Saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids are important for normal development and function within the body. A method to determine the concentration of saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids in circulation in the body was developed. This method used serum or plasma to extract free fatty acids from the components of whole blood while the concentrations were determined using GC/MS. This same method was applied to unknown samples of whole blood and compared to the known serum and plasma concentrations to assess the reliability of whole blood as an accurate measurement of fatty acid concentrations. Within the whole blood samples, the extraction and analysis by gas chromatography mass spectrometry was performed on samples with and without butylated hydroxytoluene, which served as an anticoagulant. Because of the variability of concentrations within the results and differences to the known values, whole blood proved inconclusive as an acceptable medium for determining fatty acid concentrations.

GC/MS analysis of fatty acid concentrations in whole blood compared to serum and plasma

247th National Meeting (2014)

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