Table 2:
Relative advantages and disadvantages of alternative lipidomic analytical methods to LC-MS.
| Method | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Nuclear magnetic resonance | Uniquely suited to be able to identify the chemical locations of isotopically labeled nuclei in isotopic labeling studies (fluxomics) | Low sensitivity |
| Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry | Localize measured metabolites to sub-tissue structures; it has been used to provide glomerular and tubulointerstitial metabolite information in the kidney | Can be poorly reproducible; results variable depending on prepared matrix |
| Direction-infusion (shotgun) lipidomics | Average more mass scans to achieve better signal-to-noise ratio and accomplish more sophisticated structural analysis of lipids | Lack of chromatographic separation means loss of retention time information and matrix effects, which occurs in complex biological samples |
| Gas-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS) | High-reproducibility | Extensive sample preparation and derivatization, which is time-consuming and potentially results in irreproducibility. |
| Ion-mobility spectrometry (IMS) | Orthogonal separation method to GC and LC, can be used to separate lipid isomers Can be added to other separation workflows as an additional separation method | Depending on the IMS method and design, low sensitivity due to the ion-mobility compartment |
| Liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS) | Relatively minimal sample preparation, high sensitivity | Reproducibility can depend on chromatography methods |