Rapid and sensitive determination of free thiols by capillary zone electrophoresis with near‐infrared laser‐induced fluorescence detection using a new BODIPY‐based probe as labeling reagent

A CZE with near‐infrared (NIR) LIF detection method has been developed for the analysis of six low molecular weight thiols including glutathione, homocysteine, cysteine, γ‐glutamylcysteine, cysteinylglycine, and N‐acetylcysteine. For this purpose, a new NIR fluorescent probe, 1,7‐dimethyl‐3,5‐distyryl‐8‐phenyl‐(4'‐iodoacetamido)difluoroboradiaza‐s‐indacene was utilized as the labeling reagent, whose excitation wavelength matches the commercially available NIR laser line of 635 nm. The optimum procedure included a derivatization step of the free thiols at 45°C for 25 min and CZE analysis conducted within 14 min in the running buffer containing 16 mmol/L pH 7.0 sodium citrate and 60% v/v ACN. The LODs (S/N = 3) ranged from 0.11 nmol/L for N‐acetylcysteine to 0.31 nmol/L for γ‐glutamylcysteine, which are better than or comparable to those reported with other derivatization‐based CE‐LIF methods. As the first trial of NIR CE‐LIF method for thiol determination, the practical application of the proposed method has been validated by detecting thiols in cucumber and tomato samples with recoveries of 96.5–104.3%.     

Reversed‐phase liquid chromatography method for the determination of total plasma thiols after derivatization with 1‐benzyl‐2‐chloropyridinium bromide

A high‐performance liquid chromatography method was developed for simultaneous detection and quantitation of total cysteine, glutathione, homocysteine and cysteinylglycine in human plasma. The two key steps in the analysis are reduction of disulfides and treatment with 1‐benzyl‐2‐chloropyridinium bromide, which rapidly and quantitatively reacts with thiol groups to form stable S‐pyridinium derivatives with intense UV absorption. The derivatives are well separated on a Zorbax SB C₁₈ column using reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography and monitored at 315 nm. The calibration graphs were linear over concentration ranges covering most experimental and clinical cases with a regression coefficients better than 0.999. The detection and quantitation limits for all analytes were 0.2 and 0.5 µmol/L, respectively. The recoveries were 99.25–101.68%. The intra‐ and interassay imprecisions were 0.88–4.24 and 1.68–5.14%, respectively. The method was applied for plasma samples donated by apparently healthy volunteers. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of trimethylamine‐N‐oxide in combination with l‐carnitine and γ‐butyrobetaine in human plasma by UPLC/MS/MS

An ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (UPLC/MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the quantification of trimethylamine‐N‐oxide (TMAO) simultaneously with TMAO‐related molecules l ‐carnitine and γ‐butyrobetaine (GBB) in human blood plasma. The separation of analytes was achieved using a Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC)‐type column with ammonium acetate–acetonitrile as the mobile phase. TMAO determination was validated according to valid US Food and Drug Administration guidelines. The developed method was successfully applied to plasma samples from healthy volunteers. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simultaneous determination of total homocysteine,cysteine, glutathione,and N‐acetylcysteine in brain homogenates by HPLC

We have developed a simple, fast, accurate, and cheap method for the simultaneous determination of total cysteine, homocysteine, glutathione, and N‐acetylcysteine in brain homogenates based on the reduction of disulfide bonds by tris(2‐carboxyethyl) phosphine, pre‐column derivatization of free thiol groups with 2‐chloro‐1‐methylquinolinium tetrafluoroborate followed by ion‐pair reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography separation with ultraviolet detection. The separation of thiol derivatives was achieved in 10 min. Linearity was observed in the range of 10–300, 0.7–10, 2–30, and 3–20 μmol/L homogenate with a limit of detection of 3.7, 0.2, 0.8, and 1.2 μmol/L homogenate for cysteine, homocysteine, glutathione, and N‐acetylcysteine, respectively. The precision, calculated as relative standard deviation, was in the range of 1.21–4.77, 1.53–14.35, 0.47–1.92, and 1.61–8.95% for cysteine, homocysteine, glutathione, and N‐acetylcysteine, respectively. The presented method was successfully applied to the selective determination of total amino thiols in pig brain tissue samples.     

Albumin‐bound low molecular weight thiols analysis in plasma and carotid plaques by CE

We describe a new method for the quantification of low molecular weight thiols, as homocysteine, cysteine, cysteinylglycine, glutamylcysteine and glutathione bound to human plasma albumin. After albumin isolation and purification by SDS‐PAGE, thiols were freed from protein with tri‐n‐butylphosphine and successively derivatized with 5‐iodoacetamidofluorescein. Samples were then injected and quantified in about 18 min by CE with laser induced fluorescence detection. Precision tests indicate a good repeatability of the method both for migration times (RSD<0.63%) and areas (RSD<2.98%). The method allows to measure all five low molecular weight thiols released from just 3 μg of albumin thus improving the other described methods in which only three or four thiols were detected. Due to the elevated sensitivity (LOD of 0.3 pM for all thiols), also low molecular weight thiols bound to albumin filtered in tissues could be quantified.     

Determination of thiols by capillary micellar electrokinetic chromatography with laser induced fluorescence detection using 1,3,5,7‐tetramethyl‐8‐phenyl‐(4‐iodoacetamido) difluoroboradiaza‐s‐indacene as labeling reagent

A sensitive and effective micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with laser‐induced fluorescence detection approach was described for the determination of low molecular‐mass thiols using 1,3,5,7‐tetramethyl‐8‐phenyl‐(4‐iodoacetamido) difluoroboradiaza‐s‐indacene as the labeling reagent. After precolumn derivatization, baseline separation of six thiol compounds including cysteine, glutathione, N‐acetylcysteine, homocysteine, 6‐mercaptopurine, and penicillamine were achieved within 18 min. The optimal running buffer was composed of mixtures involving 25 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate, 25% (v/v) acetonitrile and 15 mM sodium phosphate buffer, pH 7.5. The detection limits (S/N = 3) were found as low as 40 pM under argon ion laser‐induced fluorescence detector (λ_ex/λ_em = 488/520 nm), which were much better than the reported approaches. The accuracy and specificity of this assay for real samples were assured by a standard addition method. The proposed method has been applied to the analysis of thiols both in human plasma and plum flower samples with recoveries of 92.0–109.4%.     

Simultaneous determination of three anticon‐vulsants using hydrophilic interaction LC‐MS

A specific and automated method was developed to quantify the anticonvulsants gabapentin, pregabalin and vigabatrin simultaneously in human serum. Samples were prepared with a protein precipitation. The hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) with a mobile phase gradient was used to divide off ions of the matrix and for separation of the analytes. Four different HILIC‐columns and two different column temperatures were tested. The Tosoh‐Amid column gave the best results: single small peaks. The anticonvulsants were detected in the multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM) with ESI‐MS‐MS. Using a volume of 100 μL biological sample the lowest point of the standard curve, i.e. the lower LOQs were 312 ng/mL. The described HILIC‐MS‐MS method is suitable for therapeutic drug monitoring and for clinical and pharmcokinetical investigations of the anticonvulsives.     

An expedient reverse‐phase high‐performance chromatography (RP‐HPLC) based method for high‐throughput analysis of deferoxamine and ferrioxamine in urine

The present study was planned to optimize and validate an expedient reverse‐phase high chromatography (RP‐HPLC) based protocol for the analysis of deferoxamine (DFO) and ferrioxamine (FO) in urinary execration of patients suffering β ‐thalassemia major. The optimized RP‐HPLC method was found to be linear over the wide range of DFO and FO concentration (1–90 μg/mL) with appreciable recovery rates (79.64–97.30%) of quality controls at improved detection and quantitation limits and acceptable inter and intraday variability. Real‐time analysis of DFO and FO in the urine of thalassemic patients (male and female) at different intervals of Desferal®(Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation) injection revealed DFO and FO excretion at significantly (p < 0) different rates. The maximum concentrations of DFO (76.7 ± 3.06 μg/mL) and FO (74.2 ± 3.25 μg/mL) were found in urine samples, collected after 6 h of drug infusion while the minimum levels of DFO (1.10 ± 0.12 μg/mL) and FO (2.97 ± 0.13 μg/mL) were excreted by patients after 24 h. The present paper offers balanced conditions for an expedient, reliable and quick determination of DFO and FO in urine samples.     

A rapid and sensitive LC–MS/MS method for quantification of quercetin‐3‐O‐β‐d‐glucopyranosyl‐7‐O‐β‐d‐gentiobioside in plasma and its application to a pharmacokinetic study

A rapid and sensitive LC–MS/MS method with good accuracy and precision was developed and validated for the pharmacokinetic study of quercetin‐3‐O‐β‐d ‐glucopyranosyl‐7‐O‐β‐d ‐gentiobioside (QGG) in Sprague–Dawley rats. Plasma samples were simply precipitated by methanol and then analyzed by LC–MS/MS. A Venusil® ASB C₁₈ column (2.1 × 50 mm, i.d. 5 μm) was used for separation, with methanol–water (50:50, v/v) as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 300 μL/min. The optimized mass transition ion‐pairs (m/z) for quantitation were 787.3/301.3 for QGG, and 725.3/293.3 for internal standard. The linear range was 7.32–1830 ng/mL with an average correlation coefficient of 0.9992, and the limit of quantification was 7.32 ng/mL. The intra‐ and inter‐day precision and accuracy were less than ±15%. At low, medium and high quality control concentrations, the recovery and matrix effect of the analyte and IS were in the range of 89.06–92.43 and 88.58–97.62%, respectively. The method was applied for the pharmacokinetic study of QGG in Sprague–Dawley rats. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of thiol compounds by HPLC and fluorescence detection with 1,3,5,7‐tetramethyl‐8‐bromomethyl‐difluoroboradiaza‐s‐indacene

Altered levels of thiols in biological fluids are considered to be an important indicator for several diseases. In this article, 1,3,5,7‐tetramethyl‐8‐bromomethyl‐difluoroboradiaza‐s‐indacene is proposed as a fluorescent derivatization reagent for the determination of thiols including glutathione, cysteine, N‐acetylcysteine, and homocysteine by HPLC. Under the optimized derivatization and separation conditions, a baseline separation of all the four derivatives has been achieved using isocratic elution on an RP C₈ column within 26 min. With fluorescence detection at 505 and 525 nm for the excitation and emission, respectively, the LODs (S/N = 3) are from 0.2 nM (glutathione) to 0.8 nM (cysteine). The feasibility of this method in real samples has been evaluated by the determination of thiols in human plasma from the healthy persons and hypertensive patients with recoveries of 92–105.3%.     

A rapid HPLC‐ESI‐MS/MS method for determination of β‐asarone,a potential anti‐epileptic agent,in plasma after oral administration of Acorus calamus extract to rats

β‐Asarone (BAS), a phenylpropanoid from Acorus calamus Linn., has shown biological effects in the management of cognitive impairment conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. The present paper describes a selective and sensitive liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometric method (HPLC‐MS/MS) using electrospray ionization source (ESI) for quantification of BAS in rat plasma. Briefly, the plasma samples were pre‐treated using a simple solid‐phase extraction method. The separation of BAS and the internal standard, caffeine, was achieved on an Agilent Zorbax XDB C₁₈ column (50 × 2.1 mm i.d., 5 µm) using 0.2 mL/min isocratic mobile phase flow. The detection was performed using an Applied Biosystems Hybrid Q‐Trap API 2000 mass spectrometer equipped with an ESI source operated in positive mode. Also, the developed bioanalytical method was validated as per the US FDA bioanalytical guidelines over the concentration range of 9.79–4892.50 ng/mL (r² ≥ 0.9951) for BAS from rat plasma. The mean percentage recovery (n = 3) for the low, middle and high quality control samples was 86.92 ± 3.89, 85.30 ± 1.09 and 87.24 ± 4.03%, respectively. The applicability of the validated HPLC‐MS/MS method was demonstrated by successful measurement of BAS from plasma following oral administration of Acorus calamus rhizome extracts to three female albino Wistar rats. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Separation of complex sugar mixtures on a hydrolytically stable bidentate urea‐type stationary phase for hydrophilic interaction near ultra high performance liquid chromatography

A stationary phase bearing both bridged bis‐ureido and free amino groups (USP‐HILIC‐NH₂–2.5SP) for high‐speed hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography separations was prepared using a one‐pot two‐step procedure starting from 2.5 μm totally porous silica particles. Highly polar compounds, such as polyols, hydroxybenzoic acids, and sugars, were successfully analyzed in shorter times and with higher peak efficiency, when compared to results obtained with a bidentate urea‐type column packed with 5 μm particles. Increased sugarophilicity and better peak shape were attested for the USP‐HILIC‐NH₂–2.5SP column (100 × 3.2 mm id) when compared with two commercially available UHPLC columns, namely an acquity BEH amide packed with totally porous 1.7 μm microparticles and a HILIC Kinetex column packed with core–shell 2.6 μm particles. Finally, the new column was employed in the separation of complex mixture of sugars (mono‐, di‐, and oligosaccharides) and in the analysis of beer samples. The resulting chromatograms showed good selectivity and overall resolution, while the catalyzing effect of the free amino moieties resulted in excellent peak shapes and in the absence of split peaks due to sugar anomerization phenomena.     

Quadruple click reactions for the synthesis of cysteine‐terminated linear multiblock copolymers

Synthesis of cysteine‐terminated linear polystyrene (PS)‐b‐poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL)‐b‐poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/or poly(tert‐butyl acrylate)(PtBA)‐b‐poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) copolymers was carried out using sequential quadruple click reactions including thiol‐ene, copper‐catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC), Diels–Alder, and nitroxide radical coupling (NRC) reactions. N‐acetyl‐L ‐cysteine methyl ester was first clicked with α‐allyl‐ω‐azide‐terminated PS via thiol‐ene reaction to create α‐cysteine‐ω‐azide‐terminated PS. Subsequent CuAAC reaction with PCL, followed by the introduction of the PMMA/or PtBA and PEG blocks via Diels–Alder and NRC, respectively, yielded final cysteine‐terminated multiblock copolymers. By ¹H NMR spectroscopy, the DP_ns of the blocks in the final multiblock copolymers were found to be close to those of the related polymer precursors, indicating that highly efficient click reactions occurred for polymer–polymer coupling. Successful quadruple click reactions were also confirmed by gel permeation chromatography. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Resolution and isolation of enantiomers of (±)‐isoxsuprine using thin silica gel layers impregnated with l‐glutamic acid,comparison of separation of its diastereomers prepared with chiral derivatizing reagents having l‐amino acids as chiral auxiliaries

Thin silica gel layers impregnated with optically pure l ‐glutamic acid were used for direct resolution of enantiomers of (±)‐isoxsuprine in their native form. Three chiral derivatizing reagents, based on DFDNB moiety, were synthesized having l ‐alanine, l ‐valine and S‐benzyl‐l ‐cysteine as chiral auxiliaries. These were used to prepare diastereomers under microwave irradiation and conventional heating. The diastereomers were separated by reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography on a C₁₈ column with detection at 340 nm using gradient elution with mobile phase containing aqueous trifluoroacetic acid and acetonitrile in different compositions and by thin‐layer chromatography (TLC) on reversed phase (RP) C₁₈ plates. Diastereomers prepared with enantiomerically pure (+)‐isoxsuprine were used as standards for the determination of the elution order of diastereomers of (±)‐isoxsuprine. The elution order in the experimental study of RP‐TLC and RP‐HPLC supported the developed optimized structures of diastereomers based on density functional theory. The limit of detection was 0.1–0.09 µg/mL in TLC while it was in the range of 22–23 pg/mL in HPLC and 11–13 ng/mL in RP‐TLC for each enantiomer. The conditions of derivatization and chromatographic separation were optimized. The method was validated for accuracy, precision, limit of detection and limit of quantification. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sensitive determination of glucose in Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium by high‐performance liquid chromatography with 1‐phenyl‐3‐methyl‐5‐pyrazolone derivatization: application to gluconeogenesis studies

A new pre‐column derivative high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for determination of d ‐glucose with 3‐O‐methyl‐d ‐glucose (3‐OMG) as the internal standard was developed and validated in order to study the gluconeogenesis in HepG2 cells. Samples were derivatized with 1‐phenyl‐3‐methy‐5‐pyrazolone at 70°C for 50 min. Glucose and 3‐OMG were extracted by liquid–liquid extraction and separated on a YMC‐Triart C₁₈ column, with a gradient mobile phase composed of acetonitrile and 20 mm ammonium acetate solution containing 0.09% tri‐ethylamine at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The eluate were detected using a UV detector at 250 nm. The assay was linear over the range 0.39–25 μm (R² = 0.9997, n = 5) and the lower limit of quantitation was 0.39 μm (0.070 mg/mL). Intra‐ and inter‐day precision and accuracy were <15% and within ±3%, respectively. After validation, the HPLC method was applied to investigate the gluconeogenesis in Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium (DMEM) cultured HepG2 cells. Glucose concentration was determined to be about 1–2.5 μm in this gluconeogenesis assay. In conclusion, this method has been shown to determine small amounts of glucose in DMEM successfully, with lower limit of quantitation and better sensitivity when compared with common commercial glucose assay kits. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of eurycomanone in rat plasma using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry for pharmacokinetic study

In this study, a rapid, sensitive, and reliable hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HILIC‐MS/MS) method for the determination of eurycomanone in rat plasma was developed and validated. Plasma samples were pretreated with a protein precipitation method and quercitrin was used as an internal standard (IS). A HILIC silica column (2.1 × 100 mm, 3 μm) was used for hydrophilic‐based chromatographic separation, using the mobile phase of 0.1% formic acid with acetonitrile in gradient elution at a flow rate of 0.25 mL/min. Precursor–product ion pairs for multiple‐reaction monitoring were m /z 409.1 → 391.0 for eurycomanone and m /z 449.1 → 303.0 for IS. The linear range was 2–120 ng/mL. The intra‐ and inter‐day accuracies were between 95.5 and 103.4% with a precision of <4.2%. The developed method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic analysis of eurycomanone in rat plasma after oral dosing with pure compound and E. longifolia extract. The C _max and AUC_0–t , respectively, were 40.43 ± 16.08 ng/mL and 161.09 ± 37.63 ng h/mL for 10 mg/kg eurycomanone, and 9.90 ± 3.97 ng/mL and 37.15 ± 6.80 ng h/mL for E. longifolia extract (2 mg/kg as eurycomanone). The pharmacokinetic results were comparable with each other, based on the dose as eurycomanone.     

A high‐performance liquid chromatography assay with a triazole‐bonded column for evaluation of d‐amino acid oxidase activity

Elution profiles of kynurenic acid (KYNA) and 7‐chlorokynurenic acid (Cl‐KYNA) were examined by high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using a triazole‐bonded stationary phase column (Cosmosil® HILIC) under isocratic elution of a mobile phase consisting of CH₃CN–aqueous 10 mm ammonium formate between pH 3.0 and 6.0. The capacity factors of KYNA and Cl‐KYNA varied with both the CH₃CN content and the pH of the mobile phase. The elution order of KYNA and Cl‐KYNA was reversed between the CH₃CN‐ and H₂O‐rich mobile phases, suggesting that hydrophilic interactions and anion‐exchange interactions caused retention of KYNA and Cl‐KYNA in the CH₃CN‐ and H₂O‐rich mobile phases, respectively. The present HPLC method using a triazole‐bonded column and fluorescence detection (excitation 250 nm, emission 398 nm) was applied to monitor in vitro production of KYNA from d ‐kynurenine (d ‐KYN) by d ‐amino acid oxidase (DAO) using Cl‐KYNA as an internal standard. A single KYNA peak was clearly observed after enzymatic reaction of d ‐KYN with DAO. Production of KYNA from d ‐KYN was suppressed by the addition of commercial DAO inhibitors. The present HPLC method can be used to evaluate DAO activity and DAO inhibitory effects in candidate drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of a potential method based on microchip electrophoresis with fluorescence detection for the sensitive determination of intracellular thiols in RAW264.7 cells

This paper, for the first time, reported the development of a simple, rapid, and reliable method for the separation and sensitive determination of four thiol compounds including homocysteine, cysteine, glutathione, and N‐acetylcysteine based on glass MCE with fluorescence detection using a highly reactive fluorogenic probe, 1,3,5,7‐tetramethyl‐8‐phenyl‐(2‐maleimide)‐difluoroboradiaza‐s‐indacene (TMPAB‐o‐M), as the labeling reagent. TMPAB‐o‐M reacted selectively with thiols to produce highly fluorescent derivatives and the highest derivatization efficiency was achieved within 6 min in physiological conditions. After the optimization of separation conditions, a baseline separation of the four thiol compounds was achieved with the detection limits ranging from 2 nM for glutathione to 4 nM for cysteine (S/N = 3) and RSDs (n = 5) in the range of 3.2–3.8%. The proposed method was significantly sensitive compared to those using electrochemical or even LIF detection in MCE‐based setup reported previously, and applied to the determination of intracellular thiols in macrophage RAW264.7 cells.     

Rapid analysis of constituents of Radix Cyathulae using hydrophilic interaction‐reverse phase LC‐MS

A hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) and reverse‐phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) coupled with electrospray TOF MS method was developed for the analysis and characterization of constituents in the radix of Cyathula officinalis Kuan. Separation parameters of HILIC such as buffer pH, mobile phase strength, and organic modifier were evaluated. Fructose, glucose, and sucrose were identified by HILIC‐ESI/TOF MS. Reverse‐phase liquid chromatography‐ESI/TOF MS were applied for quick and sensitive identification of major saponins in Cyathula officinalis. In‐source collision‐induced dissociation has been performed to elucidate the fragmentation pathways of oleanane‐, hederagenin‐, and gypsogmin‐type saponins. Twelve saponins were characterized in this plant for the first time, and four of them were presumed to be new compounds. In addition, one phytoecdysteroid (cyasterone) and one coumarin (6,7‐dimethoxycoumarin) were detected at the same time. The present method was capable of rapid characterizing and providing structure information of constituents from herbal drugs.     

A validated HPLC‐fluorescence method with a semi‐micro column for routine determination of homocysteine,cysteine and cysteamine,and the relation between the thiol derivatives in normal human plasma

A semi‐micro column HPLC‐fluorescence method for routine determination of thiol derivatives such as homocysteine (Hcy), cysteine (Cys) and cysteamine (CA) is described. The thiol derivatives labeled with ammonium‐7‐fluorobenzo‐2‐oxa‐1,3‐diazole‐4‐sulfonate (SBD‐F) were isocratically separated within 12 min on a semi‐micro ODS column (Daisopak‐SP‐120‐5‐ODS‐BP) with a mixture of 25 mm acetate buffer (pH 2.00) and CH₃CN as a mobile phase. The purity and similarity of SBD‐thiols by a multi‐wavelength fluorescence detector were more than 92.3 and 96.7%. The detection limits of Hcy, Cys and CA at a signal‐to‐noise ratio of 3 were 0.16, 0.47 and 0.03 µm , respectively. Furthermore validation parameters such as accuracy, precision and robustness of the proposed method showed satisfactory results. Almost 850 plasma sample injections (range 572–1076, n = 3) for a column could be performed without differences in retention time and peak heights of labels. As an application of the proposed method, the determination of thiol derivatives in normal human plasma (n = 103) was demonstrated. The correlation coefficients between Hcy vs Cys and Hcy vs CA were 0.38 and −0.35, respectively. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.