Recent Advances in the Analysis of Vitamin D and Its Metabolites in Food Matrices

Abstract

Vitamin D and its analogues are fat-soluble vitamins that carry out important functions in human and animal organisms. Many studies have pointed out the relationship between the deficiency of these substances and the development of both skeletal- and extra-skeletal diseases. Although vitamin D is fundamentally derived from the bio-transformation of its precursor, 7-dehydrocholesterol, through the action of UV-B radiation in the skin, dietary intake also plays an important role in the regulation of its status in an organism. For this reason, the application of reliable methodologies that enable monitoring the content of vitamin D and its analogues in food and supplements constitutes an aspect of special relevance to establish adequate habits, which avoid the deficiency of these substances in organisms and, consequently, the appearance of related diseases. The use of chromatographic techniques in combination with conventional and novel sample pre-treatments has become a suitable strategy to achieve this aim. This review compiles the most relevant methodologies reported in the last ten years for vitamin D analogues analysis in food matrices. Particular attention has been paid to provide a general overview of the most suitable approaches in terms of reliability, sensitivity and simplicity, used in the field of food analysis.

Sample preparation techniques for extraction of vitamin D metabolites from non-conventional biological sample matrices prior to LC–MS/MS analysis

“…More details on the metabolic cascade can be found elsewhere, e.g. [ 32 , 33 ], as well as detailed information on sample preparation for conventional blood-related samples or for food matrices [ 26 , 27 ].

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“…This review describes the utility of different biological sample matrices beyond serum/plasma for determination of vitamin D metabolites. Previous reviews have focused mainly on human body fluids [ 24 – 26 ] or food [ 27 ]. The present review summarizes the sample preparation steps prior to LC–MS/MS analysis and emphasizes the challenges and the critical factors that should be considered before developing a sample pre-treatment protocol.…”

Simultaneous Determination of Vitamin D and Its Hydroxylated and Esterified Metabolites by Ultrahigh-Performance Supercritical Fluid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

“… 8 − 13 However, the analysis of ester forms has not been carried out so far in any type of sample, as described in a recent review article. 6 The advantages of supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) in terms of selectivity, comprehensiveness, and analysis speed together with its compatibility with a large range of different detectors have identified this technique as a promising alternative to LC. 14 In this regard, SFC hyphenated to MS has been applied for the determination of vitamin D analogues in our own studies 15 and in others 16 − 18 but not including both hydroxylated and ester forms.…”

“…In the past years, targeted analysis of these compounds have been done usually by liquid chromatography (LC) combined with conventional detectors and/or mass spectrometry (MS) . All these methods have been focused on the determination of D 3 or hydroxylated metabolites. − However, the analysis of ester forms has not been carried out so far in any type of sample, as described in a recent review article .…”

“…In the past years, targeted analysis of these compounds have been done usually by liquid chromatography (LC) combined with conventional detectors and/or mass spectrometry (MS) . All these methods have been focused on the determination of D 3 or hydroxylated metabolites. − However, the analysis of ester forms has not been carried out so far in any type of sample, as described in a recent review article . The advantages of supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) in terms of selectivity, comprehensiveness, and analysis speed together with its compatibility with a large range of different detectors have identified this technique as a promising alternative to LC .…”