Scopes of Bioanalytical Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Journal of Analytical Chemistry - The areas of application of modern bioanalytical chromatography–mass spectrometry are so extensive that any attempt to systematize them becomes subjective....     

Thin-Film Microextraction Coupled with Mass Spectrometry and Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Thin-film microextraction (TFME) is a format of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) technique which offers improvement of sensitivity without sacrificing time through the increase of available surface area and extractive phase volume. This technique offers significant advantages which make it attractive for many analytical/bioanalytical applications. This review discusses the fundamental principle of TFME and its benefits versus the rod fiber geometry of SPME, and demonstrates the agreements of the experimental data for the available TFME systems with the theoretical concept. The current configurations, coating chemistries, coating preparation methods, and applications for TFME system are reported.     

Determination of Ferulic Acid in Rat Plasma by Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method: Application to a Pharmacokinetic Study

Abstract

A rapid, sensitive, and specific liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometric (HPLC-MS/MS) method has been developed for quantification of ferulic acid in rat plasma. The analyte and docetaxel (internal standard) were extracted from plasma samples with diethyl ether and analyzed on a C₁₈ column. The chromatographic separation was achieved within 3.5 min by using acetonitrile-water as the mobile phase and the flow rate was 0.2 mL · min^?1. The method was linear within the range of 0.5 ? 800 ng · mL^?1. The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was 0.5 ng · mL^?1. Finally, the method is successfully applied for the pharmacokinetic study of ferulic acid in rats following intravenous administration.     

Determination of Pesticides in Carrots by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

ABSTRACT

A sensitive and selective method was developed to determine pesticides in carrots by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry following the development of an optimized extraction procedure. The method was validated for 30 organochlorine pesticides for gas chromatography with electron capture detection obtaining limit of detection from 0.18 to 0.92?µg/kg except for cis- and trans-permenthrin. Twenty-six carrot samples were analyzed and six pesticides were detected. The results compared with the accepted maximum residue levels in correlation to crop origin.     

Application of Gas Chromatography and Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry to the Detection of γ-Hydroxybutyric Acid and Its Precursors in Various Materials

Modified procedures were developed for the detection of -hydroxybutyric acid and 1,4-butanediol (its metabolic precursor) in foods, food additives, and urine using gas chromatography and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The analytical range was 0.1–20 wt %.     

Determination of Phytate in Urine by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

An indirect method is described for determination of phytate in human urine. The method is based on hydrolysis of the phytate and determination of myo-inositol, one of the hydrolysis products. Chromatographic separations were performed on an Aminex HPX-87C column with Milli-Q water as mobile phase; 5 mM ammonium acetate was added post-column. The detector counted positive ions by monitoring m/z=198, which corresponds to the adduct of myo-inositol with the ammonium cation. The relative standard deviations obtained for standards containing 0.5, 1, and 1.5 mg L^–1 phytate were 4.1, 3.0, and 2.7% respectively (n=5). The limit of detection was 60 g L^–1. Different urine samples were analyzed both by this method and by an alternative analytical method based on GC–MS. The results from both methods were comparable.     

Retention Time Locking in the Determination of Narcotic Drugs by Chromatography and Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

The use of retention time locking (RTL) in the development of unified procedures for the detection and quantitative determination of drugs in biological fluids was considered. With consideration for the use of RTL, a chromatographic procedure with flame-ionization and mass-selective detection was developed for the detection and quantitative determination of opiates and their synthetic analogs; phenylalkylamine derivatives; cocaine; ketamine; and other narcotic drugs, their derivatives, and metabolites in urine. The analytical ranges for chromatography–mass spectrometry were 0.05–1000 and 0.005–1000 g/mL under the conditions of total ion current (TIC) scanning and selected ion monitoring (SIM), respectively. With flame-ionization detection (GC–FID), the analytical range was 0.5–1000 g/mL.     

Determination of Flavonoids in Stellaria by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

The genus Stellaria (Caryophyllaceae) presents widely distributed plants often used in traditional medicine. Flavonoids are highly active plant secondary metabolites that may be involved in some of the effects of Stellaria plants. In this study, two new high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–ESI-MS-MS) methods were developed for the determination of flavonoids and isoflavonoids in plant material. The separations were performed on a reverse-phase C₁₈ column with gradient elution using methanol and water with 0.5% acetic acid as the mobile phase. Multiple reaction monitoring was used for the tandem mass spectrometry detection and the two most intensive transitions were chosen for the identification of each analyte. The limits of detection and the limits of quantification were between 0.2 and 15.0 ng/mL and 0.6 and 50.0 ng/mL. The developed methods were successfully used for the analyses of four representatives of the genus Stellaria. All the studied herbs contained luteolin and its 7-O-glycosides, naringenin, kaempferol, quercetin, its glycoside rutin, apigenin, and its 7-O-glycoside. One coumarin, scopoletin, was also found. Isoflavones were primarily represented by genistein, genistin, and ononin. Some of the analytes were detected for the first time in Stellaria sp. The findings support that these methods are suitable for analyses of plant material.     

Analysis of Chloramphenicol Residues in Honey by Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Antibiotics are often used in bee-keeping to control European and American foulbrood. The broad spectrum antibiotic chloramphenicol (CAP) was used for curative purposes in veterinary medicine, but is now forbidden in numerous countries, although still used in south-east Asia. A liquid-chromatographic method with tandem mass spectrometric detection (LC–MS–MS) has been developed for analysis of sub-g kg^–1 residues of chloramphenicol in honey. Results from full validation of the procedure and analysis of 75 honey samples obtained commercially in Switzerland are presented. These show the method is satisfactory and useful for monitoring chloramphenicol residues in honey.     

Determination of Volatiles in Water Lily Flowers Using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Volatile organic compounds in the stamens, petals, and pistils of 56 water lily cultivars were determined by headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The stamens released a majority of the volatiles. A total of 117 volatile organic compounds were determined. Alkanes and alkenes were the most abundant, followed by aldehydes and ketones. Cluster analysis was used to divide the cultivars into three subsets characterized by specific aromatic compounds and associated aromas. Discriminant analysis confirmed the results of the cluster analysis. Three tropical water lily cultivars Colorata, 34, and Ai Ji Bai and one hardy water lily cultivar Somptuosa had particularly high aromatic compound concentrations and are recommended to produce fragrant, colorful, and hardy specimens.     

Determination of Eupatilin in Human Plasma by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A rapid, sensitive and selective liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method (LC-MS-MS) for the determination of eupatilin in human plasma has been developed. Eupatilin and an internal standard; (S)-N-(3-{3-fluoro-4-[6-(1-methyl-1H-tetrazol-5-yl)-pyridine-3-yl]-phenyl}-2-oxo-oxazolidin-5-ylmethyl)-acetamide (DA-7867) were extracted from human plasma by liquid-liquid extractionand analyzed on a phenyl-hexyl column using the mobile phase: acetonitrile-ammonium formate (10 mM, pH 3.0) (60:40, /). Analytes were detected using electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry in multiple-reaction monitoring mode. The calibration curve was linear (r = 0.999) over the concentration range: 1.00–500 ng mL^–1 with a lower limit of quantification of 1.0 ng mL^–1 using a 100 L plasma sample. The precision (CV%) of this assay ranged: 2.4–7.0%, relative error: –7.0 to +2.0%. Recoveries of eupatilin ranged: 64.3–65.0%, with that of DA-7867 (internal standard) being 87.0 ± 5.3%.     

Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry Determination of Pregabalin in Human Plasma Using Derivatization Method

A gas chromatography–mass spectrometry method for the determination of pregabalin in human plasma is described. The procedure involves precipitation of protein, liquid–liquid extraction with ethylene glycol monomethyl ether, and derivatization with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide in the presence of N-hydroxysuccinimide as additive. Separation was attained on HP column (30 m × 0. 25 mm ID, 0.25 μm) coupled with mass spectrometric detector using electron impact selected ion monitoring. The assay showed an excellent linearity in the concentration range of 0.36–10 μg mL^?1 with correlation coefficient (r²) values of 0.999. The intra- and inter-day assay variations for three different concentration levels were less than 10%. The limit of quantification was detected at 0.36 μg mL^?1. The method is highly specific, precise, accurate, and reproducible and could also be applied for the determination of pregabalin in human plasma.     

Determination of n-Alkanes in Jet Fuel by Cold-electron Ionization Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

A rapid, easy, and reliable method was developed for the characterization of jet fuel with minimal sample preparation. A standard solution of 13 aliphatic n-alkanes in hexane was used to evaluate and validate the separation using cold-electron ionization gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The method was evaluated and validated by the linearity, accuracy, and precision for all analytes. The limits of detection and quantification for each n-alkane were also evaluated. Nine major n-alkanes from n-octane to n-hexadecane were positively identified and quantified in jet fuel due to the enhanced molecular ion in the mass spectra. Major n-alkanes and their corresponding isomers in jet fuel were also identified from the extracted ion chromatograms. n-Undecane, n-dodecane, n-tridecane, and n-tetradecane were present at the highest concentrations in jet fuel at approximately 7% (v/v). The total concentrations of total straight chain alkanes were 34–37% in jet fuel that was comparable with the standard value of 32%.     

Preliminary Characterization of the Composition and Phenolic Fragmentation of Olive Byproducts by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Olive waste is a potential resource due to its rich variety of biologically active compounds. To investigate chemical components of olive waste, the selected samples were extracted using ultrasound assisted enzyme hydrolysis and petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and n-butyl alcohol were used to obtain a series of solvent extracts. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis showed hydrocarbons, esters, acids, alcohols, and ketones present in the extracts. Some fatty acids were considered to be predominant; it is noteworthy that phenolic compounds were detected in the ethyl acetate extract fraction. Furthermore, the primary phenolic compounds were also determined by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. The possible fragmentation patterns have been proposed in positive and negative ion modes; the main fragment ions were observed from the loss of methyl, hydroxyl, or carboxyl groups. The compounds showed different fragmentation ions types in both positive and negative ionization modes and gave structural information on the main phenolic compounds in olive waste. The results of this study may be used to identify valuable active compounds and guide commercial applications of olive waste.     

Determination of Caseinomacropeptide in Brazilian Bovine Milk by High-performance Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Milk adulteration is a concern in many countries, including Brazil. There are many compounds used as adulterants, including cheese whey, a by-product of cheese. Recently, we have developed a proteomic-like technique for separation and characterization of caseinomacropeptide using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization. Caseinomacropeptide is important because it can be used as marker when cheese whey adulteration is performed in bovine milk. Furthermore, it is difficult to establish reference values for caseinomacropeptide levels because of the variation of milk composition. The aim of this study was to verify the average value for caseinomacropeptide present in bovine raw milk collected by Federal Inspection Service from five regions of Brazil (north, northwest, west central, south, southeast). Survey sampling was divided into two stages: first one, a data set 1 (regional sampling) was collected only from the south during a year. This data sampling was used to estimate the data set 2 (national sampling). A largest extreme value was suggested as a model for caseinomacropeptide distributions for national sampling. The data set showed 2.52?mg?L^?1 as the mean and 4.80?mg?L^?1 for the standard deviation based on a sampling size of 170?units collected across Brazil. The findings are useful to understand the presence of caseinomacropeptide, especially when no adulteration or the absence of good practices is present.     

Determination of 16 Mycotoxins in Maize by Ultrahigh-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

An ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of sterigmatocystin, verruculogen, enniatin A, fusarenon-X, fumonisins B1, B2, B3, aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, G2, ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol, 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol, 5-acetyldeoxynivalenol, and zearalenone. The mycotoxins were extracted and cleaned up using a multitoxin column, separated on a C18 column, and then detected on a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer. The limits of detection and quantification ranged within 0.2–2?µg/kg and 1–10?µg/kg, respectively. The recoveries ranged from 70.8 to 118.4%, with relative standard deviations below 15%. The method was used to analyze 80 samples obtained from Shandong Province in China. Fifty-eight samples were contaminated with 10 mycotoxins at concentrations ranging from 1.4 to 6566.1?µg/kg. Some samples exceeded the maximum limits in China and in European regulations for mycotoxins in unprocessed maize.     

Determination of Aromatic Microbial Metabolites in Blood Serum by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

We present the results of the determination of eight aromatic microbial metabolites, phenylcarboxylic acids (PhCAs), by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry after their liquid–liquid extraction from serum samples and derivatization. The analytical range for the analytes is 0.5–40 μM. The concentration of phenylcarboxylic acids in the serum of healthy donors (n = 40) and the time profile of the concentration of different PhCAs in serum samples of four patients from the intensive care unit (ICU) are studied. The results correlated with the severity of the clinical state of patients.