Background: In the context of matrix effects in bioanalytical LC-MS/MS, a speculative link between free cholesterol, the recoveries of the compound from three common extraction procedures, and response enhancement was qualitatively investigated.
Results: Injections on-column of cholesterol both in solution and extracts, in conjunction with post-column infusion of three representative drugs, reveal a direct role in pronounced response enhancement for two out of three analytes, under one set of LC-MS/MS conditions, for the majority of typical plasma extraction procedures, where electrospray-based gaseous ion generation is used.
Conclusion: Cholesterol has been shown to have a strong association with LC-MS/MS response enhancement and ideally should be monitored during method development, reinforcing the reasoning behind minimizing SPE elution volumes and avoiding less selective means of sample preparation.