Determination of thiols and disulfides in normal rat tissues and hamster pancreas treated with N-nitrosobis(2-oxopropyl)amine using 4-(aminosulfonyl)-7-fluoro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole and ammonium 7-fluoro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole-4-sulfonate

Biological thiols and disulfides in rat and hamster tissues were simultaneously determined by HPLC-fluorescence detection using 4-(aminosulfonyl)-7-fluoro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (ABD-F) and ammonium 7-fluoro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole-4-sulfonate (SBD-F). The coefficients of variation (CV) of the method for reduced glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) in liver and for cysteine (CySH) and cystine (CySSCy) in kidney were less than 3.1%. In 11 tissues of Wistar rats (liver, spleen, heart, lung, stomach, bladder, ovary, uterus, adrenal, kidney and pancreas), only CySH, CySSCy, GSH and/or GSSG were detected. Other thiols and disulfides were at extremely low levels in all samples. Both concentrations of CySH and CySSCy in the livers of old rats (111 weeks old, F344) were significantly higher than those of young rats (8 weeks old) (CySH, 0.246 +/- 0.099 vs 0.130 +/- 0.020 mumol/g; CySSCy, 0.051 +/- 0.027 vs 0.013 +/- 0.002 mumol/g). Administration of N-nitrosobis(2-oxopropyl)amine (BOP), a selective carcinogen of hamster pancreatic cancer, to Syrian golden hamsters (38 weeks old) resulted in the increase in the pancreas of GSH to a level 19 times as high and of GSSG to a level 14 times as high as those in untreated hamsters (GSH, 1.173 +/- 0.272 vs 0.062 +/- 0.017 mumol/g; GSSG, 0.155 +/- 0.063 vs 0.011 +/- 0.001 mumol/g).     

Determination of urinary 5-S-cysteinyldopa by high-performance liquid chromatography

A high-performance ion-pair liquid chromatographic method with electrochemical detection is described, which is suitable for routine determination of urinary 5-S-cysteinyldopa. The clean-up procedure includes a first purification step on the cation exchanger AG 50 W (H +). After desorption from the resin at moderately raised pH the catecholic amino acid is adsorbed on alumina at pH 8.6, washed and finally desorbed by elution with perchloric acid. By the combined clean-up procedures, easily oxidized compounds are eliminated, which otherwise cause a number of interfering peaks in the chromatography. The synthesis of 5-S-cysteinyl-L-3,4-dihydroxyphenyl [2,3-3H]alanine is described, and this tritium-labelled 5-S-cysteinyldopa is used to determine the recovery in the sample. The precision (C.V. = 5.7% at low and C.V. = 4.9% at high 5-S-cysteinyldopa concentration) and recovery (105.0 +/- 8.6%) were satisfactory. The mean urinary excretion was 0.34 +/- 0.13 (S.D.) mumol per 24 h (range 0.02-0.58 mumol per 24 h) in healthy subjects (n = 24) and in patients with melanoma metastates (n = 13) the excretion ranged from 0.9 to 4.8 mumol per 24 h.     

High-performance liquid chromatography/chemiluminescence determination of biological thiols with N-[4-(6-dimethylamino-2-benzofuranyl)phenyl]maleimide

The peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence detection of biological thiols combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is described. SH groups of the thiol compounds including glutathione (GSH), cysteine, N-acetylcysteine, cysteamine, and D-penicillamine were labelled with N-[4-(6-dimethylamino-2-benzofuranyl)phenyl]maleimide (DBPM), a specific fluorogenic reagent for SH group. The labelling reaction was carried out at 60 degrees C for 30 min and at pH 8.5 and a sample of the resulting reaction mixture was subjected to HPLC. Five kinds of labelled thiols were separated within 12 min on ODS-80 column (150 x 4.6 mm ID; 5 microns) and detected in the ranges from 500 fmol to 2 pmol/100 microL (cysteamine and N-acetylcysteine), to 3 pmol/100 microL (cysteine) and to 5 pmol/100 microL (GSH and D-penicillamine). The lower detection limits were from 7 fmol (cysteamine) to 113 fmol (GSH) per 100 microL (S/N = 2). The method was applied to the determination of thiols in a rat liver. The amounts of glutathione and cysteine were 1.23 +/- 0.15 mumol/g (n = 5) and 0.15 +/- 0.04 mumol/g (n = 5), respectively.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic separation of malondialdehyde-thiobarbituric acid adduct in biological materials (plasma and human cells) using a commercially available reagent.

The assay of malondialdehyde (MDA) is widely used in clinical chemistry laboratories to investigate lipid peroxidation in oxidative pathologies. In the present work, the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) reaction was carried out on plasma, human erythrocytes and fibroblasts. The reagents used were those of the fluorimetry MDA kit manufactured by Sobioda. We have defined the application of this kit to high-performance liquid chromatography. This adaptation satisfied the criteria of good analytical practice. The detection limit was 2.5 pmol per injection. The retention time of the MDA-TBA2 peak (4.96 +/- 0.07 min) led to excellent resolution of the complex. The within-assay (6-12%) and between-assay (11-12%) precisions were satisfactory. The analytical recovery of MDA after spiking samples of human plasma with tetraethoxypropane standards varied from 70 to 100%. The mean lipoperoxide concentration determined in 32 healthy adults (20-40 years) was 1.04 +/- 0.23 mumol l-1 in plasma. Applied to the erythrocytes of fifteen laboratory workers, the method furnished physiological values of 0.59 +/- 0.21 mumol l-1. Concentrations were significantly higher in chronic renal dialysis patients (4.15 +/- 2.35 mumol l-1. The MDA content of fibroblasts cultured in standard medium was 0.38 +/- 0.04 mumol per g of protein and increased (5.78 +/- 1.38 mumol per g of protein) if the cells were grown in an iron-enriched medium. This accurate high-performance liquid chromatographic method for detection of MDA is the first one which can be applied to plasma, red blood cells and cultured cells. This technique will prevent false positives and should make inter-laboratory comparisons possible.     

Determination of different species of homocysteine in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection

This assay measures reduced, free oxidized, protein-bound, and total homocysteine in human plasma. Oxidized species of homocysteine are converted to reduced form by sodium borohydride, and, after precolumn derivatization with 2-chloro-1-methylquinolinium tetrafluoroborate, homocysteine 2-S-quinolinium derivative is separated from those of other plasma thiol derivatives, and quantitated by ion-paired reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. The reduced homocysteine sulfhydryl groups are trapped with minimal oxidation by derivatizing blood samples at the time of collection. With the use of this precise and sensitive HPLC method utilizing popular ultraviolet detection, homocysteine in plasma can be detected and quantitated at the level of 0.1 and 0.2 for reduced fraction, and 0.3 and 0.5 nmol/ml for total homocysteine, respectively. The method is applied for determination of different fractions of homocysteine in plasma of apparently healthy men and women.     

高效液相色谱法测定大鼠神经组织中的硝酸盐和亚硝酸盐

 建立了大鼠神经组织中亚硝酸盐和硝酸盐的高效液相色谱测定方法,以用于研究一氧化氮在糖尿病慢性神经病变中的作用。在1 μmol/L～25 μmol/L的浓度范围内,NO2-和NO3-的峰面积与浓度的线性相关系数>0.991;最低检测浓度分别为0.2 μmol/L和0.5 μmol/L;日内、日间相对标准偏差<14%。对各实验组大鼠的初步测定结果表明,糖尿病组及糖尿病胰岛素(IGF)治疗组的NO2-和NO3-水平均低于对照组。 关键词：高效液相色谱法;一氧化氮;硝酸盐;亚硝酸盐;糖尿病神经病变     

A method for the measurement of catechol-O-methyltransferase activity using norepinephrine, an endogenous substrate

We propose a highly sensitive method for the measurement of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) activity with norepinephrine (NE), an endogenous native substrate. The product, normetanephrine, was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence reaction detection or, if required, less sensitive fluorescence detection. For the measurement of membrane-bound (MB)-COMT activity in the rat erythrocyte, the HPLC-peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence reaction detection was employed. Soluble (S)- and MB-COMT activities in the rat erythrocyte were 22.9 +/- 2.5 and 4.62 +/- 1.23 pmol min-1 (mg protein)-1, respectively (n = 5). The Km values obtained for S- and MB-COMT were 366 +/- 31 mumol l-1 and 12.0 +/- 1.1 mumol l-1, respectively (n = 5), suggesting that the use of NE as a substrate would give more precise information on the role of both isoenzymes. However, with dihydroxybenzoic acid as an artificial substrate, the Km values for S- and MB-COMT were similar, with values of 69.2 +/- 11.4 mumol l-1 and 72.2 +/- 9.2 mumol l-1, respectively. The proposed method is thought to be useful for the measurement of both S-COMT and MB-COMT activities, and would give us critical information on the role of metabolism of catecholamines in rat tissues.     

Assay of glutathione in must and wines using capillary electrophoresis and laser-induced fluorescence detection. Changes in concentration in dry white wines during alcoholic fermentation and aging

Glutathione (GSH) was assayed in must and wine using capillary electrophoresis coupled with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection. Sample preparation involved conjugating thiols with monobromobimane (MBB) in a 2-(N-cyclohexylamino)ethanesulfonic acid [CHES] buffer (179mM). The electrophoretic conditions were 30kV with a capillary length of 105cm from the inlet to the detector (120cm total length) and a 50microm inner diameter. Under these conditions, the complete separation from the other main non-volatile thiols took less than 20min. We also described the optimum conditions for derivatizing wine samples with MBB to increase eletrophoretic sensitivity. The detection limit for glutathione assay is 65nmol/L. This simple, sensitive method provides a specific assay of glutathione in reduced form, as the sample preparation technique does not modify the balance of oxidized and reduced forms. We used this method to monitor changes in the reduced glutathione content of a white wine during alcoholic fermentation and barrel aging.     

Determination of glutathione disulfide levels in biological samples using thiol-disulfide exchanging agent, dithiothreitol

A reverse-phase HPLC method incorporating dithiothreitol (DTT) reduction for quantitative determination of oxidized glutathione (GSSG) in biological samples is described here. This method is based on our previous enzymatic reduction technique that uses N-1-(pyrenyl) maleimide (NPM) as a derivatizing agent. In our earlier method, glutathione disulfide (GSSG) was measured by first reducing it to GSH with glutathione reductase (GR) in the presence of NADPH. However, this is a very costly and time-consuming technique. The method described here employs a common and inexpensive thiol-disulfide exchanging agent, DTT, for reduction of GSSG to GSH, followed by derivatization with NPM. The calibration curves are linear over a concentration range of 25-1250 nm (r(2) > 0.995). The coefficients of variations for intra-run precision and inter-run precision range from 0.49 to 5.10% with an accuracy range of 1.78-6.15%. The percentage of relative recovery ranges from 97.3 to 103.2%. This new method provides a simple, efficient, and cost-effective way of determining glutathione disulfide levels with a 2.5 nm limit of detection per 5 microL injection volume.     

Determination of intracellular glutathione and cysteine using HPLC with a monolithic column after derivatization with monobromobimane

An optimized high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method is used to show that, as myoblasts differentiate into multinucleated muscle fibers, there is a shift to a more oxidized cell redox state. The HPLC method incorporated derivatization with monobromobimane for the determination of the reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) forms of glutathione and the reduced (Cys) and oxidized (CysSS) forms of cysteine. The derivatization was optimized to improve the sensitivity of the approach; the limits of detection for glutathione and cysteine were 3 × 10^?8 and 5 × 10^?8 M , respectively. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Speciation and determination of thiols in biological samples using high performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and high performance liquid chromatography-Orbitrap MS

An analytical method was developed for the determination of thiols in biological samples. Reverse phase chromatography coupled to ICP quadrupole MS or Orbitrap MS was employed for the separation and detection of thiols. For the determination of total thiols, oxidized thiols were reduced using dithiothreitol (DTT). Reduction efficiencies for species of interest were found to be close to 100%. Reduced thiols were derivatized by p-hydroxymercuribenzoate (PHMB) and then separated on a C8 column. Optimization of the extraction, separation and detection steps of the HPLC-ICP-MS and HPLC-Orbitrap MS methods was carried out. Detection limits for cysteine, homocysteine, selenocysteine, glutathione, selenomethionine and cysteinyl-glycine were found to be 18, 34, 39, 12, 128 and 103 fmol, respectively, using HPLC-Orbitrap MS and 730, 1110, 440, 1110 and 580 fmol for cysteine, homocysteine, selenocysteine, glutathione, and cysteinyl-glycine using HPLC-ICP-MS. Contrary to expectation, the LODs and RSDs are higher for the HPLC-ICP-MS instrument, therefore HPLC-Orbitrap MS was used for the determination of thiols in yeast samples. Three different brands of baker's yeast and a selenized yeast were analyzed. The GSH and cysteine levels found in these samples ranged from 4.45 to 17.87 μmol g(-1) and 0.61 to 1.32 μmol g(-1), respectively.     

Determination of free and protein-bound glutathione in HepG2 cells using capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection

A rapid method using capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection (CE-LIF) was developed to determine free and protein-bound glutathione (GSH) in human HepG2 hepatocarcinoma cells. The samples were derivatized with 5-iodoacetamidofluorescein (5-IAF), and analyzed at 22 kV using sodium phosphate buffer (10mM, pH 11.4) and an uncoated 58 cm x 75 microm I.D. fused silica capillary. The analysis time was less than 10 min and N-acetylcysteine was used as internal standard. The derivatization conditions, such as reaction time, 5-IAF concentration, running buffer and cartridge temperature were optimized. Argon gas was used in the study to prevent the oxidization of GSH during sample preparation. The optimized method required only 30-40 nl sample per analysis and was fast and sensitive. The method was applied to the analyses of HepG2 cells treated with the small metal chelating agent, pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC). The results demonstrate that the amount of protein-bound GSH, which reflects the amount of protein S-glutathionylation, increased in a time-dependent manner upon cell treatment with PDTC, reaching a maximum of over 50% increase 2h post-PDTC.     

Determination of plasma lactic acid concentration and specific activity using high-performance liquid chromatography.

Assessment of lactate metabolism is of particular interest during exercise and in disease states such as diabetes, shock, and absorptive abnormalities of short-chain fatty acids by the colon. We describe an analytical method that introduces radio-active tracers and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to simultaneously analyze concentrations and specific activities (SAs) of plasma lactate. The HPLC conditions included separation on a reversed-phase column (octadecylsilane) and an isocratic buffer (30% acetonitrile in water). [3H]Acetate served as an internal standard. Lactate and acetate were extracted from plasma samples with diethyl ether following a pH adjustment to less than 1.0 and back-extracted into a hydrophilic phase with sodium carbonate (2 mM, pH greater than 10.0). Lactate is detected in the ultraviolet range (242 and 320 nm) by derivatization with alpha-bromoacetophenone. Control plasma samples were studied after an overnight fast for precision and analytical recovery. Calibration curves were linear in the range 0.18-6.0 mM (r = 0.92). The precision was 3% and the analytical recovery was 87%. The detection limit of the method was 36 pmol. Determination of lactate metabolism was performed in a patient with chronic congestive heart failure who was administered primed-continuous L-[U-14C]lactate (10 microCi bolus and 0.3 microCi/min continuously) during a 60-min rest period. Mean arterial lactate concentration and SA were 1.69 +/- 0.2 mM and 253.8 +/- 22 dpm/mumol, respectively. Systemic lactate turnover was 25.65 mumol/kg per min. Lactic acid systemic turnover, organ uptake and release rates can be accurately determined by isocratic HPLC.     

Detection of homocysteine by conventional and microchip capillary electrophoresis/electrochemistry

A method based on capillary electrophoresis (CE) with electrochemical (EC) detection for the determination of both total homocysteine (tHcy) and protein-bound homocysteine (pbHcy) in plasma is described. Both end-column and off-column amperometric detection were investigated. Off-column detection resulted in a more sensitive assay for the determination of homocysteine (Hcy). The detection limit for homocysteine was 500 nM using off-column EC detection and the response was linear over the range 1-100 microM. Therefore, this assay is appropriate for the quantification of Hcy over the physiological concentration ranges found in all disease states. Methodologies for the determination of tHcy and pbHcy in human plasma were investigated and optimized and the concentrations of both pbHcy and tHcy in plasma obtained from a healthy individual were determined to be 2.79+/-0.31 nuM (n = 4) and 3.37+/-0.15 microM (n = 3), respectively. The methodology was then transferred to a microchip CE-EC format and Hcy and reduced glutathione (GSH) were detected. Future work will focus on the development of ancillary methodologies to identify the other forms of Hcy in vivo.     

Capillary electrophoresis method for determination of related substances in glutathione reduced drug substance

Summary A sensitive capillary electrophoretic method using low pH with direct UV detection has been developed to evaluate the impurity profile of reduced glutathione obtained from its production and purification. The method is characterized by high detection sensitivity and selectivity. Validation has been performed with model mixtures consisting of the main known related substances—oxidized glutathione, glutamylcystein, cysteinylglycine and cysteine. The results from this study show that with respect to quantification criteria the method is acceptable for routine control of reduced glutathione for pharmaceutical application.     

Quantitation of oxidized and reduced glutathione in plasma by micellar electrokinetic capillary electrophoresis.

A method for the separation of reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione was optimized in terms of buffer concentration, sodium dodecyl sulfate concentration, buffer pH, detection wavelength, run voltage and injection volume. The method demonstrated good linearity (r2 > 0.999) and reproducibility (internal standard corrected peak area RSD < 2.3%) in the range of interest (16-81 microM GSH and 8-40 microM GSSG). A detection limit of less than 1 microM GSH and GSSG was obtained using a high sensitivity flow cell. When the optimized method was applied to plasma samples, concentrations of 1.6 microM GSH and 0.8 microM GSSG were easily detected without the need for derivatization. The on-capillary detection was calculated to be 38.6 fmol of GSH and 18.3 fmol of GSSG.     

Determination of glutathione in human blood by high performance thin layer chromatography with fluorescence detection

A rapid, simple and sensitive method is presented for the determination of reduced glutathione in human blood. The samples are treated with trichloroacetic acid and derivatized with ammonium 7-fluorebenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole-4-sulphonate followed by high-performance thin-layer chromatography with fluorodensitometric measurements. The determined levels of glutathione in blood were 1.1±0.174 mM, achieving detection limits in the low nanograms per spot range.     

Determination of stable carbon isotopes of organic acids and carbonaceous aerosols in the atmosphere

A wet oxidation method for the compound-specific determination of stable carbon isotopes (delta(13)C) of organic acids in the gas and aerosol phase, as well as of water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), is presented. Sampling of the organic acids was done using a wet effluent diffusion denuder/aerosol collector (WEDD/AC) coupled to an ion chromatography (IC) system. The method allows for compound-specific stable carbon isotope analysis by collecting different fractions of organic acids at the end of the IC system using a fraction collector. delta(13)C analyses of organic acids were conducted by oxidizing the organic acids with sodium persulfate at a temperature of 100 degrees C and determining the delta(13)C value of the resulting carbon dioxide (CO(2)) with an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. In addition, analysis of delta(13)C of the WSOC was performed for particulate carbon collected on aerosol filters. The WSOC was extracted from the filters using ultrapure water (MQ water), and the dissolved organic carbon was oxidized to CO(2) using the oxidation method. The wet oxidation method has an accuracy of 0.5 per thousand with a precision of +/-0.4 per thousand and provides a quantitative result for organic carbon with a detection limit of 150 ng of carbon.     

Simultaneous quantification of reduced and oxidized glutathione in plasma using a two-dimensional chromatographic system with parallel porous graphitized carbon columns coupled with fluorescence and coulometric electrochemical detection

A method for the simultaneous quantification of reduced and oxidized glutathione in human plasma employing a two-dimensional chromatographic system with parallel porous graphitized carbon (PGC) columns coupled with fluorescence (FLD) and coulometric electrochemical detection (ED) has been developed. Post-sampling oxidation of reduced glutathione (GSH) was prevented by derivatizing the -SH group with monobromobimane (MBB) and the glutathione-bimane adduct (GSMB) was detected by FLD. Oxidized glutathione (GSSG) was detected by ED optimized to give lowest possible limits of detection (LOD). The method is fully validated and is currently used for determination of GSH, GSSG and its redox potential in different clinical studies.     

Comparative LC-MS/MS profiling of free and protein-bound early and advanced glycation-induced lysine modifications in dairy products

Free and protein-bound forms of early and advanced glycation-induced lysine (Lys) modifications were quantified in dairy products by LC-MS/MS using a stable isotope dilution assay. The glycation profiles for N(epsilon)-fructoselysine (FL), N(epsilon)-carboxymethyllysine (CML) and pyrraline (Pyr) were monitored in raw and processed cow milk to investigate whether free glycation products could serve as fast and simple markers to assess the extent of protein glycation in dairy products. In all milk samples, the fraction of free glycation adducts was predominantly composed of advanced modifications, e.g. 8.34+/-3.81 nmol CML per micromol of free Lys (Lys(free)) and 81.5+/-87.8 nmol Pyr micromol(-1) Lys(free)(-1) vs. 3.72+/-1.29 nmol FL micromol(-1) Lys(free)(-1). In contrast, the protein-bound early glycation product FL considerably outweighed the content of CML and Pyr in milk proteins of raw and processed cow milk, whereas severely heat treated milk products, e.g. condensed milk, contained a higher amount of protein-bound advanced glycation adducts. Typical values recorded for milk samples processed under mild conditions were 0.47+/-0.08 nmol FL micromol(-1) of protein-bound Lys (Lys(p-b)), 0.04+/-0.03 nmol CML micromol(-1) Lys(p-b)(-1) and 0.06+/-0.02 nmol Pyr micromol(-1)Lys(p-b)(-1). It was particularly noticeable, however, that mild heat treatment of raw milk, i.e. pasteurization and UHT treatment, did not significantly increase the amount of both free and protein-bound Lys modifications. In conclusion, the profiles of free and protein-bound glycation-induced Lys modifications were found to be different and a screening of free glycation adducts does, therefore, not allow for a conclusion about the protein glycation status of dairy products.