Fast screening of 88 pharmaceutical drugs and metabolites in whole blood by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

Forensic investigations involving acute or lethal intoxication, drug-facilitated sexual assault, driving or workplace impairment frequently require the analysis of fresh or postmortem blood samples to check out a wide variety of pharmaceutical and illicit drugs, even after single-dose consumption. A sensitive and selective ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS) screening method was developed for fast screening of 88 psychoactive drugs and metabolites in blood samples, including the ones most frequently involved in acute intoxications and forensic investigations in Italy. The new method allows short sample processing and analysis time (the whole procedure can be accomplished in less than 30 min) together with the simultaneous monitoring of a large number of pharmaceutical substances. These features represent crucial factors in the approach of acute intoxications, when the patient requires urgent and appropriate therapy. Blood sample treatment was limited to protein precipitation. Two UHPLC–MS/MS runs in positive and negative electrospray ionization modes were performed. The data were acquired at unit mass resolution in the selected reaction monitoring mode. According to international guidelines, linearity range, precision, trueness, detection and quantification limits, recovery, selectivity, specificity, carryover, and matrix effect phenomena were determined. Despite the limited sample purification and the inherent decreased chance of eliminating any potential interference, the present multiresidue screening method proved extremely effective and sensitive, allowing the detection of all tested drugs, even those belonging to structurally different classes of substances. Moreover, the developed method is easily susceptible to further expansion to encompass more drugs, either new or those becoming important for criminal investigation. This protocol was also applied to the analysis of authentic blood samples collected from victims of various crimes in routine casework, whose relevance in forensic investigations is presented in five cases.     

Peptide backbone folding induced by the C(alpha)-tetrasubstituted cyclic alpha-amino acids 4-amino-1,2-dithiolane-4-carboxylic acid (Adt) and 1-aminocyclopentane-1-carboxylic acid (Ac5c). A joint computational and experimental study

The conformational study of a new group of synthetic peptides containing 4-amino-1,2-dithiolane-4-carboxylic acid (Adt), a cysteine-related achiral residue, has been carried out through a joint application of computational and experimental methodologies. Molecular Dynamics simulations clearly suggest the tendency of this molecule to adopt a gamma-turn conformation in vacuum and help in analyzing the complex and crucial conformational behaviour of the dithiolane ring which appears to preferentially adopt a C(S)-like structure. Electronic structure calculations carried out in solution using the Density Functional Theory also indicate the preservation of the gamma-like folding in apolar solvents and the helix-like one in more polar solvents. A comparison with the achiral 1-aminocycloalkane-1-carboxylic acid (Ac5c) has been carried out using the same computational tools. NMR and IR data on dipeptide derivatives containing the Adt or Ac5c residue show that in chloroform solution all the models prefer a gamma-turn structure, centered at the cyclic residue, stabilized by an intramolecular H-bond, whereas in a more polar solvent, i.e. dimethyl sulfoxide, this folding is not maintained. The experimental conformational studies, extended to N-Boc protected tripeptides, clearly indicate the remarkable tendency of both the five-membered C(alpha)-tetrasubstituted cyclic amino acids Adt and Ac5c to induce the gamma-turn structure also in models able to adopt the beta-bend conformation.     

Preparation of "high specific activity" radiochemical forms of vanadium,manganese and thallium for metallo-toxicological studies

In this paper are presented the production methods for very "high specific activity" radionuclides (HSA-RN) of vanadium, manganese and thallium which have been developed in our laboratories for labelling different chemical forms of these elements present in the echo-systems in ultra-trace amounts, for metallo-toxicological and bio-kinetic studies. Use was made of both cyclotron and thermal nuclear reactor. If the nuclear reaction product has atomic number different from irradiated target, it is possible separating the radioactive nuclide from irradiated target, without addition of isotopic carrier. This kind of radionuclide is named No Carrier Added, NCA, and his specific activity, As is very high and can reach values close to the theoretical Carrier Free one, CF. The experimental determination of specific activity, chemical and radiochemical purities is mandatory for all these kinds of applications.     

Measurement of Very Fast Exchange Rates of Individual Amide Protons in Proteins by NMR Spectroscopy

NMR spectroscopy is a pivotal technique to measure hydrogen exchange rates in proteins. However, currently available NMR methods to measure backbone exchange are limited to rates of up to a few per second. To raise this limit, we have developed an approach that is capable of measuring proton exchange rates up to approximately 10⁴ s⁻¹. Our method relies on the detection of signal loss due to the decorrelation of antiphase operators 2N_xH_z by exchange events that occur during a series of pi pulses on the ¹⁵N channel. In practice, signal attenuation was monitored in a series of 2D H(CACO)N spectra, recorded with varying pi-pulse spacing, and the exchange rate was obtained by numerical fitting to the evolution of the density matrix. The method was applied to the small calcium-binding protein Calbindin D_9k, where exchange rates up to 600 s⁻¹ were measured for amides, where no signal was detectable in ¹⁵N−¹H HSQC spectra. A temperature variation study allowed us to determine apparent activation energies in the range 47–69 kJ mol⁻¹ for these fast exchanging amide protons, consistent with hydroxide-catalyzed exchange.     

Aqueous cholesteric liquid crystals using uncharged rodlike polypeptides

The aqueous, lyotropic liquid-crystalline phase behavior of the alpha-helical polypeptide, poly(N(epsilon)-2-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]acetyl-lysine) (1), has been studied using optical microscopy and X-ray scattering. Solutions of optically pure 1 were found to form cholesteric liquid crystals at volume fractions that decreased with increasing average chain length. At very high volume fractions, the formation of a hexagonal mesophase was observed. The pitch of the cholesteric phase could be varied by a mixture of enantiomeric samples L-1 and D-1, where the pitch increased as the mixture approached equimolar. The cholesteric phases could be untwisted, using either magnetic field or shear flow, into nematic phases, which relaxed into cholesterics upon removal of field or shear. We have found that the phase diagram of 1 in aqueous solution parallels that of poly(gamma-benzyl glutamate) in organic solvents, thus providing a useful system for liquid-crystal applications requiring water as solvent.     

Development of a simplified method for the simultaneous determination of retinol, α-tocopherol,and β-carotene in serum by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization

A new and simple method for the determination of fat-soluble vitamins (retinol, alpha-tocopherol, and beta-carotene) in human serum was developed and validated by using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (LC-APCI-MS-MS). Different solvent mixtures were tested to obtain deproteinization and extraction of the analytes from the matrix. As a result, a volume of 240 microL of a 1:1 (v/v) ethanol/ethyl acetate mixture added to 60 microL of serum was found to be suitable for both protein precipitation and antioxidants solubilization, giving the best recovery for all three analytes. Deproteinized samples (20 microL) were injected after dilution, without the need for concentration or evaporation to dryness and reconstruction of the sample. Vitamins were separated on a C-8 column using a 95:5 (v/v) methanol/dichloromethane mixture and ionized in the positive-ion mode; detection was performed in the selected-reaction monitoring mode. Linearity of the LC-APCI-MS-MS method was established over 5 orders of magnitude for retinol and alpha-tocopherol, whereas in the case of beta-carotene it was limited to 4 orders. Lower limits of quantitation were 1.7, 2.3, and 4.1 nM for retinol, alpha-tocopherol, and beta-carotene, respectively. Serum concentrations of retinol, alpha-tocopherol, and alpha+beta-carotene determined in a group of healthy volunteers were 2.48, 38.07, and 0.50 microM, respectively, in samples collected in winter ( n=122) and 2.69, 45.88, and 0.90 microM during summer ( n=66).     

Electrochemical sensor for the detection and presumptive identification of quinolone and tetracycline residues in milk

A novel application of an electrochemical biosensor is here employed as analytical method for the detection and presumptive identification of antimicrobial drug residues in milk. The measurement was based on carbon dioxide production rate in relation to inhibition of microbial grow (Escherichia coli ATCC 11303). In this pilot study quinolone and tetracycline residues have been taken into consideration because use of these last in livestock production has been identified as area of particular concern. The experimental approach and analytical method developed appear adequate for the purpose, and compared to older screening methods as, for example, the microbial inhibition assays and immunoassays, offers the advantages of (i) very short analysis time (about 120 min); (ii) smaller sample amount (approximately 0.5 mL); (iii) no sample treatment (iv) good precision; and (v) the possibility of following, in a continuous manner, the inhibition process. Moreover, sensitivity of electrochemical biosensor system is resulted very high considering that for all quinolones and tetracyclines investigated it has been possible detect a residue concentration below or equal to 25 μg L⁻¹. Under this point of view, it must be considered that the maximum residue limits fixed by UE for quinolones and tetracyclines in milk are, at present, all higher of this concentration.     

Recent advances in propylene polymerization with MgCl2 supported catalysts

The role of Lewis bases in MgCl₂ supported catalysts for olefin polymerization is a subject of continuous interest and discussion in order to obtain more and more active and stereospecific catalysts and to explain their stereoregulating mechanism. Through molecular calculation and conformational analysis it was possible to identify chelating diethers that have the correct oxygen-oxygen distance necessary to tightly coordinate with the Mg ions of the support, even in the presence of other strong Lewis acids, and unable to give secondary reactions with TiCl₄, AlR₃, Ti-C and Ti-H bonds. The use of these donors has allowed the synthesis of catalytic systems that are both highly active and stereospecific even in the absence of external donors. Kinetic data of propylene polymerization with these catalyst systems are reported. The importance of the distance between the donor atoms in bifunctional Lewis bases has been proved also in the case of new classes of internal donors. Molecular modelling studies have enabled us to formulate models of active sites, located on some corners of MgCl₂ crystallites, whose chirality is induced by the presence of a donor molecule in their environment. These models could explain, at least in part, the exceptional increase of isotactic polymer productivity observed for stereospecific catalyst systems, containing only the internal donor, with respect to catalysts lacking the Lewis base and could account for the influence of the donor on the molecular properties of the obtained polymers.     

Extension of the Coulomb–Hole–Hartree–Fock theory to molecules

The Coulomb–Hole–Hartree–Fock method introduced by E. Clementi in the early 1960s and reparametrized more recently by S. Chakraworty and E. Clementi to compute the correlated electronic energy in atomic systems, is here extended to compute molecules. The new parametrization is obtained empirically by fitting first and second atomic ionization potentials from He to Ca and a few diatomic molecules. The present formulation makes use of either one or more determinants in order to ensure proper dissociation products, following the early proposal of G.C. Lie and E. Clementi in the context of density functional computations for molecular systems. The new formulation is tested against the dissociation energies of a large number of molecules and it is found satisfactory. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.