Analysis of fatty acids in sputum from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry preceded by solid-phase microextraction and post-derivatization on the fiber.

A method based on solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and post-derivatization on the fiber coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed for the analysis of fatty acids in sputum from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The sputum specimens were digested, hydrolyzed, extracted, derivertized, injected and analyzed without cultivation or isolation of the microorganism. Under optimized conditions, the relative standard deviations (RSD, n=5) for all analytes were below 17% and the limits of detection varied from 1.