Short-Chain Fatty Acid Detection

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) are also known as volatile fatty acids (VFA). The evaluation criterion is the number of carbon atoms in the carbon chain. According to the number of carbon atoms in the carbon chain, the organic fatty acids with carbon atoms less than 6 are called short-chain fatty acids, mainly including acetic acid, propionic acid, isobutyric acid, butyric acid, isovaleric acid, and valeric acid.

In human metabolism, short-chain fatty acids are rapidly absorbed by the hindgut. Short-chain fatty acids not only store energy but also reduce osmotic pressure, and play an important role in maintaining the normal function of the large intestine as well as the morphology and function of colonic epithelial cells. Short-chain fatty acids can also promote the absorption of sodium. Butyric acid has a stronger effect than acetic acid and propionic acid in this respect. Butyric acid can increase the production of Lactobacillus and reduce the number of Escherichia coli.

Fig.1 Acetate sources and acetate-mediated effects in metabolic health. (Hernandez A, et al. 2019.)

Application of Short-Chain Fatty Acid Detection

The detection of short-chain fatty acids is mainly used in human health, which is helpful for the research of pathological mechanisms, auxiliary diagnosis of disease, drug development and treatment effect monitoring.

Our Service Process

Service Offering

Creative Biogene's short-chain fatty acid detection service provides results including,

• Raw data
• Experimental steps
• Related mass spectrometry parameters
• Quantitative or qualitative information of the identified substance
• Mass spectrum picture
• Bioinformatics analysis report

Our bioinformatics analysis covers a wide range including transition pair selection, standard curve drawing, data quality control, quantitative results of target small molecules, comparative group analysis and phenotypic analysis, etc.

Sample Type

Feces, blood, urine and tissue, etc.

Detection platform

Instrument platform: GC-MS and MRM.

Turnaround Time

In general, our turnaround time is 3-5 weeks depending on the size of your project.

Advantages of Our Services 

• With high throughput, it can obtain quantitative information on a variety of small molecules at the same time.
• The accuracy of our results is high. By selecting the target small molecule ion pair, the interfering ions can be removed.
• Our exclusive kit is specifically designed for short-chain fatty acids and can achieve precise quantification.
• We can combine the demands of customers, and negotiate to determine the content of services.

Creative Biogene has excellent microbiology experts, well-established metabolome detection platforms, and professional bioinformatics analysis to provide you with a one-stop service in short-chain fatty acid detection. Our services include sample collection, metabolite extraction, pre-processing, detection and analysis.

If you are interested in our services, please contact us for more details.