Development of a Metabolomic Assay for the Analysis of Polar Metabolites Using HILIC UPLC/QTof MS

Metabolomics, a powerful tool in systems biology, aims to screen small metabolites present in biological samples. Given that water is the major constituent of cells, it is common to find a high number of hydrophilic metabolites. Traditional RP-LC/MS analysis of these compounds has been difficult due to poor retention and elution in the void volume. This study presents a HILIC-UPLC/MS strategy for the routine high-throughput screening of polar metabolites in biological samples.