A simple and sensitive method for lipoprotein and lipids profiles analysis of individual micro-liter scale serum samples.

A simple and sensitive method to determine lipoprotein and lipids profiles in micro-liter scale individual serum sample is not presently available. Traditional lipoprotein separation techniques either by ultra-centrifugation or by liquid chromatography methods have their disadvantages in both lipoprotein separation and lipids component quantification. In this study we used small volume needing size-exclusion fast protein liquid chromatography to separate different lipoprotein subclasses in 50μL serum. And lipids contents, such as cholesterol, cholesterol ester and triacylglycerol, were measured by using two different fluorescence-based lipid detection methods. With this method, very low density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein and high density lipoprotein could be easily separated, and follow-up lipid detection was completed by simple kinds of reactions. Serum lipoprotein and lipids profiling from C57BL/6 mice (n=5) and human (n=5) were analyzed. The elution profiles of five individuals were highly reproducible, and there were lipoprotein and lipids distribution variations between C57BL/6 mice and human beings. In conclusion, this method which combined small volume needing size-exclusion fast protein liquid chromatography and fluorescence-based lipids measurement, provided a simple, efficient, integrity and reproducible procedure for determining serum lipoprotein and lipids profiles in micro-liter scale levels. It becomes possible that determination of lipoprotein profiles and gaining information of lipids in different lipoproteins can be accomplished simultaneously.