Merging metabolomics and lipidomics into one analytical run

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Mass Spectrometry

Background:

• Metabolomics and lipidomics are crucial for understanding biological systems.
• Analyzing both polar metabolites and non-polar lipids often requires separate workflows, limiting efficiency.
• A unified approach is needed to improve coverage and throughput.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an integrated metabolomics and lipidomics workflow.
• To achieve high coverage of both polar metabolites and non-polar lipids in a single analytical run.
• To enhance analytical throughput without compromising data quality.

Main Methods:

• Combined hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) and reversed-phase (RP) chromatography.
• Utilized high-resolution mass spectrometry with fast polarity switching.
• Implemented automated sample preparation and data acquisition strategies.
• Consecutive HILIC and RP separations with optimized re-equilibration times.

Main Results:

• Achieved high coverage of hydrophilic sugars, organic acids, and water-insoluble triglycerides.
• Successfully identified >100 metabolites and >380 lipids in human plasma.
• Enabled targeted quantification of 59 metabolites and demonstrated lipid quantification potential.
• Quantified analytes across four orders of magnitude (nM to μM) in human plasma.

Conclusions:

• The integrated workflow provides unprecedented coverage of metabolites and lipids.
• The method significantly improves analytical throughput by reducing run times.
• This approach is valuable for comprehensive biological sample analysis, particularly in human plasma.