A rapid gas chromatographic method for the quantitation of underivatised individual free fatty acids in plasma

A rapid method for quantitating individual free fatty acids (FFA) in plasma has been developed. An internal standard is added to plasma, the FFA are extracted into an organic solvent, concentrated and injected into a gas chromatograph. For routine estimations, extraction and assay of a single sample takes about 30 min and up to 30 samples can be assayed in a day. Seven FFA (myristic, palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids), are routinely quantitated. This method can be used to monitor individual FFA levels, to determine the percentage composition of individual FFA in plasma or to investigate metabolic disorders involving fatty acids, for example Refsum's disease.