Analysis of liposoluble carboxylic acids metabolome in human serum by stable isotope labeling coupled with liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry

• Quadruple neutral loss modes were established and used in non-targeted profiling of LCAs.
• We discovered 241 potential LCAs in the human serum and identified 21 of these LCAs by standards.
• A modified pseudo-targeted method was developed for relative quantification of LCAs in human serum from T2DM and healthy controls.
• We found 81 LCAs have significant difference in content between T2DM patients and healthy controls.

Fatty acids (FAs) are groups of liposoluble carboxylic acids (LCAs) and play important roles in various physiological processes. Abnormal contents or changes of FAs are associated with a series of diseases. Here we developed a strategy with stable isotope labeling combined with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (IL–LC–MS) analysis for comprehensive profiling and relative quantitation of LCAs in human serum. In this strategy, a pair of isotope labeling reagents (2-dimethylaminoethylamine (DMED)) and d4-2-dimethylaminoethylamine (d4-DMED) were employed to selectively label carboxyl groups of LCAs. The DMED and d4-DMED labeled products can lose four characteristic neutral fragments of 45 and 49 Da or 63 and 67 Da in collision-induced dissociation. Therefore, quadruple neutral loss scan (QNLS) mode was established and used for non-targeted profiling of LCAs. The peak pairs of DMED and d4-DMED labeling with the same retention time, intensity and characteristic mass differences were extracted from the two NLS spectra respectively, and assigned as potential LCA candidates. Using this strategy, 241 LCA candidates were discovered in the human serum; 156 carboxylic acid compounds could be determined by searching HMDB and METLIN databases (FAs are over 90%) and 21 of these LCAs were successfully identified by standards. Subsequently, a modified pseudo-targeted method with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) detection mode was developed and used for relative quantification of LCAs in human serum from type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients and healthy controls. As a result, 81 LCAs were found to have significant difference between T2DM patients and healthy controls. Taken together, the isotope labeling combined with tandem mass spectrometry analysis demonstrated to be a powerful strategy for identification and quantification of LCA compounds in serum samples.