Bile acid profiling and quantification in biofluids using ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.
Bile acids are important end products of cholesterol metabolism. While they have been identified as key factors in lipid emulsification and absorption due to their detergent properties, bile acids have also been shown to act as signaling molecules and intermediates between the host and the gut microbiota. To further the investigation of bile acid functions in humans, an advanced platform for high throughput analysis is essential. Herein, we describe the development and application of a 15 min UPLC procedure for the separation of bile acid species from human biofluid samples requiring minimal sample preparation. High resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry was applied for profiling applications, elucidating rich bile acid profiles in both normal and disease state plasma. In parallel, a second mode of detection was developed utilizing tandem mass spectrometry for sensitive and quantitative targeted analysis of 145 bile acid (BA) species including primary, secondary, and tertiary bile acids. The latter system was validated by testing the linearity (lower limit of quantification, LLOQ, 0.25-10 nM and upper limit of quantification, ULOQ, 2.5-5 μM), precision (≈6.5%), and accuracy (81.2-118.9%) on inter- and intraday analysis achieving good recovery of bile acids (serum/plasma 88% and urine 93%). The ultra performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS)/MS targeted method was successfully applied to plasma, serum, and urine samples in order to compare the bile acid pool compositional difference between preprandial and postprandial states, demonstrating the utility of such analysis on human biofluids.
Imperial College of London , Division of Computational Systems Medicine, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Sir Alexander Building, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
Magali H
MH
Sarafian
Imperial College of London , Division of Computational Systems Medicine, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Sir Alexander Building, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.|Imperial College of London , MRC-NHR National Phenome Centre, Department of Surgery and Cancer, IRDB building, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, United Kingdom.
Matthew R
MR
Lewis
Imperial College of London , Division of Computational Systems Medicine, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Sir Alexander Building, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
Alexandros
A
Pechlivanis
Imperial College of London , Department of Hepatology, St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, United Kingdom.
Simon
S
Ralphs
Imperial College of London , Department of Hepatology, St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, United Kingdom.
Mark J W
MJ
McPhail
King's College London , Institute of Liver Sciences, Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Division of Transplantation Immunology and Mucosal Biology, MRC Centre for Transplantation, London, United Kingdom.
Vishal C
VC
Patel
Imperial College of London , Division of Computational Systems Medicine, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Sir Alexander Building, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
Marc-Emmanuel
ME
Dumas
Imperial College of London , Division of Computational Systems Medicine, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Sir Alexander Building, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
Elaine
E
Holmes
Imperial College of London , Division of Computational Systems Medicine, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Sir Alexander Building, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
Jeremy K
JK
Nicholson
D001647:Bile Acids and Salts / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D017093:Liver Failure / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry
D001647:Bile Acids and Salts