A High Throughput Lipidomics Method Using Scheduled Multiple Reaction Monitoring

Lipid compositions of cells, tissues, and bio-fluids are complex, with varying concentrations and structural diversity making their identification challenging. Newer methods for comprehensive analysis of lipids are thus necessary. Herein, we propose a targeted-mass spectrometry based lipidomics screening method using a combination of variable retention time window and relative dwell time weightage. Using this method, we identified more than 1000 lipid species within 24-min. The limit of detection varied from the femtomolar to the nanomolar range. About 883 lipid species were detected with a coefficient of variance <30%. We used this method to identify plasma lipids altered due to vitamin B(12 )deficiency and found a total of 18 lipid species to be altered. Some of the lipid species with omega-6 fatty acid chains were found to be significantly increased while omega-3 decreased in vitamin B-12 deficient samples. This method enables rapid screening of a large number of lipid species in a single experiment and would substantially advance our understanding of the role of lipids in biological processes.

Automated summary

Lipid compositions are complex and challenging to identify, necessitating new comprehensive analysis methods. This study proposes a targeted-mass spectrometry method that can rapidly screen a large number of lipid species, and identifies alterations in plasma lipids due to vitamin B(12) deficiency.