A simple quantitative approach for the determination of long and medium chain lipids in bio-relevant matrices by high performance liquid chromatography with refractive index detection.

There is increasing attention in the literature towards understanding the behaviour of lipid-based drug formulations under digestion conditions using in vitro and in vivo methods. This necessitates a convenient method for quantitation of lipids and lipid digestion products. In this study, a simple and accessible method for the separation and quantitative determination of typical formulation and digested lipids using high performance liquid chromatography coupled to refractive index detection (HPLC-RI) is described. Long and medium chain lipids were separated and quantified in a biological matrix (gastrointestinal content) without derivatisation using HPLC-RI on C18 and C8 columns, respectively. The intra- and inter-assay accuracy was between 92% and 106%, and the assays were precise to within a coefficient of variation of less than 10% over the range of 0.1-2 mg/mL for both long and medium chain lipids. This method is also shown to be suitable for quantifying the lipolysis products collected from the gastrointestinal tract in the course of in vivo lipid digestion studies.