The overall lipid structures will influence how different lipids can be separated during analysis. An example of a chromatographic analysis separating different types of lipids in blood plasma is shown in the figure below.
An additional dimension of separation is introduced as the effluent enters into a high-resolution mass spectrometric detector (TOF-MS). The efficient separation allows us to distinguish between lipids of different molecular weights with identical retention time (first dimension). High and efficient separation is crucial for analysis of the several hundred lipids present in samples like plasma, serum, saliva, tissues, etc. The two-dimensional separation is illustrated in the figure below.
To find out more about our lipidomic services, please contact us.