Rapid micro-scale assay for homocysteine by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Objectives: Increased total homocysteine (tHcy) level is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Here, we describe a rapid tHcy micro-scale assay. Methods: We developed an easy sample preparation and rapid liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the measurement of tHcy in human serum and plasma, respectively. Results: The tHcy assay was linear up to 61.6 μmol/L, the detection limit was 1.0 μmol/L, the lower limit of quantification was 1.8 μmol/L, the imprecision in the range of 9.30–25.9 μmol/L was less than 5.9% and the analytical recovery was 94.7 ± 6.3%. Conclusions: Our novel tHcy LC-MS/MS assay is a quick, precise and robust method for tHcy determination in routine diagnostics.