A mild, rapid, and efficient method of lipid extraction for use in determining vitamin E/lipid ratios.

A new, general method for lipid extraction and measurement of vitamin E/total lipid ratios in tissue and cell samples has been developed. The new extraction procedure uses a combination of sodium dodecylsulfate, ethanol and n-heptane, and is mild, clean, convenient, efficient and rapid (less than or equal to 5 min). The efficiency of the new method has been confirmed for human plasma, red blood cells and rat liver homogenate by the comparison of the yields of vitamin E, O-acyl lipid and cholesterol with the yields obtained following conventional extraction procedures. Extraction efficiency also has been confirmed for multilamellar vesicles composed of known quantities of vitamin E, egg lecithin and cholesterol.