, Messina, Italy

    Giuseppe Micalizzi, Paola Dugo, Peter Q. Tranchida & Luigi Mondello

  2. Chromaleont s.r.l., via Ludovisi 45, 00187, Rome, Italy

    Emanuela Ragosta

  3. Diabetes Research Institute Division of Cellular Transplantation of Surgery, University of Miami, 1450 NW 10th Ave, Miami, FL, 33136, USA

    Sara Farnetti

  4. Unit of Food Science and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, via Alvaro del Portillo 21, 00128, Rome, Italy

    Paola Dugo & Luigi Mondello

  5. Chromaleont s.r.l., c/o Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, 98168, Messina, Italy

    Paola Dugo, Luigi Mondello & Francesca Rigano

  6. BeSep s.r.l., c/o Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, 98168, Messina, Italy

    Paola Dugo & Luigi Mondello

Authors
  1. Giuseppe Micalizzi
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  2. Emanuela Ragosta
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Correspondence to Luigi Mondello.

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All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki declaration of 1975 (in its most recently amended version).

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Published in the topical collection Current Progress in Lipidomics with guest editors Michal Holčapek, Gerhard Liebisch, and Kim Ekroos.

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Micalizzi, G., Ragosta, E., Farnetti, S. et al. Rapid and miniaturized qualitative and quantitative gas chromatography profiling of human blood total fatty acids. Anal Bioanal Chem 412, 2327–2337 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-020-02424-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-020-02424-y

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