A technique for the in vivo study of multiple stable isotope-labeled essential fatty acids.

A novel tracer technique is presented for the simultaneous and independent measurement of multiple stable isotopically labeled essential fatty acids. Gas chromatography/negative chemical ionization mass spectrometry was employed for high sensitivity detection of the following isotopes: deuterium-labeled-linolenate, carbon-13-U-labeled-eicosapentaenoate, carbon-13-U-labeled-linoleate, and deuterium-labeled-dihomo-gamma-linolenate. These isotope-labeled fatty acids in vehicle oil were given to rats either singly or together as a single oral dose. Rat blood was collected after dosing and the isotopomers of the precursors and their main metabolites, including those containing both(13) C and (2)H, were detected simultaneously with good resolution and without interference from other isotopes due to differences in mass and chromatographic retention. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.