A Case Study Analysis of Plasma Sterol Profile

A case study analysis of plasma sterol profile 

The first phase of data evaluation was to determine plasma concentration of sterols analyzed as described earlier. The standard addition method was used, calibration curves were constructed, and plasma sterol concentrations were determined. The second phase of data evaluation was to look for characteristic biomarkers and separate patient groups based on sterol concentrations. This was done by applying chemometrics (e.g., linear discriminant analysis) with sufficient validation. It was found that sterol concentration ratios are much more characteristic disease markers than the individual concentrations. Eor example, the concentration ratio of desmosterol to sitosterol was a much better marker of cholesterol-related disorders than the cholesterol concentration itself, and the concentration ratio of lathosterol to total plasma cholesterol was an excellent marker of statin treatment. Application of these analytical results by biochemists and medical doctors will hopefully result in better treatment of patients. 

A mass spectrometer is a very special kind of balance, which measures the mass of molecules and their subunits. It can be used to characterize and identify compounds, to detect trace-level components, and to measure their concentration in complex matrices. Mass spectrometry will be described in detail in Chapter 6 here only a very brief introduction is presented. 

Mass spectrometry yields a mass spectrum (or spectra) of a compound, which establishes its molecular mass and the characteristics of the molecular structure. It is among the most sensitive molecular probes, which can detect compounds in femtomol, attomol, or even zeptomol amounts (10, 10 , Peak intensi- 

To help orient the reader, a few typical applications are listed below  

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