Influence of Experimental Conditions on the Ratio of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D-3 Conformers for Validating a Liquid Chromatography/Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry Method for Routine Quantitation

The utility of adding ion mobility (IM) to liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) for quantitation of 25-hydroxyvitamin D-3 (25OHD3) is evaluated. Sodiated 25OHD3 ions adopt both closed and open conformations, whereas the stereoisomer 3-epi-25-hydroxyvitamin D (epi25OHD), when sodiated, adopts only a closed gas-phase conformation. The unique open conformation for sodiated 25OHD3 permits unambiguous quantitation. Nonetheless, the ratio of open versus closed gas-phase conformations for sodiated 25OHD3 can vary with instrumental conditions; conversion from the open to the closed conformer is attributed to radio frequency (rf) heating within the ion accumulation trap. Ion heating becomes significant when space charge in the trap forces ions to larger radii where the rf field is higher. To avoid biasing quantitation, an isotopically labeled internal standard must be used to account for changes in conformer ratio. Thirty-three serum extract samples were evaluated by LC/IM-MS and were found to not be biased by changes in ion conformer ratios, permitting reliable quantitation of 25OHD3 without interference from the epimer.