Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Aug 9;5(8):e12045.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0012045.

High-throughput analysis of total plasma fatty acid composition with direct in situ transesterification

Claudia Glaser  1 , Hans Demmelmair, Berthold Koletzko
Affiliations

High-throughput analysis of total plasma fatty acid composition with direct in situ transesterification

Claudia Glaser et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Plasma fatty acid (FA) composition reflects dietary intake and endogenous turnover and is associated with health outcomes on a short and long term basis. The total plasma FA pool represents the composition of all FA containing lipid fractions. We developed a simplified and affordable high-throughput method for the analysis of total plasma FA composition, suitable for large studies.

Methodology/principal findings: The total lipid FA from 100 microl plasma is transferred in situ into methyl esters, avoiding initial extraction and drying steps. The fatty acid methyl esters are extracted once and analyzed by gas chromatography. For the new direct in situ transesterification method optimal, reaction parameters were determined. Intra-assay analysis (n=8) revealed coefficients of variation below 4% for FA contributing more than 1% to total FA.

Conclusions/significance: The results show good agreement with FA concentrations obtained by a reference method. The new direct in situ transesterification method is robust and simple. Sample preparation time and analysis costs are reduced to a minimum. This method is an economically and ecologically superior alternative to conventional methods for assessing plasma FA status in large studies.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the procedure according the direct in situ transesterification method to assess the total fatty acid composition in a plasma sample (GC, gas chromatography).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Muskiet fa, kemperman rf. folate and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in psychiatric disease. J nutr biochem. 2006;17:717–727. - PubMed
    1. Leaf a. prevention of sudden cardiac death by n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Fundam clin pharmacol. 2006;20:525–538. - PubMed
    1. Kompauer i, demmelmair h, koletzko b, bolte g, linseisen j, et al. association of fatty acids in serum phospholipids with hay fever, specific and total immunoglobulin e. Br j nutr. 2005;93:529–535. - PubMed
    1. Beblo s, reinhardt h, demmelmair h, muntau ac, koletzko b. effect of fish oil supplementation on fatty acid status, coordination, and fine motor skills in children with phenylketonuria. J pediatr. 2007;150:479–484. - PubMed
    1. Koletzko b, cetin i, brenna jt. dietary fat intakes for pregnant and lactating women. Br j nutr. 2007;98:873–877. - PubMed

Publication types