Liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric method for simultaneous determination of small organic acids potentially contributing to acidosis in severe malaria.

Acidosis is an important cause of mortality in severe falciparum malaria. Lactic acid is a major contributor to metabolic acidosis, but accounts for only one-quarter of the strong anion gap. Other unidentified organic acids have an independent strong prognostic significance for a fatal outcome. In this study, a simultaneous bio-analytical method for qualitative and quantitative assessment in plasma and urine of eight small organic acids potentially contributing to acidosis in severe malaria was developed and validated. High-throughput strong anion exchange solid-phase extraction in a 96-well plate format was used for sample preparation. Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) coupled to negative mass spectroscopy was utilized for separation and detection.