Phytosterols are plant-derived sterols that perform a role in plants similar to that of cholesterol in animal cells. The human body is unable to synthesize them, so they are obtained through a plant-based diet, manly from vegetables and vegetable oils. They are associated with numerous beneficial effects, ranging from lowering blood cholesterol levels to anticancer effects, but they are also linked to certain diseases. In biological samples, they are most commonly determined using gas chromatography, coupled with mass spectrometry, however, in this thesis, we developed a method based on liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. The method was optimised and validated over a broad linear range and showed high repeatability. By attempting to optimize the protocol for sterol isolation from human plasma, we confirmed that the existing protocol was already optimized.
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