Fast high performance liquid chromatography analysis in lipidomics: Separation of radiolabelled fatty acids and phosphatidylcholine molecular species using a monolithic C18 silica column

HPLC procedures using conventional C18 columns are usually used to separate simple and complex lipid mixtures but these methods of separation remain often laborious and very slow. Here, monolithic columns were successfully applied to separate lipids – radiolabelled fatty acid mixtures and individual phosphatidylcholine (PC) molecular species. For that, isocratic elution was performed using two Chromolith™ Performance RP-18e columns connected in series. Detection was achieved by online measurement of radioactivity for radiolabelled fatty acids and by UV absorbance at 205 nm for PC molecular species. The performances of such silica rods were compared to conventional reverse-phase silica columns. Monolithic stationary phase separated radiolabelled fatty acids and PC molecular species two times and four times faster, respectively. In each analysis, monolithic columns allowed better separation efficiency per unit of time, with lower inlet pressure. The main advantages of this method for lipid separation are that, under isocratic conditions, it is simpler and much faster, while remaining accurate and selective when compared to conventional methods. Therefore, monolithic columns may represent a powerful tool for the near future in the field of lipidomics.