A high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the analysis of the fatty acid composition of human serum lipids with fluorescence detection was examined. Both free and total fatty acids extracted from serum were derivatized with 9-anthryldiazomethane and were analysed using methanol-water (94.7:5.3) as mobile phase. Twelve kinds of fatty acid were detected, both in the free and total fatty acids, and were well separated. Concentrations of individual fatty acids of serum lipids were estimated from an internal standard, heptadecanoic acid. The results correlated well with those from two other quantitative analyses. These results indicate that the high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of fatty acids is a reliable method for determining individual fatty acids of human serum lipids. The compositions of free fatty acids and total fatty acids of serum lipids were analysed and compared in 27 normal subjects, 27 diabetics, and 20 angina pectoris patients by this method.