Recent advances in lipid analysis by capillary electromigration methods, 2019-2024.

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Separation Science

Background:

• Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) was historically underutilized for lipid analysis.
• Recent years show a resurgence in CE applications for lipid research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review advances in Capillary Electrophoresis for lipid analysis over the past five years.
• Highlight the growing capabilities of MEKC and NACE in lipid quantification and characterization.

Main Methods:

• Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography (MEKC) for fatty acid analysis.
• Non-aqueous Capillary Electrophoresis (NACE) for fatty acids, phospholipids, and glycolipids.
• NACE coupled with Mass Spectrometry (MS) using Electrospray Ionization (ESI).

Main Results:

• MEKC now rivals Gas Chromatography (GC) for fatty acid analysis.
• NACE enables comprehensive lipid analysis, including phospholipids and glycolipids.
• NACE-MS coupling offers robust analytical performance.

Conclusions:

• CE techniques, particularly NACE, are becoming robust and viable alternatives to GC and Liquid Chromatography (LC).
• CE offers advantages in sample preparation speed and resolution for lipid analysis.
• Laboratories with existing GC or LC infrastructure should consider adopting CE for lipid studies.