Direct Analysis of Phenol, Catechol and Hydroquinone in Human Urine by Coupled-Column HPLC with Fluorimetric Detection

Phenol, catechol, and hydroquinone, are urinary end-products of the metabolism of benzene, nutrients, drugs, and endogenous substances. Recent research demonstrated that phenol, catechol, and hydroquinone, may have themselves a role in the carcinogenicity of benzene and in mechanisms that lead to leukemia. In this respect there is the need of rapid, low-cost, and possibly direct methods to quantitate these phenolic metabolites. Three single-residue coupled-column HPLC methods with fluorimetric detection (LC-LC-FLD) are described for the direct quantitation of phenol, catechol, and hydroquinone, in human urine. After enzymatic hydrolysis of the corresponding beta-glucuronoconjugates and sulfates, urine was directly injected into the LC-LC analyzer. The LC-LC-FLD procedure allowed base-to-base separation of the target compounds from urine interferents and good linearity (r² = 0.998) within the ranges studied (0.5–50 mg L⁻¹ for phenol, 0.35–35 mg L⁻¹ for catechol and 0.2–10 mg L⁻¹ for hydroquinone). Despite the high background levels of these metabolites in human urine, within- and inter-session precision expressed as RSD% was better than 20% on spiked and on authentic urine samples obtained from benzene-exposed workers. Accuracy expressed as the recovery ratio between measured and nominal concentration in spiked urine was comprised between 93% and 115% for the three metabolites. The column switching system was fully automated and computer-controlled, and was applied to the determination of phenol, catechol, and hydroquinone in urine samples showing a sample throughput of at least 20–30 samples per day.Revised: 21 February and 7 April 2005     

A rapid HPLC method for the determination of carboxylic acids in human urine using a monolithic column

A rapid HPLC method for the determination of carboxylic acids in urine samples using a Chromolith Performance RP/18e 100/4.6 with Chromolith Guard Cartridge RP/18e 10/4.6 (Merck KgaA, Darmstadt, Germany) was developed. The method facilitates the simultaneous determination of aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites mandelic acid (MA) and phenylglyoxylic acid (PGA) from styrene and ethylbenzene, hippuric acid (HA) from toluene and 2-, 3-, 4-methylhippuric acids (MHA) from xylene. 3-Hydroxybenzoic acid (3-HBA) was used as internal standard. A chromatographic run is completed within less than 5 min for styrene, ethylbenzene and toluene metabolites, and within 10 min for xylene metabolites. The detection limits are 9 mg L^–1 urine for MA, 1.25 mg L^–1 urine for PGA, 4.9 mg L^–1 urine for HA, 22 mg L^–1 urine for 2-MHA, and 18.5 mg L^–1 urine for 3-MHA.No significant differences of the MA, PGA and HA concentrations in human urine samples obtained by HPLC chromatography on LiChrosorb RP 18 and on Chromolith RP/18e columns were found. The results were evaluated by using ANOVA.Abbreviations MA mandelic acid - PGA phenylglyoxylic acid - HA hippuric acid - MHA methylhippuric acid - 3-HBA 3-hydroxybenzoic acid - ANOVA analyses of variance - GC gas chromatography - HPLC high-performance liquid chromatography     

Determination of Macrolide Antibiotics Using Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Microextraction Followed by Surface-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry

A novel method for the determination of macrolide antibiotics using dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction coupled to surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometric detection was developed. Acetone and dichloromethane were used as the disperser solvent and extraction solvent, respectively. A mixture of extraction solvent and disperser solvent were rapidly injected into a 1.0 mL aqueous sample to form a cloudy solution. After the extraction, macrolide antibiotics were detected using surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (SALDI/MS) with colloidal silver as the matrix. Under optimum conditions, the limits of detection (LODs) at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 were 2, 3, 3, and 2 nM for erythromycin (ERY), spiramycin (SPI), tilmicosin (TILM), and tylosin (TYL), respectively. This developed method was successfully applied to the determination of macrolide antibiotics in human urine samples.     

Development of a spiramycin sensor based on adsorptive stripping linear sweep voltammetry and its application for the determination of spiramycin in chicken egg samples

Herein, an adsorptive stripping linear sweep voltammetric technique was described to determine spiramycin, a macrolide antibiotic, using a carboxylic multiwalled glassy carbon electrode modified with carbon nanotubes. The main principle of the analytical methodology proposed was based on the preconcentration of spiramycin by open-circuit accumulation of the macrolide onto the modified electrode surface. As a result of the adsorption affinity of spiramycin to the modified surface, the sensitivity of the glassy carbon electrode was significantly increased for the determination of spiramycin. The electrochemical behavior of spiramycin was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and the irreversible anodic peak observed was measured as an analytical signal in the methodology. The proposed electrochemical sensing platform was quite linear in the range of 0.100–40.0 µM of spiramycin concentration with a correlation coefficient of 0.9993. The limit of detection and the limit of quantification were 0.028 and 0.094 µM, respectively. The intra- and interday repeatability of the proposed sensor was within acceptable limits. Finally, the applicability of the electrochemical methodology was examined by determining the drug content of chicken egg samples spiked with spiramycin standard. A rapid and easy extraction technique was performed to extract spiked spiramycin from the egg samples. The extraction technique followed had good recovery values between 85.3 ± 4.0% and 93.4 ± 1.9%.     

Electrochemical Sensor for Selective Detection of Meldonium in Urine by Voltammetry

A highly sensitive electrochemical sensor based on arenediazonium tosylates was designed to detect meldonium in urine. The effect of the concentration of ArN2⁺OTs⁻ arenediazonium tosylate modifier and various substituents was studied. Basic operating parameters for voltammetric meldonium detection were established and the procedure for urine sample preparation was developed. The following values were obtained: limit of detection (LOD) 0.005 mg ⋅ L⁻¹ (P=0.95) and limit of quantification (LOQ) 0.01 mg ⋅ L⁻¹. The relationship between the analytical signal and meldonium concentration in the solution ranging from 0.01 to 400 mg ⋅ L⁻¹ was described by a linear function. The meldonium concentration error did not exceed 18 %. The analysis time for a single urine sample was reduced to 15 minutes.     

Detection of ethanol in human body fluids by headspace solid-phase micro extraction (SPME)/capillary gas chromatography

Summary Ethanol has been found extractable from human whole blood and urine samples by headspace solid-phase micro extraction (SPME) with a Carbowax/divinylbenzene-coated fiber. After heating a vial containing the body fluid sample with ethanol, and isobutanol as internal standard (IS) at 70°C in the presence of (NH₄)₂SO₄, a Carbowax/divinylbenzene-coated SPME fiber was exposed in the headspace of the vial to allow adsorption of the compounds. The fiber needle was then injected into a middle-bore capillary gas chromatography (GC) port. The headspace SPME-GC gave intense peaks for both compounds; a small amount of background noises appeared, but did not interfere with the detection of the compounds. Recoveries of ethanol and IS were 0.049 and 0.026% for whole blood, respectively, and 0.054 and 0.085% for urine, respectively. The calibration curves for ethanol showed excellent linearity in the range of 80–5000 mg L^–1 for whole blood and 40–5000 mg L^–1 for urine; the detection limits for both samples were 20 and 10 mg L^–1, respectively. The data on actual determination of ethanol after the drinking of beer are also presented for two subjects.     

Flow injection chemiluminescence determination of naftopidil based on potassium permanganate oxidation in the presence of formaldehyde or formic acid

A flow injection method is proposed for the determination of naftopidil based upon the oxidation by potassium permanganate in a sulfuric acid medium and sensitized by formaldehyde and formic acid. The optimum chemical conditions for the chemiluminescence emission were 0.25 mM potassium permanganate and 4.0 M sulfuric acid. Two manifolds were tested and instrumental parameters such as the length of the reactor, injection volume and flow rate were compared. When using the selected manifold in the presence of 0.4 M formaldehyde, naftopidil gives a second-order calibration graph over the concentration range 0.1–40.0 mg L^–1 with a detection limit calculated (as proposed by IUPAC) of 92.5 ng mL^–1 and a standard deviation of 0.12 mg mL^–1 for ten samples of 10.0 mg L^–1 naftopidil. In the presence of 1.15 M formic acid, naftopidil gives a second-order calibration graph over the concentration range 0.05–40.0 mg L^–1 with a detection limit of 14.2 ng mL^–1 and a standard deviation of 0.37 mg mL^–1 for ten samples of 10.0 mg L^–1 naftopidil. In both cases, the determination is free from interferences from common excipients such as sucrose, glucose, lactose, starch and citric acid.     

Synthesis of ractopamine molecularly imprinted membrane and its application in the rapid determination of three β‐agonists in porcine urine samples

A novel molecularly imprinted membrane (MIM) with ractopamine (RAC) as the template and the hydrophilic PVDF membrane as the support was synthesized for the selective absorption of RAC and its structure analogues. The absorption behavior and selectivity of the MIM were studied. The experimental results showed that the MIM had the good selectivity to three β‐agonists including RAC, RIT, and formoterol (FOM) than that of nonimprinted membrane. The adsorption capacity for three compounds was above 1.88 μg/cm² of per membrane. Based on the clean‐up and enrichment of porcine urine samples with the MIM, a sensitive determination method of three β‐agonists in porcine urine samples by using MIM followed ultra performance chromatography coupled MS/MS detection was developed. The LOD and LOQ for RAC, RIT, and FOM were below 0.006 and 0.02 ng/mL, respectively. The mean recoveries, repeatability, and reproducibility of three compounds in porcine urine samples varied from 67.9 to 86.3%, from 3.3 to 10.8%, and from 5.3 to 8.5%, respectively. The presented method was applied to test 50 real porcine urine samples. It was demonstrated to be more sensitive and robust for the determination of RAC, RIT, and FOM in porcine urine.     

超高效液相色谱-串联质谱法测定牛尿液中的甲状腺抑制剂(英文)

Five thyreostats(TSs),namely tapazole,thiouracil,methylthiouracil,propylthiouracil,and phenylthiouracil,were determined in bovine urine using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(UHPLC-MS/MS)in positive electrospray ionization mode.Extraction and clean-up were achieved using a ChemElut cartridge with tert-butyl methyl ether,without a derivatization step.Separation was achieved on an Acquity UPLC SS T3 column.The mobile phase was acetonitrile and water containing 0.2%(v/v)formic acid.The mass spectrometer was operated in multiple reaction monitoring mode.Urine samples were spiked with TS solution at levels corresponding to 5,10,15,and 20μg/L.The accuracy(internal standard corrected)ranged from 92%to 107%,with a repeatability precision(relative standard deviation,RSD)less than 15%for all five analytes.The RSDs within-laboratory reproducibility was less than 26%.The decision limits(CCα)and detection capabilities(CCβ)were obtained from a calibration curve and were in the ranges of 3.1-6.1μg/L and 4.0-7.4μg/L,respectively.The CCαand CCβvalues were below the recommended concentration,which was set at 10μg/L.The results show that the described method is suitable for the direct detection of TSs in bovine urine.This method can also be used to determine TSs in porcine urine.     

Flow-injection technique for determination of uranium and thorium isotopes in urine by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A sensitive and efficient flow-injection (FI) preconcentration and matrix-separation technique coupled to sector field ICP–mass spectrometry (SF-ICP–MS) has been developed and validated for simultaneous determination of ultra-low levels of uranium (U) and thorium (Th) in human urine. The method is based on selective retention of U and Th from a urine matrix, after microwave digestion, on an extraction chromatographic TRU resin, as an alternative to U/TEVA resin, and their subsequent elution with ammonium oxalate. Using a 10 mL sample, the limits of detection achieved for ²³⁸U and ²³²Th were 0.02 and 0.03 ng L^–1, respectively. The accuracy of the method was checked by spike-recovery measurements. Levels of U and Th in human urine were found to be in the ranges 1.86–5.50 and 0.176–2.35 ng L^–1, respectively, well in agreement with levels considered normal for non-occupationally exposed persons. The precision obtained for five replicate measurements of a urine sample was 2 and 3% for U and Th, respectively. The method also enables on-line measurements of the ²³⁵U/²³⁸U isotope ratios in urine. Precision of 0.82–1.04% (RSD) was obtained for ²³⁵U/²³⁸U at low ng L^–1 levels, using the FI transient signal approach.     

Determination of toxic and non-toxic arsenic species in urine by microwave assisted mineralization and hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry

Flow injection — microwave oven — hydride generation — atomic absorption spectroscopy (FI-MO-HG-AAS) has been optimized for the determination of the total and toxic arsenic in urine with and without persulfate, respectively. With microwave oven assisted digestion of urine with 5% (w/v) K₂S₂O₈ and 5% (w/v) NaOH all arsenicals completely can be converted to arsenate, which is determined by HG-AAS to give the total concentration of the six species present in urine. The detection limits of 4–6 g l^–1, the relative standard deviation of 3–7% and the high sample throughput make the methods suitable for rapid routine on-line determination. Application of the proposed procedures to the analysis of urine from people on a diet rich in seafood revealed a significant increase in total urinary arsenic due to the rapid excretion of organoarsenicals. Efficient decomposition and quantitative recovery of all arsenic species in spiked urine is achieved by using 5% K₂S₂O₈ in 5% NaOH at 4.6 ml min^–1, microwave power of 700 W and a 1.5 m coil.     

Square-wave voltammetric determination of cefoperazone in a bacterial culture,pharmaceutical drug,milk, and urine

Use of square-wave voltammetry (SWV) for determination of cefoperazone (CFPZ) in some buffers, bacterial culture, urine, and milk is described. CFPZ provides a specific voltammetric signal which is affected by pH and solution components. Determination of CFPZ in Britton–Robinson buffer, pH 4.4, is sensitive with a low detection limit (about 0.5 nmol L^–1). In a more complex medium (bacterial 2YT medium, pH 7.2) the detection limit was approximately 1.5 mol L^–1. We provide evidence that SWV is a suitable and quick method for CFPZ determination in a culture of living bacteria without separation of biomass. We have found big differences between methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) in cultivation in the presence of CFPZ, depending on time. When CFPZ is cleaved by penicillinase, a new SWV peak b appears at more positive potentials. This peak rises both with increasing concentration of enzyme and with cleavage time while the original CFPZ peak is simultaneously decreasing. We determined the concentration of CFPZ in the drug Pathozone by the standard addition method and achieved good agreement with the declared value of CFPZ in the drug. With a simple pretreatment procedure it is possible to determine CFPZ in milk; for urine no pretreatment was required. Using SWV we could detect CFPZ concentrations as low as 500 nmol L^–1 in bovine milk and human urine.     

Simple and selective method for determination of iodide in pharmaceutical products by flow injection analysis using the iodine–starch reaction

This work exploited the well-known iodine–starch reaction for development of a simple flow-injection (FI) method for determination of iodide in pharmaceutical samples. Iodide in an injected zone was oxidized to iodine. A gas diffusion unit enables selective permeation of iodine through a hydrophobic membrane. Detection was made very selective for elemental iodine by employing formation of the I₃ ^––starch complex. The detection limit (3S/N) of the system was 1 mg I L^–1. For a liquid patent medicine used for asthma treatment we suggested modification of the system. Direct injection of this sample, which contains a particularly high concentration level of iodide (ca. 9000 mg I L^–1), can be achieved by coupling a dialysis unit to the FI system. This has increased the working range to 6000–10,000 mg I L^–1 without employing complicated nanoliter injection.     

Voltammetric study of glibenclamide at carbon paste and Sephadex-modified carbon paste electrodes

The oxidative behaviour of the antidiabetic agent glibenclamide on a bare carbon paste electrode (CPE) and a Sephadex-modified carbon paste electrode (SMCPE) was explored by cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The analysis procedure consisted of an open circuit accumulation step in stirred sample solution of Britton-Robinson buffer (0.04 mol L^–1, pH 2.0). This was followed by medium exchange to a clean solution of Britton-Robinson buffer (0.04 mol L^–1, pH 5.0), and subsequently an anodic potential scan was effected to obtain the voltammetric peak. The glibenclamide oxidation peak current obtained by DPV was proportional to the concentration of the glibenclamide in the range of 1.0×10^–9 mol L^–1 to 5.0×10^–8 mol L^–1 for 180 s accumulation time, with a detection limit of 4.0×10^–10 mol L^–1. A method was developed for the determination of glibenclamide in formulation and spiked human serum. Moreover, the proposed procedure was used to estimate the serum concentrations after oral administration of a 5 mg tablet of glibenclamide to three diabetic subjects.     

Multielement determinations in ground water ultrafiltrates using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and monostandard neutron activation analysis

Twelve ultrafiltrates of two ground waters rich in humic substances (up to 97.8 mg CL^–1) and in salinity (up to: cations 44.3 meq L^–1, anions 44.9 meq L^–1) were investigated with ICP-MS and with NAA in parallel. With both techniques 22 elements were analysed in a wide concentration range (mg/L to ng/L). Ultrafiltration at pore sizes from 1000 nm down to 1 nm lowers the humic colloid content as well as the concentration of the colloidborne polyvalent cations. Carbon interferences were studied in detail using artificially prepared model waters. The detection limits of ICP-MS in the ultrafiltrates (0.01 g/L–10 g/L) and in pure analyte solutions (5 ng/L–600 ng/L) are compared with those of NAA for pure water analysis (0.004 ng/L–50 ng/L).Dedicated to Professor Dr. H. Schmidbaur on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

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.     

Simultaneous determination of multi-class antibiotic residues in water using carrier-mediated hollow-fiber liquid-phase microextraction coupled with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

A method has been developed for carrier-mediated hollow-fiber liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME) and enrichment of multiple classes of antibiotics in water samples. Eleven compounds (erythromycin, spiramycin, tilmicosin, sulfathiazole, sulfamethazine, sulfamerazine, oxytetracycline, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, danofloxacin and enrofloxacin) from four important classes of antibiotics (of the macrolide, sulfonamide, tetracycline and quinolone type) have been simultaneously preconcentrated with one set of HF-LPME conditions, followed by determination by ultra-HPLC combined with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). Antibiotics can be determined at ng L^?1 levels using this highly sensitive and selective method. Parameters including immersion time, liquid membrane composition, sample pH, acceptor composition and extraction time were optimized to finally give detection limits in the 10?C250?ng?L^?1 range. Good linearity was achieved, with up to 156 times enrichment over the four classes of antibiotics. This multi-residue method enabled the simultaneous enrichment of all 11 multi-class antibiotics from spiked river water samples, with relative recovery between 79 and 118%.

Detection of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole in chlorinated water at nanogram per litre levels by SPME–GC–ECD

A method involving solid-phase micro extraction (SPME) and gas chromatography with electron capture detection (SPME–GC–ECD) has been optimised for identification and quantification of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) at ng L^–1 concentrations in disinfected (chlorinated) water samples. A central composite design was used for factorial analysis of four factors, three factors related to the SPME (PDMS fibre) procedure (adsorption time, temperature of the sample during headspace sampling, and desorption time) and one related to the GC operation (the rate of increase of the temperature of the GC oven). Good linearity (linear correlation coefficient greater than 0.999) was observed for TCA concentrations up to 50 ng L^–1, limits of detection and quantification of 0.7 and 2.3 ng L^–1, respectively, and good precision (relative standard deviation 2.8% and 3.4% for 5 and 30 ng L^–1 of TCA, respectively). Besides TCA, this system also enables the detection and quantification of the four trihalomethanes in the g L^–1 concentration range with limits of detection and quantification of approximately 0.3 g L^–1 and 1 g L^–1, respectively.     

Development of a stir-bar-sorptive extraction–liquid desorption–large-volume injection capillary gas chromatographic–mass spectrometric method for pyrethroid pesticides in water samples

Stir-bar-sorptive extraction followed by liquid desorption and large-volume injection capillary gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (SBSE–LD–LVI-GC–MS), had been applied for the determination of ultra-traces of eight pyrethroid pesticides (acrinathrin, cypermethrin, deltamethrin, esfenvalerate, fenpropathrin, fenvalerate, and permethrin cis and trans isomers) in water samples. Instrumental calibration for selected-ion monitoring acquisition and conditions that could affect the SBSE–LD efficiency are fully discussed. By performing systematic assays on 30-mL water samples spiked at the 0.10 g L^–1 level it was established that stir-bars coated with 47 L polydimethylsiloxane, an equilibrium time of 60 min (750 rpm), 5% methanol as organic modifier, and acetonitrile as back-extraction solvent, provided the best analytical performance to monitor pyrethroid pesticides in water matrices. Good accuracy (81.8–105.0%) and remarkable reproducibility (<11.7%) were obtained, and the experimental recovery data were in good agreement with the theoretical equilibrium described by octanol–water partition coefficients (log K_O/W), with the exception of acrinathrin for which lower yields were measured. Excellent linear dynamic ranges between 25 and 400 ng L^–1 (r²>0.994), low quantification (3.0–7.5 ng L^–1) and detection (1.0–2.5 ng L^–1) limits were also achieved for the eight pyrethroid pesticides studied. The method was successfully used for analysis of tapwater and groundwater matrices spiked at the 0.10 g L^–1, revealing the suitability of the method for determination of pyrethroid pesticides in real samples. The method was shown be reliable and sensitive and a small volume of sample was required to monitor pyrethroids at ultra-trace levels, in compliance with international regulatory directives on water quality.     

Analytical Method Development for the Simultaneous Determination of Five Human Pharmaceuticals in Water and Wastewater Samples by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Summary Effective analytical methods for the simultaneous determination of five pharmaceuticals from various therapeutic classes in a variety of aqueous samples have been developed and method performance data are presented. The method involves the simultaneous extraction of the selected pharmaceuticals from the aqueous phase by solid phase extraction using a hyper cross linked, polystyrene-divinylbenzene polymer based sorbent. Analytes were eluted with methanol, derivatised with N-methyl-N-trimethylsilyltrifloroacetamide and analysed by gas chromatography – electron ionisation mass spectrometry (GC-EI-MS). Recoveries of 50 to 98% were established for waters spiked with the studied compounds at the low ng L^–1 level with the highest detection sensitivities being achieved in the selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode and the quantification limit of the procedure for sample sizes of 1000 ml was approximately 5 ng L^–1 for all matrices except sewage which was only tested to 20 ng L^–1. Analysis of domestic sewage from a large treatment works demonstrate the presence of all five compounds in both influents and effluents.