Simple, high-throughput measurement of gut-derived short-chain fatty acids in clinically relevant biofluids using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Introduction: The quantitative measurement of circulating gut bacteria-derived metabolites has increased in recent years due to their associations with health and disease. While much of the previous attention has been placed on metabolites considered as deleterious to health, a shift to the investigation of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) as potential health promotors has been observed.

Objectives: To develop a simple, high-throughput and quantitative assay to measure gut-derived SCFAs in clinically relevant biofluids using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).