title: Development of an Advanced HPLC-MS/MS Method for the Determination of Carotenoids and Fat-Soluble Vitamins in Human Plasma.
abstract: The concentration of carotenoids and fat-soluble vitamins in human plasma may play a significant role in numerous chronic diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and some types of cancer. Although these compounds are of utmost interest for human health, methods for their simultaneous determination are scarce. A new high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC)-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) method for the quantification of selected carotenoids and fat-soluble vitamins in human plasma was developed, validated, and then applied in a pilot dietary intervention study with healthy volunteers. In 50 min, 16 analytes were separated with an excellent resolution and suitable MS signal intensity. The proposed HPLC-MS/MS method led to improvements in the limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) for all analyzed compounds compared to the most often used HPLC-DAD methods, in some cases being more than 100-fold lower. LOD values were between 0.001 and 0.422 µg/mL and LOQ values ranged from 0.003 to 1.406 µg/mL, according to the analyte. The accuracy, precision, and stability met with the acceptance criteria of the AOAC (Association of Official Analytical Chemists) International. According to these results, the described HPLC-MS/MS method is adequately sensitive, repeatable and suitable for the large-scale analysis of compounds in biological fluids.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava 70103, Czech Republic. b.hrvolova@seznam.cz.
authors.forename: Barbora
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hrvolová
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Gastronomy-XARTA-INSA, School of Pharmacy and Food Science, University of Barcelona, Barcelona 08028, Spain. mmartinezh@ub.edu.|CIBER CB06/03 Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y la Nutrición, CIBEROBN, Madrid 28049, Spain. mmartinezh@ub.edu.
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martínez-Huélamo
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Gastronomy-XARTA-INSA, School of Pharmacy and Food Science, University of Barcelona, Barcelona 08028, Spain. marielcolman@ub.edu.
authors.forename: Mariel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Colmán-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Gastronomy-XARTA-INSA, School of Pharmacy and Food Science, University of Barcelona, Barcelona 08028, Spain. sara.hurtado_17@ub.edu.|CIBER CB06/03 Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y la Nutrición, CIBEROBN, Madrid 28049, Spain. sara.hurtado_17@ub.edu.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hurtado-Barroso
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Gastronomy-XARTA-INSA, School of Pharmacy and Food Science, University of Barcelona, Barcelona 08028, Spain. lamuela@ub.edu.|CIBER CB06/03 Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y la Nutrición, CIBEROBN, Madrid 28049, Spain. lamuela@ub.edu.
authors.forename: Rosa Maria
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Lamuela-Raventós
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava 70103, Czech Republic. jiri.kalina@osu.cz.
authors.forename: Jiří
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kalina
mesh_terms: D002338:Carotenoids / Q000097:blood*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D057230:Limit of Detection; D010865:Pilot Projects; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D014815:Vitamins / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014815:Vitamins; D002338:Carotenoids
keywords: carotenoids; fat-soluble vitamins; high antioxidant diet; human plasma; pilot human study; tandem mass spectrometry