Determination of long-chain fatty acid acyl-coenzyme A compounds using liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

Acyl-CoAs have important role in fat and glucose metabolism of the cells. In this study we have developed an on-line HPLC–ESI-MS/MS method for determination of long-chain acyl-CoA compounds in rat liver samples. Six long-chain acyl-CoAs (C16:0, C16:1, C18:0, C18:1, C20:0 and C20:4) were separated with a C4 reversed-phase column using triethylamine acetate and acetonitrile gradient. Negative electrospray ionization is very suitable for acyl-CoA compounds and excellent MS/MS spectra for long-chain acyl-CoAs can be obtained. MS/MS method with an ion trap mass spectrometer makes it possible to identify and quantitate individual acyl-CoAs simultaneously. The method proved to be sensitive enough for determination of all compounds of interest using 0.4–0.7 g of tissue and was validated in the range of 0.1–15.0 pmol/μl.