- lipidomics
- lipids
- mass spectrometry
Lipidomics can be defined as the comprehensive quantitative and qualitative analysis of the entire set of lipids present in a given organism. With the recent improvements in analytical technologies and improved coverage of lipidome, there is a resurgence of interest in understanding in detail biological roles of lipids, their regulation and dysregulation which may contribute to many diseases. The articles in this short themed issue of Bioanalysis highlight some of the analytical challenges and recent emerging technologies in lipidomics, with the focus on how to improve the analytical workflows for lipidomics. Currently, main analytical challenges in the field of lipidomics include:
- Difficulty in preserving lipidome at the time of sampling and completely stopping enzymatic and oxidation processes;
- Vast chemical diversity of lipids which precludes the use of a single extraction and analytical method to cover the entire lipidome;
- Low concentrations of many of lipids of interest, especially of bioactive lipids such as lipid mediators;
- Difficult structural elucidation and confirmation due to many possible isomeric species and lack of authentic standards for confirmation purposes.