Analyses of Cholesterol Metabolites of Optic Nerve Using GC-MS Methods.

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is considered the gold standard for analyzing and quantifying the presence of biological compounds in tissue samples due to its high sensitivity, peak resolution, and reproducibility. In this chapter, we describe a step-by-step modified Bligh and Dyer protocol for lipid extraction from the optic nerve tissue and a procedure for GC-MS analyses of the lipid extract. These protocols are based on our experience and can be modified depending on samples and compounds of interest.