Changes in fatty acid profiles have been associated with several pathophysiological processes. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) data monitoring of selected ions was used with principal components analysis (PCA), revealing a set of relevant ions for quantification and characterization of fatty acids. This protocol was successfully applied to the analyses of fatty acids in different human blood lipids, allowing the quantification of several fatty acids and revealing their unsaturation numbers. Moreover the presences of contaminants, artifacts and co-eluitions in the chromatogram were also revealed without any additional analyses. Thus, fatty acid constituents of triglycerides, phospholipids and esters of cholesterol present in plasma and erythrocyte membranes were accurately determined, with repeatability, low limits of determination and of quantification.
fatty acid methyl esters; principal component analysis; selected ion monitoring
