Analysis of polyamines as carbamoyl derivatives in urine and serum by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A quantitative analysis of polyamines in urine and serum by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is described. The polyamines were carbamylated with isobutyl chloroformate, extracted with diethyl ether under pH 9.0, and analyzed by LC-MS/MS with single reaction monitoring mode. The limit of quantification was 1 ng/mL based on a signal-to-noise ratio>3, and the correlation coefficient (r2) for the calibration curves was >0.99 for both urine and serum samples. The present method was applied to urine and serum samples from 30 breast cancer patients and 30 normal female controls. There was no significant difference in the urinary polyamine levels between breast cancer patients and controls. However, 1,3-diaminopropane, putrescine, spermine and N-acetylspermidine levels in serum increased in breast cancer patients. These four serum polyamines may be a good index to study both production and metabolism of polyamines, and a useful tool in assessment of the polyamine status of breast cancer patients.     

Dansylation isotope labeling liquid chromatography mass spectrometry for parallel profiling of human urinary and fecal submetabolomes

Human urine and feces can be non-invasively collected for metabolomics-based disease biomarker discovery research. Because urinary and fecal metabolomes are thought to be different, analysis of both biospecimens may generate a more comprehensive metabolomic profile that can be better related to the health state of an individual. Herein we describe a method of using differential chemical isotope labeling (CIL) liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) for parallel metabolomic profiling of urine and feces. Dansylation labeling was used to quantify the amine/phenol submetabolome changes among different samples based on ¹²C-labeling of individual samples and ¹³C-labeling of a pooled urine or pooled feces and subsequent analysis of the ¹³C-/¹²C-labeled mixture by LC-MS. The pooled urine and pooled feces are further differentially labeled, mixed and then analyzed by LC-MS in order to relate the metabolite concentrations of the common metabolites found in both biospecimens. This method offers a means of direct comparison of urinary and fecal submetabolomes. We evaluated the analytical performance and demonstrated the utility of this method in the analysis of urine and feces collected daily from three healthy individuals for 7 days. On average, 2534 ± 113 (n = 126) peak pairs or metabolites could be detected from a urine sample, while 2507 ± 77 (n = 63) peak pairs were detected from a fecal sample. In total, 5372 unique peak pairs were detected from all the samples combined; 3089 and 3012 pairs were found in urine and feces, respectively. These results reveal that the urine and fecal metabolomes are very different, thereby justifying the consideration of using both biospecimens to increase the probability of finding specific biomarkers of diseases. Furthermore, the CIL LC-MS method described can be used to perform parallel quantitative analysis of urine and feces, resulting in more complete coverage of the human metabolome.     

慢性心功能衰竭患者尿液的代谢组学研究

采用基于液相色谱-质谱联用的方法对慢性心力衰竭(Chronic heart failure, CHF)患者和正常对照(Control)人群的尿液进行分析, 筛选慢性心力衰竭患者尿液中的差异代谢物, 研究其发病机制, 并为临床治疗提供科学依据.选择15个慢性心力衰竭患者(年龄(62.27±3.14)岁)及15个正常人(年龄(65.41±4.63)岁), 采用高分辨度快速液相色谱-四极杆-飞行时间串联质谱(RRLC-QTOF/MS)技术对尿液代谢物进行分析, 采用主成分分析(PCA)对两组代谢物进行分类, 并筛选潜在生物标记物;运用偏最小二乘判别分析法(PLS-DA)建模, 考察生物标记物对疾病筛选的预测能力.研究结果表明, CHF组和Control组尿液代谢物谱能得到很好的区分, 发现并鉴定了2种潜在生物标记物尿苷及丙氨酰色氨酸, 提示嘧啶代谢和色氨酸代谢可能在心力衰竭发生发展中有重要作用.     

膀胱癌血清及尿液代谢组学研究

应用代谢组学研究方法,对与膀胱癌(Bladder cancer,BC)发病相关的生物标志物进行筛选,采用液相色谱-电喷雾质谱(LC-ESI/MS)联用技术对20名膀胱癌患者与24名正常人的血清和尿液进行研究.多变量统计分析结果表明,膀胱癌患者和正常人聚类明显,血清和尿液中分别发现13个潜在标志物.其中,(2E,6E,8E)-二十二碳三烯-1-醇、7-((1S,2S)-2-(庚胺)环己基)庚酸和(11E,14E,17E)-三烯-二十碳-1-醇首次在血清中发现,有潜力成为膀胱癌诊断标志物.液相色谱-质谱联用结合多变量分析的代谢组学研究技术在膀胱癌诊断中展现出巨大潜力.     

基于拟靶向液相色谱-质谱联用的胃癌患者血清代谢组分析

胃癌是一种高发的恶性肿瘤,是癌症相关死亡的第二大病因。早期筛查是提高患者生存率的有效手段,但目前临床上尚缺乏实现胃癌无创筛检的可靠标志物。本研究采用了基于液相色谱-质谱联用的拟靶向代谢组学方法分析了20例胃癌患者及40例正常人血清代谢组,以期发现新的潜在代谢标志物。代谢组数据的主成分分析和偏最小二乘法数据分析结果显示,胃癌患者与健康人群的血清代谢组存在明显的差异,结合非参数检验进一步筛选并定性出57个差异代谢物。其中二氢胆固醇经验证组样本验证,具有成为胃癌代谢标志物的潜力。本研究在发现胃癌的潜在代谢标志物的同时,也为胃癌患者代谢分型提供了重要的科学依据。     

Quantification of Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis-Related Organic Acids in Human Urine Using LC-MS/MS

Urine organic acid contains water-soluble metabolites and/or metabolites—derived from sugars, amino acids, lipids, vitamins, and drugs—which can reveal a human’s physiological condition. These urine organic acids—hippuric acid, benzoic acid, phenylacetic acid, phenylpropionic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, 4-hydroxyphenyl acetic acid, 3-hydroxyphenylpropionic acid, 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl propionic acid, and 3-indoleacetic acid—were the eligible candidates for the dysbiosis of gut microbiota. The aim of this proposal was to develop and to validate a liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) bioanalysis method for the nine organic acids in human urine. Stable-labeled isotope standard (creatinine-d₃) and acetonitrile were added to the urine sample. The supernatant was diluted with deionized water and injected into LC-MS/MS. This method was validated with high selectivity for the urine sample, a low limit of quantification (10–40 ng/mL), good linearity (r > 0.995), high accuracy (85.8–109.7%), and high precision (1.4–13.3%). This method simultaneously analyzed creatinine in urine, which calibrates metabolic rate between different individuals. Validation has been completed for this method; as such, it could possibly be applied to the study of gut microbiota clinically.     

Quantitative analysis of urinary endogenous markers for the treatment effect of Radix Scutellariae on type 2 diabetes rats

The effect of Radix Scutellariae treated on type 2 diabetic rats has been investigated by a liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) based urinary quantitative approach. In this research, multiple reactions monitoring mode of MS/MS in LC-MS/MS analysis was used to quantitatively analyze the concentrations of 7 endogenous compounds in urine of normal control group, type 2 diabetic model group and Radix Scutellariae-treated group, and multivariate statistical analysis was utilized for MS data processing. The above-mentioned three groups can be distinguished via pattern recognition. The obtained results indicated that Radix Scutellariae affect the urinary metabolic profiling of type 2 diabetic rats on the polyol pathway, protein glycation reaction and amino acids metabolism pathway. According to these results, Radix Scutellariae should have the pharmacological effect on preventing or delaying the onset and progression of diabetes and its complications.     

Integrated GC-MS and LC-MS plasma metabonomics analysis of ankylosing spondylitis

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory arthritis that predominantly affects the axial skeleton in adolescent patients. The natural history of the disease remains poorly characterized. In this study, we combined GC-MS and LC-MS techniques to evaluate the major metabolic changes in the plasma of AS patients in view of metabonomics. Univariate and multivariate analysis were employed for altered metabolite comparison and pattern recognition. Application of supervised partial least-squares discrminant analysis to either GC-MS or LC-MS data allowed accurate discrimination of AS patients from normal controls, demonstrating its potential diagnostic utilization. In addition, AS patients presented elevated plasma concentrations of proline, glucose, phosphate, urea, glycerol, phenylalanine and homocysteine but reduced levels of phosphocholines, tryptophan and a bipeptide - phenylalanyl-phenylalanine. In the context of their involved metabolic pathways, the identified metabolites were discussed accordingly. This investigation primarily proved that integrated chromatography-mass spectrometry and integrated uni- and multi-variate statistical analysis facilitated metabonomics to be a more promising tool in disease research.     

Detection of manipulation in doping control urine sample collection: a multidisciplinary approach to determine identical urine samples

Manipulation of urine sampling in sports drug testing is considered a violation of anti-doping rules and is consequently sanctioned by regulatory authorities. In 2003, three identical urine specimens were provided by three different athletes, and the identity of all urine samples was detected and substantiated using numerous analytical strategies including gas chromatography–mass spectrometry with steroid and metabolite profiling, gas chromatography–nitrogen/phosphorus detector analysis, high-performance liquid chromatography–UV fingerprinting, and DNA-STR (short tandem repeat) analysis. None of the respective athletes was the donor of the urine provided for doping analysis, which proved to be a urine sample collected from other unidentified individual(s). Samples were considered suspicious based on identical steroid profiles, one of the most important parameters for specimen individualization in sports drug testing. A database containing 14,224 urinary steroid profiles of athletes was screened for specific values of 4 characteristic parameters (ratios of testosterone/epitestosterone, androsterone/etiocholanolone, androsterone/testosterone, and 5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol/5β-androstane-3α,17β-diol) and only the three suspicious samples matched all criteria. Further metabolite profiling regarding indicated medications and high-performance liquid chromatography–UV fingerprinting substantiated the assumption of manipulation. DNA-STR analyses unequivocally confirmed that the 3 urine samples were from the same individual and not from the athletes who provided DNA from either buccal cell material or blood specimens. This supportive evidence led to punishment of all three athletes according to the rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency. Application of a new multidisciplinary strategy employing common and new doping control assays enables the detection of urine substitution in sports drug testing. Figure Identical GC-MS/NPD profiles of three urine specimens collected from three different individuals for doping control purposes     

Metabolomics applied to urine samples in childhood asthma; differentiation between asthma phenotypes and identification of relevant metabolites

Asthma is a heterogeneous disorder and one of the most common chronic childhood diseases. An improved characterization of asthma phenotypes would be invaluable for the understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms and the correct treatment of this disease. The aim of this pilot study was to explore the potential of metabolomics applied to urine samples in characterizing asthma, and to identify the most representative metabolites. Urine samples of 41 atopic asthmatic children (further subdivided in sub-groups according to the symptoms) and 12 age-matched controls were analyzed. Untargeted metabolic profiles were collected by LC-MS, and studied by multivariate analysis. The group of the asthmatics was differentiated by a model that proved to be uncorrelated with the chronic assumption of controller drugs on the part of the patients. The distinct sub-groups were also appropriately modeled. Further investigations revealed a reduced excretion of urocanic acid, methyl-imidazoleacetic acid and a metabolite resembling the structure of an Ile-Pro fragment in the asthmatics. The meaning of these findings was discussed and mainly correlated with the modulation of immunity in asthma. Metabolic profiles from urines have revealed the potential to characterize asthma and enabled the identification of metabolites that may have a role in the underlying inflammation.     

Stable isotope dilution analysis of N-acetylaspartic acid in urine by liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

N-acetylaspartic acid (NAA) is a specific urinary marker for Canavan disease, an autosomal recessive leukodystrophy. We developed a 'dilute and shoot' stable isotope dilution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for determination of NAA in urine. Deuterated internal standard d(3)-NAA was added to untreated urine and the mixture was injected into the LC-MS/MS system operated in the negative ion mode. Chromatography was carried out on a C(8) minibore column using 50% acetonitrile solution containing 0.05% formic acid at a flow rate of 0.25 mL/min. The retention time was 1.6 min and the turnaround time was 2.2 min. NAA and d(3)-NAA were analyzed in multiple reaction monitoring mode. Calibrators and quality control samples were prepared in pooled control urine. The assay was linear up to 2000 micromol/L with limit of quantification at 1 micromol/L (S/N = 12). Interassay and intraassay coefficients of variation were less than 7% and recovery at three different concentrations was 98.9-102.5%. The LC-MS/MS method for NAA as described involves no extraction and no derivatization, showed no interference and gave excellent recovery with low variability and short analytical time. The method was successfully applied for the retrospective analysis of urine from 21 Canavan disease cases.     

Determination of urinary S-sulphocysteine, xanthine and hypoxanthine by liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

Molybdenum cofactor and isolated sulphite oxidase deficiencies are two related rare autosomal recessive diseases characterized by severe neurological abnormalities, dislocated lens and mental retardation. Determination of three biochemical markers S-sulphocysteine (SSC), xanthine (XAN) and hypoxanthine (HXAN) in urine is essential for a definitive diagnosis and identification of the exact defect. We developed a rapid liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the analysis of SSC, XAN and HXAN in urine. The analysis was carried out in the negative-ion selected-reaction monitoring mode. The turnaround time for the assay was 7 min. Linear calibration curves for the three biomarkers were obtained in the range of 12-480 micromol/L. The intra- and inter-day assay variations were <2.5%. Mean recoveries of SSC, XAN and HXAN added to urine at two significantly different concentrations were in the range 94.3-107.3%. At a normal SSC urine excretion value of 3.2 micromol/mmol creatinine, the signal-to-noise ratio was 337:1. This stable isotope dilution LC-MS/MS method is specific, rapid and simple, and provides definitive diagnosis for molybdenum cofactor and isolated sulphite oxidase deficiencies in very small volumes of urine. We have identified seven new cases of isolated sulphite oxidase deficiency from four Saudi families and one Sudanese family.     

Determination of IGF-1 and IGF-2, their degradation products and synthetic analogues in urine by LC-MS/MS

Peptide analysis in doping controls by means of nano-UPLC coupled high resolution/high mass accuracy mass spectrometry provides the state-of-the-art technique in modern sports drug testing. The present study describes a recent application of this technique for the qualitative determination of different urinary insulin-like growth factor (IGF) related peptides. After simultaneous isolation by solid phase extraction and magnetic particle-based immunoaffinity purification, target analytes (IGF-1, IGF-2, Des1-3-IGF-1, R(3)-IGF-1 and longR(3)-IGF-1) were separated by nano-liquid chromatography prior to mass spectrometric detection. Endogenously produced IGF-1 and IGF-2, as well as the degradation product Des1-3-IGF-1, were frequently detected in urine samples from healthy volunteers in a concentration range of 20-400 pg mL(-1). The impact of IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs), being also present in urine, was potentially estimated by an additional ultrafiltration step in the sample preparation procedure. The synthetic analogue longR(3)-IGF-1, which is assumed to be subject to misuse by cheating athletes, was also analysed and detected in fortified urine samples. Besides the intact molecule, an N-terminally truncated degradation product Des1-10-longR(3)-IGF-1 was identified as the more stable target for doping controls using urine samples. The method was validated for qualitative purposes considering the parameters specificity, limit of detection (20-50 pg mL(-1)), recovery (10-35%), precision (<20%), linearity, robustness and stability.     

In-tube solid-phase microextraction based on hybrid silica monolith coupled to liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for automated analysis of ten antidepressants in human urine and plasma

A rapid, sensitive and automated in-tube solid-phase microextraction-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (in-tube SPME/LC-MS) method was developed for the analysis of ten antidepressants in urine and plasma. A hybrid organic-inorganic silica monolith with cyanoethyl functional groups was prepared and used as a sorbent for in-tube SPME. Integration of the sample extraction, LC separation and MS detection into a single system permitted direct injection of the diluted urine or plasma after filtration. Under the optimized conditions, good extraction efficiencies for the targets were obtained with no matrix interference in the subsequent LC-MS. Automation of the sampling, extraction and separation procedures was realized under the control of a program in this study. The total process time was 30 min and only 30 μL of urine or plasma was required in one analysis cycle. Good linearities were obtained for ten antidepressants with the correlation coefficients (R) above 0.9933. The limits of detection (S/N=3) for ten antidepressants were found to be 0.06-2.84 ng/mL in urine and 0.07-2.95 ng/mL in plasma. The recoveries of antidepressants spiked in urine and plasma were from 75.2% to 113.0%, with relative standard deviations less than 16.5%. The developed method was successfully used to analyze urine sample from ageing patients undergoing therapy with antidepressants.     

Elucidation of urinary metabolites of fluoxymesterone by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

The suitability of liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for the elucidation of fluoxymesterone metabolism has been evaluated. Electrospray ionization (ESI) and collision induced dissociation (CID) fragmentation in LC-MS/MS and electron impact spectra (EI) in GC-MS have been studied for fluoxymesterone and two commercially available metabolites. MS(n) experiments and accurate mass measurements performed by an ion-trap analyser and a QTOF instrument respectively have been used for the elucidation of the fragmentation pathway. The neutral loss scan of 20 Da (loss of HF) in LC-MS/MS has been applied for the selective detection of fluoxymesterone metabolites. In a positive fluoxymesterone doping control sample, 9 different analytes have been detected including the parent compound. Seven of these metabolites were also confirmed by GC-MS including 5 previously unreported metabolites. On the basis of the ionization, the CID fragmentation, the accurate mass of the product ions and the EI spectra of these analytes, a tentative elucidation as well as a proposal for the metabolic pathway of fluoxymesterone has been suggested. The presence of these compounds has also been confirmed by the analysis of five other positive fluoxymesterone urine samples.     

Comparison of Two Immunoassay Screening Methods and a LC-MS/MS in Detecting Traditional and Designer Benzodiazepines in Urine

Sensitive and specific immunoassay screening methods for the detection of benzodiazepines in urine represent an important prerequisite for routine analysis in clinical and forensic toxicology. Moreover, emerging designer benzodiazepines force labs to keep their methodologies updated, in order to evaluate the reliability of the immunochemical techniques. This study aimed at evaluating the sensitivity and specificity of two different immunoassay methods for the detection of benzodiazepines in urine, through a comparison with the results obtained by a newly developed liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) procedure. A cohort of authentic urine samples (N = 501) were processed, before and after a hydrolysis procedure, through two immunoassays and an LC-MS/MS method. The LC-MS/MS target procedure was optimized for monitoring 25 different molecules, among traditional and designer benzodiazepines, including some metabolites. At least one of the monitored substances was detected in 100 out of the 501 samples. A good specificity was observed for the two immunoassays (>0.99), independently of the cut-offs and the sample hydrolysis. The new kit demonstrated a fairly higher sensitivity, always higher than 0.90; in particular, a high cross-reactivity of the new immunoassay was observed for samples that tested positive for lorazepam and 7-aminoclonazepam. The two immunoassays appeared adequate to monitor not only traditional benzodiazepines but also new designer ones.     

Analyses of quaternary ammonium drugs in horse urine by capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry

A capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) method for the analysis of quaternary ammonium drugs in equine urine was developed. Quaternary ammonium drugs were first extracted from equine urine by ion-pair extraction and then analysed by CE-MS in the positive electrospray ionization (ESI) mode. Within 12 min, eight quaternary ammonium drugs, each at 1 ng/mL in horse urine, could be detected. The confirmation of these drugs in urine samples was achieved by capillary electrophoresis tandem mass spectrometry (CE-MS/MS). A direct comparison of this method was made with existing liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC-MS) methods in the detection and confirmation of glycopyrrolate and ipratropium bromide in horse urine. While the two drugs could be detected within the same CE-MS run at 1 ng/mL in urine, they could only be detected in separate LC-MS runs at 5 ng/mL in urine. In addition, CE-MS consumed a much smaller volume of extract; the analyte peak widths, in some cases, were much narrower; and as the quaternary ammonium ions were well separated electrophoretically from the mainly neutral urine matrix, a much cleaner background in the CE-MS total ion trace was observed.     

Voltammetric sensor based on magnetic particles modified composite electrode for determination of triamterene in biological sample

Some diuretic substances are controlled and monitored by the World Anti-Doping Agency as prohibited substances for use by athletes, such as triamterene (TRT). Thus, this work describes a voltammetric method based on graphite-epoxy composite electrode modified by tosyl-functionalized magnetic particles (GECE/MPs-To) for determination of TRT diuretic in urine sample. The TRT presented an oxidation peak at +1.24 V at GECE/MPs-To with irreversible behavior. Controlled potential electrolysis of the TRT at +1.26 V indicated the two electrons are transferred during amine group oxidation and the main product was identified by LC-MS/MS. The anodic peak current is 25 % higher at the modified electrode, suggesting that TRT is adsorbed on the magnetic particles. Using optimized conditions by using multivariate optimization of the parameters inherent of the square wave voltammetry, a calibration curve was constructed with a linear relationship for TRT from 0.500 to 99.8 μmol L^?1. The limits of detection and quantification were 1.47 and 4.91?×?10^?7 mol L^?1, respectively. The proposed method was applied to urine sample and validated by LC-MS/MS technique where the values found and compared between the two techniques showed no significant difference at 95 % confidence.     

Determination of urine caffeine and its metabolites by use of high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry: estimating dietary caffeine exposure and metabolic phenotyping in population studies

We have developed and validated a high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method for determining urine caffeine and 14 caffeine metabolites suitable for estimating caffeine exposure and metabolic phenotyping in population studies. Sample preparation consisted solely of a series of simple reagent treatments at room temperature. Stable isotope-labeled analogs were used as internal standards for all analytes. We developed rapid LC-MS/MS separations for both positive and negative ion mode electrospray ionizations to maximize measurement sensitivity. Limits of detection were 0.05–0.1 μmol/L depending on the analytes. Method imprecision, based on total coefficients of variation, was generally <7 % when analyte concentration was >1 μmol/L. Analyte recoveries were typically within 10 % of being quantitative (100 %), and good agreement was observed among analytes measured across different MS/MS transitions. We applied this method to the analysis of a convenience set of human urine samples (n?=?115) and were able to detect a majority of the analytes in ≥99 % of samples as well as calculate caffeine metabolite phenotyping ratios for cytochrome P450 1A2 and N-acetyltransferase 2. Whereas existing LC-MS/MS methods are limited in number of caffeine metabolites for which they are validated, or are designed for studies in which purposely elevated caffeine levels are expected, our method is the first of its kind designed specifically for the rapid, sensitive, accurate, and precise measurement of urine caffeine and caffeine metabolites at concentrations relevant to population studies.

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Figure The determination of caffeine and its metabolites by LC-MS/MS. Both positive and negative ion mode electrospray ionization were used to maximize measurement sensitivity and selectivity, allowing the development of a robust method suitable for estimating caffeine exposure and metabolic phenotyping in population studies

     

Development and Application of an LC-MS/MS Untargeted Exposomics Method with a Separated Pooled Quality Control Strategy

Pooled quality controls (QCs) are usually implemented within untargeted methods to improve the quality of datasets by removing features either not detected or not reproducible. However, this approach can be limiting in exposomics studies conducted on groups of exposed and nonexposed subjects, as compounds present at low levels only in exposed subjects can be diluted and thus not detected in the pooled QC. The aim of this work is to develop and apply an untargeted workflow for human biomonitoring in urine samples, implementing a novel separated approach for preparing pooled quality controls. An LC-MS/MS workflow was developed and applied to a case study of smoking and non-smoking subjects. Three different pooled quality controls were prepared: mixing an aliquot from every sample (QC-T), only from non-smokers (QC-NS), and only from smokers (QC-S). The feature tables were filtered using QC-T (T-feature list), QC-S, and QC-NS, separately. The last two feature lists were merged (SNS-feature list). A higher number of features was obtained with the SNS-feature list than the T-feature list, resulting in identification of a higher number of biologically significant compounds. The separated pooled QC strategy implemented can improve the nontargeted human biomonitoring for groups of exposed and nonexposed subjects.