 Cholestane can be extracted from samples and measured on the GC/MS to quantify relative abundance to other organic compounds.This measurement is done by extraction of the steranes into a non-polar solvent (e.g., dichloromethane or chloroform) and purified into a “saturates” fraction using silica gel column gas chromatography.Cholestane isomers will elute from the column based on molecular weight and various stereochemistry, which makes traditional mass spectrometry challenging due to close co-elution of isomers.