Measurement of mevalonate in human plasma and urine by multiple selected ion monitoring

Plasma levels and urinary excretion of mevalonate were reported to be correlated with cholesterol biosynthesis. Evaluation of mevalonate concentration in plasma and urine represents therefore a non-invasive method for studying the modifications of cholesterol synthesis. A method is described here by which mevalonate in plasma and urine is determined by the selected ion monitoring technique after extraction as mevalonolactone and conversion into the trimethylsilyl ether. Linear responses were obtained in the evaluation of mevalonate added to plasma in the 10-100 ng/ml (r greater than 0.995) and to urine in the 50-1000 ng/ml concentration ranges, respectively. Identity of mevalonate in plasma and urine was confirmed by high-resolution mass spectrometry.