MALDI-Mass Spectrometry Imaging to Investigate Lipid and Bile Acid Modifications Caused by Lentil Extract Used as a Potential Hypocholesterolemic Treatment.

This paper reports matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging to investigate systematic effects of a lentil extract treatment to lower cholesterol levels. For this purpose, mass spectrometry imaging was used to spatially investigate modifications in the lipid composition and cholesterol levels in the brain, liver, and intestines as well as bile acids in the liver and intestine of rats treated with lentil extract. Neither the lipid composition nor cholesterol levels in the brain samples were found to be significantly different between the treated and not-treated animal groups.