Simultaneous Analysis of Amino Acids and Acylcarnitines in DBS (Dried Blood Spot) with LCMS-8040

LC-MS/MS is a powerful tool in the analysis of amino acids (as indicators of amino acid metabolism) and acylcarnitines (considered to be useful indicators of fatty acid metabolism) as it delivers high sensitivity with minimal sample preparation. In this paper we describe the analytical protocol developed by Mass Spectrometry, Clinical Chemistry and Pharmacology Lab. of Meyer Children's Hospital (Florence, Italy) to measure amino acids and acylcarnitines from dried blood spot samples using the LCMS-8040 high-performance liquid chromatograph triple quadrupole mass spectrometer.