Prospects for Using Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry for the Determination of Lipids in Clinical Cardiolipidology

Cardiolipidology – a new direction in cardiology – is developing intensively owing to the method of mass spectrometry. This method has acquired particular importance for the determination of molecular types of sphingolipids, the metabolism of which is closely related to the metabolism of cholesterol. Changes in the level of a number of sphingolipids claiming to be markers of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) (molecular forms of sphingomyelins, ceramides, glucosylceramides, sphingosine, and sphinganin), in the blood plasma of patients with hereditary forms of early atherosclerosis (familial hyperlipidemia, FHL) were studied by chromatography–mass spectrometry. The study group (52 people) consisted of patients with acute manifestations of atherosclerosis, with postinfarction cardiosclerosis, and with dyslipidemia or early CVD. In patients with FHL, there was an increase in the proportion of long-chain sphingomyelin SM18:1/22:0 and the level of ceramides with carbon chains C20-1 and C22-1. An increase in the level of sphingosine, possessing proapoptotic properties, which can be considered as a marker of an additional risk of cardiovascular complications, was revealed in patients with a high clinical probability of FHL. The search for new CVD markers will improve personalized approach to the management of such patients and improve the results of their treatment.