VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam Institute of Molecular and Life Sciences (AIMMS), Division of BioAnalytical Chemistry, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Center for Analytical Sciences Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland (ISPSO), University of Geneva, Switzerland.
J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2020 Dec 15;1161:122444. doi: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2020.122444. Epub 2020 Nov 17.
Metabolomics, which consists of the comprehensive analysis of metabolites within a biological system, has been playing a growing role in the implementation of personalized medicine in modern healthcare. A wide range of analytical approaches are used in metabolomics, notably mass spectrometry (MS) combined to liquid chromatography (LC), gas chromatography (GC), or capillary electrophoresis (CE). However, none of these methods enable a comprehensive analysis of the metabolome, due to its extreme complexity and the large differences in physico-chemical properties between metabolite classes. In this context, supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) represents a promising alternative approach to improve the metabolome coverage, while further increasing the analysis throughput. SFC, which uses supercritical CO as mobile phase, leads to numerous advantages such as improved kinetic performance and lower environmental impact. This chromatographic technique has gained a significant interest since the introduction of advanced instrumentation, together with the introduction of dedicated interfaces for hyphenating SFC to MS. Moreover, new developments in SFC column chemistry (including sub-2 µm particles), as well as the use of large amounts of organic modifiers and additives in the CO-based mobile phase, significantly extended the application range of SFC, enabling the simultaneous analysis of a large diversity of metabolites. Over the last years, several applications have been reported in metabolomics using SFC-MS - from lipophilic compounds, such as steroids and other lipids, to highly polar compounds, such as carbohydrates, amino acids, or nucleosides. With all these advantages, SFC-MS is promised to a bright future in the field of metabolomics.
代谢组学包括对生物系统内代谢物的全面分析，在现代医疗保健中实施个性化医学方面发挥着越来越重要的作用。代谢组学中使用了多种分析方法，特别是将质谱 (MS) 与液相色谱 (LC)、气相色谱 (GC) 或毛细管电泳 (CE) 相结合。然而，由于代谢组的极端复杂性以及代谢物类之间的物理化学性质的巨大差异，这些方法都无法实现对代谢组的全面分析。在这种情况下，超临界流体色谱 (SFC) 代表了一种有前途的替代方法，可以提高代谢组覆盖度，同时进一步提高分析通量。SFC 使用超临界 CO 作为流动相，具有许多优点，例如改进的动力学性能和更低的环境影响。自引入先进的仪器设备以及引入用于将 SFC 与 MS 联用的专用接口以来，这种色谱技术引起了极大的关注。此外，SFC 柱化学（包括亚 2 µm 颗粒）的新发展，以及在基于 CO 的流动相中使用大量有机溶剂改性剂和添加剂，极大地扩展了 SFC 的应用范围，使同时分析多种不同的代谢物成为可能。在过去的几年中，已经在代谢组学中使用 SFC-MS 报告了许多应用，包括亲脂性化合物（如类固醇和其他脂质）和高极性化合物（如碳水化合物、氨基酸或核苷）。由于所有这些优点，SFC-MS 在代谢组学领域具有广阔的前景。
