MG@PD@TiO2 nanocomposite based magnetic solid phase extraction coupled with LC–MS/MS for determination of lysophosphatidylcholines biomarkers of plasma in psoriasis patients

Abstract

Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) was commonly known as a class of significant differential metabolites of high relevance with many diseases including psoriasis, of which the accurate determination is of great importance to diagnosis or prediction to many diseases. However, it is challenging and complicated because of the enormous biological sample complexity and impurities interference. In this study, we synthesized a magnetic nanocomposite MG@PD@TiO2 and took advantage of the interactions of Lewis acid−base between the phosphate groups in LPCs and Ti ions on MG@PD@TiO2 nanomaterials for selective separation and enrichment of LPCs from complex biological matrix. The solid-phase extraction sample pretreatment process by means of MG@PD@TiO2 nanomaterials coupled with LC–MS/MS method was then applied to actual determination of six typical LPCs (LPC 10:0, 14:0, 16:0, 18:0, 18:1, 22:0) in human plasma. The extraction conditions were scientifically optimized by single-factor test (adsorbent amount, adsorption and desorption time, elution solvent type, eluant volume). Under the optimal conditions, the detection limits (LOD, S/N = 3) and quantification limits (LOQ, S/N = 10) were 1 and 5 ng/mL for LPC 10:0 and LPC 14:0, 0.02 and 0.1 ng/mL for LPC 16:0 and LPC 18:1, 0.05 and 0.2 ng/mL LPC 18:0 and LPC 22:0, respectively. The intra- and inter-day precisions were 3.82–12.60 % (n = 6) and 3.29–13.50 % (n = 6) respectively, the recoveries were in the range of 91.92–113.69 % and the stability of the analytes in the matrix performed well with RSDs≤15.51 %. Finally, the developed method was successfully applied to the accurate determination of six LPCs biomarkers of plasma in patients with psoriasis (n = 10) and control groups (n = 10).