This article describes a rapid UPLC-MS/MS method to quantitate novel bile acids in biological fluids and the evaluation of their diagnostic potential in Niemann-Pick C (NPC). Two new compounds, NPCBA1 (3β-hydroxy,7β-N-acetylglucosaminyl-5-cholenoic acid) and NPCBA2 (probably 3β,5α,6β-trihydroxycholanoyl-glycine), were observed to accumulate preferentially in NPC patients: median plasma concentrations of NPCBA1 and NPCBA2 were 40- and 10-fold higher in patients than in controls. However, NPCBA1 concentrations were normal in some patients because they carried a common mutation inactivating the GlcNAc transferase required for the synthesis of this bile acid. NPCBA2, not containing a GlcNAc moiety, is thus a better NPC biomarker.
Keywords: Biomarkers; GlcNAc transferase; Niemann-Pick C; UPLC-MS/MS; bile acids; screening.
© 2016 The Authors. FEBS Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Federation of European Biochemical Societies.