Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and Analysis of the Serum Metabolomic Profile Through Extraction and Derivatization of Polar Metabolites

: Metabolite profiling in complex biological matrices such as serum requires high-throughput technologies capable of accurate and reproducible quantitative analysis and detection of slight differences in metabolite concentrations. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is widely used for characterizing the metabolome. This chapter summarizes the necessary preparatory steps required to profile the metabolome using GC-MS. While this chapter focuses on evaluating polar metabolites in serum samples, the methods can be adapted to quantify nonpolar metabolites in other biological matrices.