GC-MS and GC-MS-MS analysis of a complex essential oil

Summary The alcoholic portion of avetiver oil (Bourbon), the gas chromatogram of which shows more than 100 components, was analyzed by combined GC-MS with different ionization methods. This enabled us to identify major components. The specificity of the method was improved by using combined gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in the collision-activated-dissociation mode.     

Applications on the monitoring of oxidative modification of LDL by capillary electrophoresis: a comparison with spectrophotometer assay

The aim of this work is the application of Stocks and Miller capillary electrophoresis (CE) method in order to evaluate the human LDL susceptibility to Cu²⁺-induced oxidation. Lipid peroxidation determines a change in the relative electrophoretic mobility (REM) of lipoprotein that can be monitored by capillary electrophoresis using uncoated fused silica capillaries and tricine-methylglucamine as electrophoretic buffer.We have evaluated the differences in the susceptibility to oxidation of LDL subjected to different preparations (dialysis or gel filtration, after ultracentrifugation, to remove EDTA), and different storage (4 °C for 1 week or lyophilization) by measuring REM and lipid hydroperoxides (ROOH) with a spectrophotometer assay. Our results indicate that gel filtration is a more convenient procedure than dialysis for the isolation of LDL and that lyophilised samples are less prone to oxidation than those stored at 4 °C. Moreover, REM appears to be a more sensitive and easier method than spectrophotometer assay both to monitor the oxidative modification of LDL and to evaluate oxidative state of native LDL.     

Nitrosation of lignosulfonic acids for their colorimetric determination

The kinetics of lignosulfonic acid nitrosation in the presence of acetic and nitric acids used for generation of nitrous acid in combination with sodium nitrite was studied as applied to colorimetric determination of lignosulfonic acids.     

A new HPLC method for serum neopterin measurement and relationships with plasma thiols levels in healthy subjects

Neopterin, a pyrazinopyrimidine compound, serves as a marker of cellular immune system activation, and it can be used as a prognostic predictor for certain types of diseases. We propose a new simple HPLC method to measure serum neopterin with highly sensitive fluorimetric detection. After TCA serum protein precipitation, the supernatant was diluted five times, injected into a C18 reversed-phase column and eluted at a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min by an isocratic water-acetonitrile (99:1) mobile phase. The natural fluorescence of the molecule was detected at excitation wavelength 353 nm and emission 438 nm. In these conditions the neopterin retention time was about 4 min. Our proposed method was compared with a validated chromatographic separation, and the obtained data of the serum neopterin from 35 healthy volunteers were analysed by Passing-Bablok regression and Bland-Altman test. Neopterin measurement in healthy subjects was also employed to investigate on its potential relationships with plasma thiols levels.     

Ultrarapid capillary electrophoresis method for the determination of reduced and oxidized glutathione in red blood cells

We describe a very rapid high-performance capillary electrophoresis method for the separation and quantification of reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione in red blood cells. Two procedures for sample preparation have been compared, Microcon-10 membrane filtration and acid precipitation. The separation is obtained in an uncoated capillary using a high ionic strength borate buffer at pH 7.8. The intra-assay coefficients of variation (CVs%) are 1.53 and 1.66 for GSH and GSSG, respectively. The run is shorter than 90 s and the migration time is highly reproducible both for GSH (CV% 0.22) and GSSG (CV% 0.17). When the filtration step is used only GSH is found, whereas both GSH and GSSG are detectable after acid precipitation, suggesting that GSSG revealed after acid treatment may be an artefact due to GSH oxidation. Because of its good analytical performance this method could be used for routine red blood cell glutathione measurement in healthy or pathological conditions.     

N-methyl-D-glucamine improves the laser-induced fluorescence capillary electrophoresis performance in the total plasma thiols measurement

We describe an ultrarapid capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence (CE-LIF) method for total plasma thiols measurement. Reduced thiols by 10% tri-n-butylphosphine (TBP) were derivatized in 10 min at room temperature with 5-iodoacetamidofluorescein (5-IAF) as fluorescent reagent. We show that CE-LIF allows a baseline separation of total plasma cysteinylglycine, homocysteine, cysteine, and glutathione in less than 5 min when N-methyl-D-glucamine in run buffer was added. CE was compared with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. The Bland-Altman test and Passing-Bablok regression demonstrates that the results obtained by CE-LIF and by HPLC are highly comparable. The simplified procedure of sample preparation, the short incubation and fast separation times, the high specificity, sensitivity and reproducibility, and the lower cost of analysis suggest that our proposed method can be considered valuable for the automation analysis in a routine laboratory.     

Association of Molybdenum Ionic Species with Alumina Surface

The adsorption isotherms at 25, 45, and 65 degrees C of molybdenum solutions of concentration ranges between 10(-3) and 3x10(-2) M(Mo) (pH 4-5) on different alumina samples are investigated. The analysis is conducted using a modified Frumkin isotherm which takes a more realistic account of the lateral interaction between adsorbed species and considers that the adsorption takes place on the most basic OH groups on the surface of alumina. The results are discussed in view of the difference in solutions speciation, and the changes in the pH of the remaining supernatant solutions. The solution temperature, PZC of the used aluminas, the configuration of the basic OH groups on their surface, and the pore structure have been shown to intervene effectively. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Plasma thiols redox status by laser-induced fluorescence capillary electrophoresis

High concentrations of total plasma thiols such as cysteine and homocysteine are important risk factors for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. We have recently described a new laser-induced fluorescence capillary electrophoresis (CE-LIF) method to measure total plasma thiols, in which the baseline separation of cysteinylglycine, homocysteine, cysteine, and glutathione was achieved by adding the organic base N-methyl-D-glucamine to the run buffer. However, because the active fractions of homocysteine and cysteine responsible for vascular injuries are still unknown, research calls for a set up of methods able to analyze different forms of plasma thiols. In this paper, we present an improvement of our previous method that allows the measurement of different thiol forms. Total, reduced, and free thiols were measured by varying the order of disulfide reduction with tributylphosphine and proteins precipitation with 5-sulfosalicylic acid. After derivatization with 5-iodoacetamidofluorescein, samples were separated and measured by CE-LIF using a phosphate/borate buffer in the presence of 75 mmol/L N-methyl-D-glucamine. Oxidized thiols and protein bound thiols were calculated by difference, free minus reduced and total minus free form, respectively. Linearity, reproducibility, analytical recovery, and sensitivity were evaluated. The assay was used to measure the thiols redox status in 15 plasma samples from healthy volunteers.     

Determination of radiolabelled proline and hydroxyproline in collagen hydrolysates by high-performance liquid chromatography with on-line radiometric detection

Radiolabelled proline and hydroxyproline were separated on a C8 column (10 cm X 4.6 mm I.D.) with 10.4 mM sodium dodecyl sulphate in water-n-propanol (88:12, v/v) (pH 2.6) as the mobile phase at a flow-rate of 0.6 ml/min. The retention times of hydroxyproline and proline were 5 and 8 min, respectively. On-line radiometric detection was performed either in a homogeneous mode (liquid scintillator was added to the column effluent in the ratio 3.33:1) or in a heterogeneous mode (the detection cell was packed with a solid scintillator and 0.1 M ammonia was mixed with the column effluent in the ratio 1:6 in order to prevent adsorption of amino acids on the cell packing). Detection limits were in the range 100-900 dpm for individual isotopes and detection modes and the reproducibilities were better than 10%. The application of the method to a collagen synthesis study is reported.