Analysis of 15 bile acids in human plasma based on C18 functionalized magnetic organic polymer nanocomposite coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Because of the “enterohepatic circulation” of bile acid, liver damage can be reflected by monitoring the content of bile acid in the serum of the organism. To monitor the concentration of 15 bile acids in plasma samples, a new technique of PRiME (process, ruggedness, improvement, matrix effect, ease of use) pass-through cleanup procedure combined with high performance liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was developed. The sorbent used in the PRiME pass-through cleanup procedure is a new type of magnetic organic resin composite nano-material modified by C18 (C18-PS-DVB-GMA-Fe3O4), which has high cleanup efficiency of plasma samples. It also shows good performance in the separation and analysis of 15 kinds of bile acids. Under the optimal conditions, the results show higher cleanup efficiency of C18-PS-DVB-GMA-Fe3O4 with recoveries in the range of 82.1%-115%. The limit of quantitative (LOQs) of 15 bile acids were in the range of 0.033 µg/L-0.19 µg/L, and the RSD values of 15 bile acids were in the range of 3.00%-11.9%. Validation results on linearity, specificity, accuracy and precision, as well as on the application to analysis of 15 bile acids in 100 human plasma samples demonstrate the applicability to clinical studies.