Analysis of the phospholipid composition of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid from man and minipig by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry in combination with TLC.
Surfaces of lungs are covered by the surfactant, an aqueous mixture of different phospholipids (PL) and proteins. Although the surfactant represents a relatively simple mixture of only a few PL (primarily phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylglycerol (PG)), reliable methods of routine lipid analysis of the surfactant are still lacking. It will be shown that matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) represents a suitable technique for the differentiation of the apolar components of the surfactant of different species. Samples of man and minipig are used in this study since both are known to vary in their PL composition. PL of surfactant were separated by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and the obtained subfractions subjected to MALDI-TOF MS analysis in order to monitor the presence of even minor PL species. It will be shown that besides PG and PC, also phosphatidylethanolamine, -inositol and sphingomyelin can be detected in surfactant of man, whereas only sphingomyelin could be detected in the minipig sample.
Sommerer
Daniela
D
Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics, Medical Department, University of Leipzig, Liebigstrasse 27, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Süss
Rosmarie
R
Hammerschmidt
Stefan
S
Wirtz
Hubertus
H
Arnold
Klaus
K
Schiller
Jürgen
J
D000818:Animals; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000737:chemistry*; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D006801:Humans; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000032:analysis*; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants / Q000032:analysis*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013045:Species Specificity; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D013552:Swine; D013556:Swine, Miniature
D010743:Phospholipids; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants