Analytical methods for cholesterol quantification

Abstract

Cholesterol is an important lipid molecule in cell membranes and lipoproteins. Cholesterol is also a precursors of steroid hormones, bile acids, and vitamin D. Abnormal levels of cholesterol or its precursors have been observed in various human diseases, such as heart diseases, stroke, type II diabetes, brain diseases and many others. Therefore, accurate quantification of cholesterol is important for individuals who are at increased risk for these diseases. Multiple analytical methods have been developed for analysis of cholesterol, including classical chemical methods, enzymatic assays, gas chromatography (GC), liquid chromatography (LC), and mass spectrometry (MS). Strategy known as ambient ionization mass spectrometry (AIMS), operating at atmospheric pressure, with only minimal sample pretreatments for real time, in situ , and rapid interrogation of the sample has also been employed for quantification of cholesterol. In this review, we summarize the most prevalent methods for cholesterol quantification in biological samples and foods. Nevertheless, we highlight several new technologies, such as AIMS, used as alternative methods to measure cholesterol that are potentially next-generation platforms. Representative examples of molecular imaging of cholesterol in tissue sections are also included in this review article.

Determination of Cholesterol Content in Butter by HPLC: Up-to-Date Optimization, and In-House Validation Using Reference Materials

“…Therefore, it is recommended that very high-risk patients should achieve an LDL-C level of <55 mg/dL (<1.4 mmol/L) and at least a 50% reduction from baseline LDL-C levels [ 6 ]. As around 20–25% of cholesterol in our body comes from food, so it is important to know its content in our dietary intake [ 7 ].…”

“…The IDF method is primarily used for dairy products, such as raw milk, infant formula, cream, and cheese, and it is an accurate, precise, and stable method [ 12 ]. In general, the methods for cholesterol content determination in food can be divided into three major categories: classical chemical methods based on the Abell–Kendall protocol, fluorometric and colorimetric enzymatic assays, and analytical instrumental approaches such as gas and liquid chromatography [ 7 ]. The choice of a suitable method depends mainly on the food matrices that are going to be analyzed.…”

Recent Techniques in Nutrient Analysis for Food Composition Database

“…Sample preparation of cholesterol involves saponification, multistage solvent extraction followed by purification and concentration. Determination of cholesterol level can be divided into three major techniques: 1) classical chemical methods 2) fluorometric and colorimetric enzymatic assays 3) analytical instrument [ 192 ]. The official GC method used for cholesterol determination in foods is the AOAC 994.10 [ 193 ].…”

Evaluation of LC-MS and LC×LC-MS in analysis of zebrafish embryo samples for comprehensive lipid profiling

“…This is probably due to that many lipids occur at a low-ion intensity which could not be seen when they coeluted with high-concentration lipids in 1DLC. Despite cholesterol has a high concentration in biological samples, it has been reported to have lower ionization efficiency when cholesterol was detected in electrospray ionization source (ESI)-MS [43] so that it was not detected in both the HILIC and HILIC×RPLC separations probably due to an overlap of nonpolar lipids.…”