Development and optimization of ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography mass spectrometry method for high-throughput determination of tocopherols and tocotrienols in human serum

The goal of this study was to develop an effective supercritical fluid chromatography method using single quadrupole MS for analysis of all isomeric forms of vitamin E. Finally, two fast and effective methods, the high resolution one and the high speed one, for the determination of 8 vitamin E isomers in human serum were developed.     

New application of human eye model in the verification of spot diagram with refractive diopter

In response to the rapid advancement of auto-refractor technology, most optometry shops provide refraction services. Despite their speed and convenience, the measurement values provided by auto-refractors include a significant degree of error due to psychological and physical factors. Therefore, there is a need for repetitive testing to obtain a smaller mean error value. However, even repetitive testing itself might not be sufficient to ensure accurate measurements. Therefore, research on a method of measurement that can complement auto-refractor measurements and provide confirmation of refraction results needs to be conducted. The customized optometry model described herein can satisfy the above requirements. From the existing optical technologies, using human eye measurement devices to obtain individual relevant optical feature parameters is no longer difficult. These parameters allow us to construct an optometry model for individual eyeballs. They also allow us to compute spot diagrams produced from the optometry model using the CODE V macro programming language before recognizing the geometrical spot diagram with the back-propagation neural network algorithm to obtain the accurate refractive diopter. Results show that the accuracy achieved was above 98% and that this application could significantly enhance the service quality of refraction.     

A possible human counterpart of the principle of increasing entropy

It is well-known that the principle of increasing entropy holds for isolated natural systems that contain non-adaptive molecules. Here we present, for the first time, an experimental evidence for a possible human counterpart of the principle in an isolated social system that involves adaptive humans. Our work shows that the human counterpart is valid even though interactions among humans in social systems are distinctly different from those among molecules in natural systems. Thus, it becomes possible to understand social systems from this natural principle, at least to some extent.     

Metabolism studies on prim‐O‐glucosylcimifugin and cimifugin in human liver microsomes by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

Prim‐O‐glucosylcimifugin (PGCN) and cimifugin (CN) are major constituents of Radix Saposhnikoviae that have antipyretic, analgesic and anti‐inflammatory pharmacological activities. However, there were few reports with respect to the metabolism of PGCN and CN in vitro. In this paper, we describe a strategy using ultra‐performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (UPLC‐Q‐TOF‐MS) for fast analysis of the metabolic profile of PGCN and CN in human liver microsomes. In total, five phase I metabolites of PGCN, seven phase I metabolites and two phase II metabolites of CN were identified in the incubation of human liver microsomes. The results revealed that the main phase I metabolic pathways of PGCN were hydroxylation and hydrolysis reactions. The phase I metabolic pathways of CN were found to be hydroxylation, demethylation and dehydrogenation. Meanwhile, the results indicated that O‐glucuronidation was the major metabolic pathway of CN in phase II metabolism. The specific UDP‐glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzymes responsible for CN glucuronidation metabolites were identified using recombinant UGT enzymes. The results indicated that UGT1A1, UGT1A9, UGT2B4 and UGT2B7 might play major roles in the glucuronidation of CN. Overall, this study may be useful for the investigation of metabolic mechanism of PGCN and CN, and it can provide reference and evidence for further pharmacodynamic experiments. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and application of molecularly imprinted nanoparticles combined ultrasonic assisted for highly selective solid phase extraction trace amount of celecoxib from human plasma samples using design expert (DXB) software

In this work molecular imprinted nanoparticles (MINPs) was synthesized and applied for ultrasonic assisted solid phase extraction of celecoxib (CEL) from human plasma sample following its combination by HPLC–UV. The MINPs were prepared in a non-covalent approach using methacrylic acid as monomer, CEL as template, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as cross-linker, and 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as the initiator of polymerization. pH, volume of rinsing and eluent solvent and amount of sorbent influence on response were investigated using factorial experimental design, while optimum point was achieved and set as 250 mg sorbent, pH 7.0, 1.5 mL washing solvent and 2 mL eluent by analysis of results according to design expert (DX) software. At above specified conditions, CEL in human plasma with complicated matrices with acceptable high recoveries (96%) and RSD% lower than 10% was quantified and estimated.The proposed MISPE-HPLC–UV method has linear responses among peak area and concentrations of CEL in the range of 0.2–2000 μg L⁻¹, with regression coefficient of 0.98. The limit of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) based on three and ten times of the noise of HPLC peaks correspond to blank solution were 0.08 and 0.18 μg L⁻¹, respectively.     

Molecularly imprinted polymer-sol-gel tablet toward micro-solid phase extraction: I. Determination of methadone in human plasma utilizing liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

In the present work molecularly imprinted sol-gel tablet (MIP-Tablet) was prepared. The MIP-sol-gel was prepared as a thin layer on polyethylene material in a tablet form. Methadone-d₉ was selected as the template and 3-(propylmethacrylate)-trimethoxysilane was used as precursor. MIP-Tablet was applied for micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE). The MIP-Tablet was used for the determination of methadone in human plasma samples utilizing liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; and each tablet could be used twenty times. The extraction time was 10 min while desorption time was 6 min. Factors affecting the extraction efficiency such as desorption solvents, sample pH, salt addition, extraction time, desorption time and adsorption capacity were investigated. The calibration curves were obtained within the range of 5–5000 ng/mL using methadone in human plasma samples. The coefficients of determination (r²) values were ≥0.999 for all runs and the extraction recovery was >80%. The accuracy values for quality control samples varied from +3.6 to +9.7% and the inter-day precision (RSD %) values were ranged from 5.0 to 8.0%. The limit of detection was 1.0 ng/mL and the lower limit of quantification was 5 ng/mL utilizing methadone in human plasma samples.     

Immunosensor for the Measurement of Human Serum Albumin in Urine Based on the Spreeta Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor

The application of SPR for measurement of the concentration of human serum albumin (HSA) in urine was studied using the compact integrated SPR sensing system Spreeta. HSA was immobilized via cystamine and glutaraldehyde onto the gold sensing area and a competitive assay for HSA was developed using a limited amount of the monoclonal antibody AL-01 in solution. Measurements were carried out in the flow-through mode and the interaction between immobilized HSA and antibody was observed in real time. To obtain reproducible results, different conditions of the measurement (method of immobilization of HSA, data evaluation, concentration of antibody, regeneration procedure) were tested. The calibration curve for clinically relevant concentrations of HSA in urine samples was constructed using 300-times diluted antibody in the form of ascites fluid. The measuring range was between 0.1 and 5 mg/l of HSA, the sensing surface was successfully regenerated and suitable for more than 20 assays. The developed method was tested on real samples of urine; to overcome the non-specific adsorption of urine components, the differential approach was adopted and the measured signal was corrected by subtraction of the response observed in the absence of the antibody.     

Design of Sensitive Biocompatible Quantum‐Dots Embedded in Mesoporous Silica Microspheres for the Quantitative Immunoassay of Human Immunodeficiency Virus‐1 Antibodies

A novel sandwich‐type electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor was developed to enable the sensitive detection of HIV‐1 antibodies. This system incorporated mesoporous silica (mSiO₂) complexed with quantum dots (QDs) and nano‐gold particles, which were assembled to enhance signal detection. Magnetic beads were used by immobilizing the secondary anti‐IgG antibody. This was first employed to capture HIV‐1 antibody (Ab) to form a Fe₃O₄/anti‐IgG/Ab complex. A high loading and signal‐enhanced nanocomposite (hereafter referred to as Au‐mSiO₂‐CdTe) was used as a HIV‐1 antigen label. The Au‐mSiO₂‐CdTe nanocomposite was conjugated with the Fe₃O₄/anti‐IgG/Ab complex to form an immunocomplex (hereafter referred to as Fe₃O₄/anti‐IgG/Ab/HIV‐1/CdTe‐mSiO₂‐Au). This complex could be further separated by an external magnetic field to produce ECL signals. Due to the large specific surface area and pore volume of mSiO₂, the loading of the CdTe QDs was markedly increased. Thus, the loaded QDs released a powerful chemiluminescent signal with a concordantly increased sensitivity of the immunosensor. The immunosensor was highly sensitive, and displayed a linear range of responses for HIV‐1 antibody across a dilution range of 1 : 1500 through 1 : 50 with the detection limit of 1 : 4500. The immunoassay can be a promising candidate in early diagnosis of HIV infection.     

Concurrent extraction,clean‐up,and analysis of polybrominated diphenyl ethers,hexabromocyclododecane isomers,and tetrabromobisphenol A in human milk and serum

A method has been developed and validated for the concurrent extraction, clean‐up, and analysis of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), α‐, β‐, and γ‐hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) in human milk and serum. Milk and serum samples were extracted using accelerated solvent extraction with acetone/hexane 1:1, v/v and liquid–liquid extraction with methyl‐tert‐butyl ether/hexane 1:1, v/v, respectively. The removal of co‐extracted biogenic materials was achieved by gel permeation chromatography followed by sulfuric acid treatment. The fractionation of the PBDEs and HBCD/TBBPA was performed using a Supelco LC‐Si SPE cartridge. The detection of the PBDEs was then performed by GC–MS and that of the HBCDs and the TBBPA was performed using UPLC–MS/MS. The pretreatment procedure was optimized, and the characteristic ions and fragmentation of the analytes were studied by MS or MS/MS. A recovery test was performed using a matrix spiking test at concentrations of 0.05–10 ng/g. The recoveries ranged from 78.6–108.8% with RSDs equal to or lower than 14.04%. The LODs were 1.8–60 pg/g. The usefulness of the developed method was tested by the analysis of real human samples, and several brominated flame retardants in different samples were detected and analyzed.