Giuseppe Astarita

Mass spectrometry analysis of lipids in complex matrices is revolutionizing the way lipid research is conducted.

Innovative technologies are rapidly helping to measure the numerous and diverse lipids present in biological samples. In this second and final instalment of the series, the authors present and discuss the use of these technologies for lipid analysis.

This two-part column explains how lipids analysis has evolved and the variety of techniques and approaches currently used in lipidomics, including their advantages and disadvantages, such as sample preparation, separations and, of course, mass spectrometry.

Part I of this series explains how lipids analysis has evolved.

In this application note, novel RP-UPHLC separations are performed using a Waters ACQUITY UPLC System with Charged Surface Hybrid (CSH) chemistry. The combination of sub-2-µm particle size with an optimized liquid chromatography system and novel chemistry allows for a significantly improved RP method that maximizes the performance of these particles and is optimized for the analysis of complex lipid mixtures.