LC-MS/MS-based bioanalysis of branched-chain and aromatic amino acids in human serum.

Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and aromatic amino acids (AAAs) were suggested as potential biomarkers in liver disease. This study aimed to develop and validate a simple and rapid LC-MS/MS method to simultaneously measure serum BCAAs and AAAs levels in patients with liver injury, and further establish reference intervals of Chinese healthy adult populations. Samples were prepared by a one-step protein precipitation and analysis time was 4 min per run. The validation results showed good linearity (r >0.9969), satisfactory accuracy (94.44% - 107.75%) and precision (0.10% - 5.90%). This method proved to be suitable for high-throughput routine clinical use and could be a valuable adjunct diagnosis tool for liver injury and other clinical applications.