Fast quantification of short chain fatty acids and ketone bodies by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry after facile derivatization coupled with liquid-liquid extraction.

Short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and ketone bodies recently emerged as important physiological relevant metabolites because of their association with microbiota, immunology, obesity and other metabolic states. They were commonly analyzed by GC-MS with long run time and laborious sample preparation. In this study we developed a novel LC-MS/MS method using fast derivatization coupled with liquid-liquid extraction to detect SCFA and ketone bodies in plasma and feces. Several different derivatization reagents were evaluated to compare the efficiency, the sensitivity and chromatographic separation of structural isomers. O­benzylhydroxylamine was selected for its superior overall performance in reaction time and isomeric separation that allowed the measurement of each SCFAs and ketone bodies free from interferences. The derivatization procedure is facile and reproducible in aqueous-organic medium, which abolished the evaporation procedure hampering the analysis of volatile short chain acids. Enhancement in sensitivity remarkably improved the detection limit of SCFA and ketone bodies to sub-fmol level. This novel method was applied to quantify these metabolites in fecal and plasma samples from lean and DIO mouse.

Stimulation of gluconeogenesis by palmitic acid in rat hepatocytes: evidence that this effect can be dissociated from the provision of reducing equivalents.

When hepatocytes isolated from fasted rats were incubated in medium containing 5 mmol/L pyruvate, addition of albumin-bound palmitate (0.5 mmol/L) increased fatty acid oxidation and the conversion of pyruvate to glucose. Similar stimulation of gluconeogenesis occurred when palmitate was added to hepatocytes in medium containing 5 mmol/L alanine. Addition of 0.5 mmol/L (+)-octanoylcarnitine, an inhibitor of fatty acid oxidation, prevented the increment in beta-oxidation, but not the increase in glucose formation from pyruvate or alanine, induced by palmitate. These studies and other data to be considered subsequently indicate that palmitate can stimulate hepatic gluconeogenesis from three-carbon precursors under conditions that preclude an increase in the formation of reducing equivalents by beta-oxidation.