A large-scale, targeted metabolomics method for the analysis and quantification of metabolites in human plasma via liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Center for Interventional Gastroenterology at UT Health Division of Endoluminal Surgery and Interventional Gastro- enterology Department of Surgery The University of Texas Health Science Center Houston, Texas, USA HILIC and RP stationary phases combined with positive and negative electrospray ionization in order to maximize metabolome coverage. Complete analysis of a single sample can be achieved in as little as 40 min using the two columns and dual modes of ionization. With 540 metabolites and the inclusion of over 200 analytical standards, this method is comprehensive and quantitatively robust when compared to current targeted metabolomics methods. This study uses a large-scale evaluation of metabolite recovery from plasma that enables ab-solute quantification of metabolites by correcting for analyte loss throughout processes such as extraction, handling, or storage. In addition, the method was applied to plasma collected from adjuvant breast cancer pa-tients to confirm the suitability of the method to clinical samples.