Rapid and simple extraction of lipids from blood plasma and urine for liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A simple and fast lipid extraction method from human blood plasma and urine is introduced in this study. The effective lipid extraction from biological systems with a minimization of the matrix effect is important for the successful qualitative and quantitative analysis of lipids in liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS). The method described here is based on the modification of the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe (QuEChERS) extraction method, which was originally developed for pesticide residue analysis in food, for the purpose of isolating lipids from biological fluids. Applicability of QuEChERS method for lipids was evaluated by varying organic solvents for the extraction/partitioning of lipids in MgSO₄/CH₃COONa for the removal of water and by varying sorbents (primary secondary amines, graphitized carbon black, silica, strong anion exchange resins and C18 particles) for the dispersive solid-phase extraction (dSPE) step. This study shows that 2:1 (v/v) CHCl₃/CH₃OH is effective in the extraction/partitioning step and that 50mg of C18 particles (for 0.1mL plasma and 1mL of urine) are more suitable for sample cleanup for the dSPE step of the QuEChERS method. Matrix effects were calculated by comparing the recovery values of lipid standards spiked to both plasma and urine samples after extraction with those of the same standards in a neat solution using nanoflow LC-ESI-MS/MS, resulting in improved MS signals due to the decrease of the ion suppression compared to the conventional Folch method. The modified QuEChERS method was applied to lipid extracts from both human urine and plasma samples, demonstrating that it can be powerfully utilized for high-speed (<15min) preparation of lipids compared to the Folch method, with equivalent or slightly improved results in lipid identification using nLC-ESI-MS/MS.