Evaluation of a gas chromatography method for azelaic acid determination in selected biological samples

BACKGROUND: Azelaic acid (AzA) is the best known dicarboxilic acid to have pharmaceutical benefits and clinical applications and also to be associated with some diseases pathophysiology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We extracted and methylesterified AzA and determined its concentration in human plasma obtained from healthy individuals and also in mice fed AzA containing diet for three months. RESULTS: AzA was detected in Gas Chromatography (GC) and confirmed by Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS), and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMC). Our results have shown that AzA can be determined efficiently in selected biological samples by GC method with 1nM limit of detection (LoD) and the limit of quantification (LoQ); was established at 50nM. Analytical Sensitivity as assayed by hexane demonstrated an analytical sensitivity at 0.050nM. The method has demonstrated 8-10% CV batch repeatability across the sample types and 13-18.9% CV for the Within-Lab Precision analysis. The method has shown that AzA can efficiently be recovered from various sample preparation including liver tissue homogenate (95%) and human plasma (97%). CONCLUSIONS: Because of its simplicity and lower limit of quantification, the present method provides a useful tool for determining AzA in various biological sample preparations.