Development of a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for quantitative analysis of trace d-amino acids

• Published in: Journal of bioscience and bioengineering 2017-01, Vol.123 (1), p.134-138
• Main Authors: Nakano, Yosuke, Konya, Yutaka, Taniguchi, Moyu, Fukusaki, Eiichiro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino Acids - analysis; Amino Acids - chemistry; Chromatography, Liquid - methods; d-Amino acids; Enantioseparation; Limit of Detection; Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; Quantitative analysis; Reproducibility of Results; Tandem Mass Spectrometry - methods; Underivatization
• ISSN: 1389-1723; 1347-4421
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiosc.2016.07.008

d-Amino acids have recently attracted much attention in various research fields including medical, clinical and food industry due to their important biological functions that differ from l-amino acid. Most chiral amino acid separation techniques require complicated derivatization procedures in order to achieve the desirable chromatographic behavior and detectability. Thus, the aim of this research is to develop a highly sensitive analytical method for the enantioseparation of chiral amino acids without any derivatization process using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). By optimizing MS/MS parameters, we established a quantification method that allowed the simultaneous analysis of 18 d-amino acids with high sensitivity and reproducibility. Additionally, we applied the method to food sample (vinegar) for the validation, and successfully quantified trace levels of d-amino acids in samples. These results demonstrated the applicability and feasibility of the LC–MS/MS method as a novel, effective tool for d-amino acid measurement in various biological samples.