The identification and quantitation of a wide range of lipids in complex biological samples is an essential requirement for the lipidomic studies. High-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS) has the highest potential to obtain detailed information on the whole lipidome, but the reliable quantitation of multiple lipid classes is still a challenging task. In this work, we describe a new method for the nontargeted quantitation of polar lipid classes separated by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) followed by positive-ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) using a single internal lipid standard to which all class specific response factors (RFs) are related to. The developed method enables the nontargeted quantitation of lipid classes and molecules inside these classes in contrast to the conventional targeted quantitation, which is based on predefined selected reaction monitoring (SRM) transitions for selected lipids only. In the nontargeted quantitation method described here, concentrations of lipid classes are obtained by the peak integration in HILIC chromatograms multiplied by their RFs related to the single internal standard (i.e., sphingosyl PE, d17:1/12:0) used as common reference for all polar lipid classes. The accuracy, reproducibility and robustness of the method have been checked by various means: (1) the comparison with conventional lipidomic quantitation using SRM scans on a triple quadrupole (QqQ) mass analyzer, (2) (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quantitation of the total lipid extract, (3) method robustness test using subsequent measurements by three different persons, (4) method transfer to different HPLC/MS systems using different chromatographic conditions, and (5) comparison with previously published results for identical samples, especially human reference plasma from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST human plasma). Results on human plasma, egg yolk and porcine liver extracts are presented and discussed.

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A new continuous comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry method has been developed for the lipidomic characterization of complex biological samples. The reversed-phase ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with a C18 column (150 mm × 1 mm, 1.7 μm) used in the first dimension makes the separation of numerous lipid species differing in their hydrophobic part of the molecule, mainly fatty acyl chain lengths and the number and positions of double bonds, possible. Coeluted lipid species in the first dimension are resolved by the fast hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography separation (50 mm × 3 mm, 2.7 μm, core-shell particles) of lipid classes according to their different polarities in the second dimension. Retention times in both dimensions, accurate m/z values, and tandem mass spectra provide high confidence in the identification of lipid species. The retention behavior of individual lipids in reversed-phase mode follows the equivalent carbon number pattern, which provides an additional tool for unambiguous identification. This analytical method is applied for the lipidomic characterization of total lipid extracts of human plasma and porcine brain samples, which resulted in the identification of 143 lipid species from four lipid categories and ten lipid classes.

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