bims-metlip 2022-06-12 papers

bims-metlip

Biomed News

on Methods and protocols in metabolomics and lipidomics

Issue of 2022–06–12
25 papers selected by
Sofia Costa, Matterworks

MetEx: A Targeted Extraction Strategy for Improving the Coverage and Accuracy of Metabolite Annotation in Liquid Chromatography-High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry Data.
Comprehensive metabolite quantitative assay based on alternate metabolomics and lipidomics analyses.
Simultaneous and enantiospecific quantification of primaquine and carboxyprimaquine in human plasma using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
Evaluation and optimization of analytical procedure and sample preparation for polar Streptomyces albus J1074 metabolome profiling.
Vortex-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction combined with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry for simultaneous determination of cardiovascular drugs in human plasma.
Comparison of four different immunoassays and a rapid isotope-dilution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay for serum folate.
Rapid and selective determination of 9 nitrosamines in biological samples using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometry.
Simultaneous determination of 13 nitrosamine impurities in biological medicines using salting-out liquid-liquid extraction coupled with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.
Metabolomics-based mass spectrometry methods to analyze the chemical content of 3D organoid models.
Dual-Mechanism-Driven Strategy for High-Coverage Detection of Serum Lipids on a Novel SALDI-MS Target.
COLMARq: A Web Server for 2D NMR Peak Picking and Quantitative Comparative Analysis of Cohorts of Metabolomics Samples.
A data processing pipeline for petroleomics based on liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry.
Rapid and simultaneous determination of multiple endocrine-disrupting chemicals and their metabolites in human serum and urine samples.
Development and Validation of a Method of Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Tandem Mass Spectrometry for Quantification of ST-246 (Tecovirimat) in Human Plasma.
[Determination of acetochlor and its metabolites in urine using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry].
Normalization techniques for high-throughput screening by infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.
Sample preparation and quantification of polar drug, allopurinol, in human plasma using LCMSMS.
Comprehensive profiling of lipid metabolites in urine of canine patients with liver mass.
Preparation of imidazolidinone compounds as derivatization reagent for diastereomerization and chromatographic separation of chiral organic acids.
Simple simultaneous determination of moxifloxacin and metronidazole in complex biological matrices.
Multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) LC-MS/MS quantitation of venlafaxine and its O-desmethyl metabolite for a preclinical pharmacokinetic study in rabbits.
Development, validation and standardization of urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid determination by LC-MS/MS for implementation in quality-controlled environments.
Power of mzRAPP-Based Performance Assessments in MS1-Based Nontargeted Feature Detection.
TECHNICAL NOTE: Analysis of volatile fatty acids in rumen fluid by gas chromatography mass spectrometry using a dimethyl carbonate extraction.
Tracing Lipid Metabolism by Alkyne Lipids and Mass Spectrometry: The State of the Art.

Anal Chem. 2022 Jun 07.

MetEx: A Targeted Extraction Strategy for Improving the Coverage and Accuracy of Metabolite Annotation in Liquid Chromatography-High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry Data.

Fujian Zheng, Lei You, Wangshu Qin, Runze Ouyang, Wangjie Lv, Lei Guo, Xin Lu, Enyou Li, Xinjie Zhao, Guowang Xu.

Liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) is the most popular platform for untargeted metabolomics studies, but compound annotation is a challenge. In this work, we developed a new LC-HRMS data-targeted extraction method called MetEx for metabolite annotation. MetEx contains the retention time (tR), MS1, and MS2 information of 30 620 metabolites from freely available spectral databases, including MoNA and KEGG. The tR values of 95.4% of the compounds in our database were calculated by the GNN-RT model. The MS2 spectra of 39.4% compounds were also predicted using CFM-ID. MetEx was initially examined on a mixture of 634 standards, considering chemical coverage and accurate metabolite assignment, and later applied to human plasma (NIST SRM 1950), human urine, HepG2 cells, mouse liver tissue, and mouse feces. MetEx correctly assigned 252 out of 253 standards detected in our instruments. The platform also provided 8.0-44.2% more compounds in the biological samples compared to XCMS, MS-DIAL, and MZmine 2. MetEx is implemented and visualized in R and freely available at http://www.metaboex.cn/MetEx.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.1c04783
Anal Chim Acta. 2022 Jul 04. pii: S0003-2670(22)00550-5. [Epub ahead of print]1215 339979

Comprehensive metabolite quantitative assay based on alternate metabolomics and lipidomics analyses.

Wangjie Lv, Zhongda Zeng, Yuqing Zhang, Qingqing Wang, Lichao Wang, Zhaoxuan Zhang, Xianzhe Shi, Xinjie Zhao, Guowang Xu.

  Metabolomics-based precision medicine is facing several obstacles including cross-platform data comparison issue and the lack of metabolome benchmark values of healthy population, one of main reasons is the shortage of comprehensive metabolome quantitation methods. Here, we developed an alternate reversed-phase liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (RPLC-MS) method to quantitatively determine metabolites and lipids. Assisted by a wide set of reference standards and real samples, up to 397 multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) transitions (239 for positive and 158 for negative ion modes) and 1080 MRM transitions (607 for positive and 473 for negative ion modes) were defined respectively in the metabolomic and lipidomic analyses with more than 1000 metabolites and lipids being quantified. Among them, 144 analytes including amines, amino acids, benzenoids, peptides, nucleobases and related, bile acids, carboxylic acids, fatty acids, hormones, indoles and others were absolutely quantified, while carnitines, lyso-phosphatidylcholines, lyso-phosphatidylethanolamines, free fatty acids, sphingomyelins, phosphatidylcholines (PCs), alkyl and alkenyl substituted PCs, phosphatidylethanolamines (PEs), alkyl and alkenyl substituted PEs and triacylglycerols were semiquantified. The developed method was validated to have good analytical characteristics. Analytical results of standard reference material 1950 human plasma had a good agreement with literature data. As a proof of application, this method was used to study serum metabolic pattern changes of patients with hyperuricemia and nonalcoholic fatty liver. This alternate RPLC-MS method for quantitative metabolites and lipids analysis can further be used to provide technology and large-scale data support for precision medicine and life sciences.

Keywords:  Alternate analysis; Lipidomics; Metabolomics; Quantitation

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2022.339979
Malar J. 2022 Jun 03. 21(1): 169

Simultaneous and enantiospecific quantification of primaquine and carboxyprimaquine in human plasma using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Warunee Hanpithakpong, Nicholas P J Day, Nicholas J White, Joel Tarning.

   BACKGROUND: The enantiomers of the 8-aminoquinoline anti-malarial primaquine have different pharmacological properties. Development of an analytical method for simultaneous quantification of the enantiomers of primaquine and its metabolite, carboxyprimaquine, will support clinical pharmacometric assessments.
METHODS: A simple and sensitive method consisting of liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed for simultaneous and enantiospecific determination of primaquine and its metabolite, carboxyprimaquine, in human plasma. Stable isotopes were used as internal standards to compensate for potential interference and matrix effects. Plasma samples (100 µL) were precipitated with 1% formic acid in acetonitrile followed by phospholipid removal solid phase extraction. Primaquine and carboxyprimaquine enantiomers were separated on a Chiralcel OD-3R (150 mm × 4.6 mm; I.D. 3 μm) column using a LC gradient mode. For separation of racemic primaquine and carboxyprimaquine, the LC method was modified and validated using a reverse phase column (Hypersil Gold 100 mm × 4.6 mm; I.D. 3 µm) and a mobile phase composed of 10 mM ammonium acetate buffer, pH 3.5 and acetonitrile in the isocratic mode. Method validation was performed according to regulatory guidelines.
RESULTS: The calibration range was set to 0.571-260 ng/mL and 2.44-2,500 ng/mL for primaquine and carboxyprimaquine enantiomers, respectively, resulting in a correlation coefficient (r2) ≥ 0.0998 for all calibration curves. The intra- and inter-day assay precisions were < 10% and the accuracy was between 94.7 to 103% for all enantiomers of primaquine and carboxyprimaquine. The enantiospecific method was also modified and validated to quantify racemic primaquine and carboxyprimaquine, reducing the total run time from 30 to 8 min. The inter-, intra-day assay precision of the racemic quantification method was < 15%. The absolute recoveries of primaquine and carboxyprimaquine were between 70 and 80%. Stability was demonstrated for up to 2 years in - 80 °C. Both the enantiomeric and racemic LC-MS/MS methods were successfully implemented in pharmacokinetic studies in healthy volunteers.
CONCLUSIONS: Simple, sensitive and accurate LC-MS/MS methods for the quantification of enantiomeric and racemic primaquine and carboxyprimaquine in human plasma were validated successfully and implemented in clinical routine drug analysis.

Keywords:  Antimalarial drugs; Enantiomeric separation; LC–MS/MS validation; Malaria; Primaquine

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-022-04191-w
Synth Syst Biotechnol. 2022 Sep;7(3): 949-957

Evaluation and optimization of analytical procedure and sample preparation for polar Streptomyces albus J1074 metabolome profiling.

Shuai Fu, Ziheng An, Liangliang Wu, Zilei Xiang, Zixin Deng, Ran Liu, Tiangang Liu.

  Metabolomics is an essential discipline in omics technology that promotes research on the biology of microbial systems. Streptomyces albus J1074 is a model organism used in fundamental research and industrial microbiology. Nevertheless, a comprehensive and standardized method for analyzing the metabolome of S. albus J1074 is yet to be developed. Thus, we comprehensively evaluated and optimized the analytical procedure and sample preparation for profiling polar metabolites using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). We systematically examined the HILIC columns, quenching solutions, sample-to-quenching ratios, and extraction methods. Then, the optimal protocol was used to investigate the dynamic intracellular polar metabolite profile of the engineered S. albus J1074 strains during spinosad (spinosyn A and spinosyn D) fermentation. A total of 3648 compounds were detected, and 83 metabolites were matched to the standards. The intracellular metabolomic profiles of engineered S. albus J1074 strains (ADE-AP and OE3) were detected; furthermore, their metabolomes in different stages were analyzed to reveal the reasons for their differences in their spinosad production, as well as the current metabolic limitation of heterologous spinosad production in S. albus J1074. The HILIC-HRMS method is a valuable tool for investigating polar metabolomes, and provides a reference methodology to study other Streptomyces metabolomes.

Keywords:  High resolution mass spectrometry; Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography; Metabolomics; Spinosad; Streptomyces

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.synbio.2022.05.004
J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2022 May 20. pii: S0731-7085(22)00266-7. [Epub ahead of print]217 114845

Vortex-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction combined with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry for simultaneous determination of cardiovascular drugs in human plasma.

Mateus Araújo Castro E Souza, Naialy Fernandes Araújo Reis, Isabella Cristina Plácido de Oliveira Pacheco, Maria Auxiliadora Parreiras Martins, Maria Beatriz A Gloria, Gerson Antônio Pianetti, Christian Fernandes.

  Hypertension and dyslipidemias are among the main risk factors for the development of cardiovascular diseases, which are responsible for the death of approximately 17 million people each year. There are several drugs available for the treatment of these diseases. Therefore, methods for the simultaneous analysis of several of these drugs are useful in a wide range of situations. In this context, this study aimed to develop a modern method for the simultaneous determination of eight cardiovascular drugs in human plasma. A vortex-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction (VALLME) procedure, combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed. Mass spectrometry conditions, chromatographic separation, and sample preparation were optimized. For VALLME optimization, pH, sodium chloride concentration, volume of buffer solution, extraction solvent (type and volume), and vortex stirring time were evaluated. The method proved to be simple, fast, and environmentally friendly since low volumes of organic solvent were employed. Furthermore, the VALLME procedure required small sample volume, which is desirable when large volumes are scarce. Suitable recoveries and lower limits of quantification were achieved with a chromatographic run of only 8 min. The method was validated, showing to be selective, precise, and accurate. Furthermore, the analytical curves were well fitted to the selected models and the matrix effect did not affect method reliability. The developed method was successfully applied for the analysis of plasma samples obtained from volunteers attending a hospital service.

Keywords:  Cardiovascular drugs; Hypercholesterolemia; Hypertension; Liquid chromatography; Mass spectrometry; Vortex-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2022.114845
Clin Chem Lab Med. 2022 Jun 09.

Comparison of four different immunoassays and a rapid isotope-dilution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay for serum folate.

Lizi Jin, Youli Lu, Xilian Yi, Meiwei Zhang, Jiangtao Zhang, Weiyan Zhou, Jie Zeng, Tianjiao Zhang, Chuanbao Zhang.

   OBJECTIVES: Accurate measurement of serum folate is essential for the diagnosis and management of various disorders. This study aims to investigate the between-method differences of four immunoassays and a rapid isotope-dilution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (ID-LC-MS/MS) method.
METHODS: Roche Cobas (USA), Abbott Alinity i2000 (USA), Beckman Coulter Access (USA), Mindray CL-6000i (China), and the ID-LC-MS/MS method were compared using 46 human serum samples. The results were analysed by Passing-Bablok regressions and Bland-Altman plots. A bias of 13.31% based on biological variation was used as the bias criterion.
RESULTS: All the within-run and total coefficients of variation (CVs) met the specification. The folate concentrations determined by all the assays were significantly different (p=0.0028). All assays had correlation coefficients over 0.97 with each other. The 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the slope seldom contained 1 and few 95% CIs for the intercept contained 0 in the regression equations. Compared to ID-LC-MS/MS, the biases of all assays ranged from -20.91 to 13.56 nmol/L, and the mean relative biases ranged from -9.85 to 40.33%. The predicted mean relative biases at the medical decision levels rarely met the criterion.
CONCLUSIONS: Assays for serum folate had good correlations with each other but lacked good agreement. The accuracy and consistency of assays for serum folate should be measured and assessed routinely. Standardization work to improve the accuracy of serum folate assays, such as the extension of traceability to reference methods or materials, calibration standardization efforts, and assay-adjusted cut-offs should be promoted.

Keywords:  immunoassays; isotope-dilution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (ID-LC-MS/MS); method comparison; serum folate

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2021-1283
Anal Methods. 2022 Jun 07.

Rapid and selective determination of 9 nitrosamines in biological samples using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometry.

Hua Zhou, Qin Huang, Xianglun Wu, Bindong Zhan, Dongyang Chen, Meikang Lei, Hao Zhang.

A sensitive, selective and convenient method for the simultaneous determination of 9 nitrosamines (NAs) in biological samples was developed using isotope dilution ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTRAP-MS). Multiple reaction monitoring-information dependent acquisition-enhanced product ion (MRM-IDA-EPI) scan mode was performed to eliminate false positive results, and the whole detection procedure was characterized by less time consuming and simple sample preparation. 9 NAs were separated through a T3 column with the gradient elution of acetonitrile and water, and detected by UPLC-QTRAP-MS with an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) source in the positive mode. The quantitative analysis was carried out via the isotope internal standard method with a matrix calibration curve. Under the optimized conditions, good linearity for the 9 NAs was achieved in the range of 0.2-20 μg L-1 with correlation coefficients (r) higher than ≥0.9991, and the limits of detection and limits of quantitation were 0.02-0.1 μg L-1 (S/N = 3) and 0.06-0.3 μg L-1 (S/N = 10), respectively. Satisfactory recoveries ranging from 79.4% to 108.0% were obtained, and the precision of the proposed method, indicated by the relative standard deviations (RSDs), was 2.3-12.9%. The matrix effect study showed that NDMA, NMOR and NMEA presented a matrix suppression effect, NDPHA displayed a matrix enhancement effect, and the matrix effects of the other 5 analytes could be ignored. Real application of the developed method in 13 urine and 24 plasma samples demonstrated that NDBA, NPIP and NPYR occurred in both urine and plasma samples with the concentration of 0.038-0.60 μg L-1, while other NAs were not detected. Such a method was sensitive and selective, and could be applied to the rapid qualitative and quantitative analysis of the 9 NAs in biological samples.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d2ay00468b
J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2022 Jun 02. pii: S0731-7085(22)00288-6. [Epub ahead of print]218 114867

Simultaneous determination of 13 nitrosamine impurities in biological medicines using salting-out liquid-liquid extraction coupled with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

Feifei Luo, Yunya Liu, Yangguo Xie, Wei Hou, Lei Zhang, Zhongli Zhang.

  Nitrosamine impurities are being detected in various pharmaceutical products recently. However, no analytical method is provided for biopharmaceuticals. In present work, a salting-out liquid-liquid extraction (SALLE) coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed for quantification of thirteen nitrosamine contaminations in antibody drugs. The method showed excellent linearity over the range of 0.5-5.0 μg/L with LOQ (limit of quantitation) of 0.5 μg/L for targeted nitrosamines. The method was demonstrated to be accurate (recovery in a range of 75.4-114.7 %) and precise (RSD ≤ 13.2 %) for all nitrosamines using spiked samples. Especially, we found that the satisfactory recoveries for N-nitrosomethyl-4-aminobutyric acid (NMBA, 78.0-96.0 %) and 1-methyl-4-nitrosopiperazine (MeNP, 90.0-109.0 %) were just obtained in the opposite condition (with and without formic acid, respectively). In conclusion, we provide a sensitive and reliable method for nitrosamine estimations to ensure the safety of biological medications.

Keywords:  Analytical evaluation threshold; Antibody drug; LC-MS/MS; Nitrosamine

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2022.114867
Analyst. 2022 Jun 06.

Metabolomics-based mass spectrometry methods to analyze the chemical content of 3D organoid models.

Shannon E Murphy, Jonathan V Sweedler.

Metabolomics, the study of metabolites present in biological samples, can provide a global view of sample state as well as insights into biological changes caused by disease or environmental interactions. Mass spectrometry (MS) is commonly used for metabolomics analysis given its high-throughput capabilities, high sensitivity, and capacity to identify multiple compounds in complex samples simultaneously. MS can be coupled to separation methods that can handle small volumes, making it well suited for analyzing the metabolome of organoids, miniaturized three-dimensional aggregates of stem cells that model in vivo organs. Organoids are being used in research efforts to study human disease and development, and in the design of personalized drug treatments. For organoid models to be useful, they need to recapitulate morphological and chemical aspects, such as the metabolome, of the parent tissue. This review highlights the separation- and imaging-based MS-based metabolomics methods that have been used to analyze the chemical contents of organoids. Future perspectives on how MS techniques can be optimized to determine the accuracy of organoid models and expand the field of organoid research are also discussed.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d2an00599a
Anal Chem. 2022 Jun 07.

Dual-Mechanism-Driven Strategy for High-Coverage Detection of Serum Lipids on a Novel SALDI-MS Target.

Xuetong Qu, Tao Wang, Xingyue Liu, Xinrong Jiang, Xiao Liang, Jianmin Wu.

Serum lipid metabolites have been emerging as ideal biomarkers for disease diagnosis and prediction. In the current stage, nontargeted or targeted lipidomic research mainly relies on a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) platform, but future clinical applications need more robust and high-speed platforms. Surface-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (SALDI-MS) has shown excellent advantages in the high-speed analysis of lipid metabolites. However, the platform in the positive ion mode is more inclined to target a certain class of lipids, leading to the low coverage of lipid detection and limiting its practical translation to clinical applications. Herein, we proposed a dual-mechanism-driven strategy for high-coverage detection of serum lipids on a novel SALDI-MS target, which is a composite nanostructure comprising vertical silicon nanowires (VSiNWs) decorated with AuNPs and polydopamine (VSiNW-Au-PDA). The performance of laser desorption and ionization on the target can be enhanced by charge-driven desorption coupled with thermal-driven desorption. Simultaneous detection of 236 serum lipids (S/N ≥ 5) including neutral and polar lipids can be achieved in the positive ion mode. Among these, 107 lipid peaks were successfully identified. When combined with VSiNW-Au-PDA and VSiNW chips, 479 lipid peaks can be detected in serum samples in positive and negative ion modes, respectively. Based on the platform, serum samples from 57 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and 76 healthy controls were analyzed. After data mining, 14 lipids containing different lipid types (TAG, CE, PC) were selected as potential lipidomic biomarkers. With the assistance of an artificial neural network, a diagnostic model with a sensitivity of 92.7% and a specificity of 96% was constructed for HCC diagnosis.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.1c04929
Anal Chem. 2022 Jun 07.

COLMARq: A Web Server for 2D NMR Peak Picking and Quantitative Comparative Analysis of Cohorts of Metabolomics Samples.

Da-Wei Li, Abigail Leggett, Lei Bruschweiler-Li, Rafael Brüschweiler.

Highly quantitative metabolomics studies of complex biological mixtures are facilitated by the resolution enhancement afforded by 2D NMR spectra such as 2D 13C-1H HSQC spectra. Here, we describe a new public web server, COLMARq, for the semi-automated analysis of sets of 2D HSQC spectra of cohorts of samples. The workflow of COLMARq includes automated peak picking using the deep neural network DEEP Picker, quantitative cross-peak volume extraction by numerical fitting using Voigt Fitter, the matching of corresponding cross-peaks across cohorts of spectra, peak volume normalization between different spectra, database query for metabolite identification, and basic univariate and multivariate statistical analyses of the results. COLMARq allows the analysis of cross-peaks that belong to both known and unknown metabolites. After a user has uploaded cohorts of 2D 13C-1H HSQC and optionally 2D 1H-1H TOCSY spectra in their preferred format, all subsequent steps on the web server can be performed fully automatically, allowing manual editing if needed and the sessions can be saved for later use. The accuracy, versatility, and interactive nature of COLMARq enables quantitative metabolomics analysis, including biomarker identification, of a broad range of complex biological mixtures as is illustrated for cohorts of samples from bacterial cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in both its biofilm and planktonic states.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.2c00891
J Chromatogr A. 2022 Jun 03. pii: S0021-9673(22)00387-9. [Epub ahead of print]1673 463194

A data processing pipeline for petroleomics based on liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry.

Yueyi Xia, Xiaoxiao Wang, Chenfei Ma, Xinxin Wang, Chunxia Zhao, Xinjie Zhao, Zhanquan Zhang, Yinglong Yu, Xiaohui Lin, Xin Lu, Guowang Xu.

  Online liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) has attracted much attention in the molecular characterization of crude oil. Neither open access nor commercially available petroleomics tools were developed specifically to process LC-HRMS data. Here, a novel data processing pipeline was specifically designed for LC-HRMS-based petroleomics data. A customizable formula database was established deriving from the detected sample, which could avoid the interference caused by a large number of redundant molecules in a conventionally theoretical molecular database. Molecular formula candidates were assigned by the formula database using a low noise threshold, and false-positive assignments were eliminated by the chromatographic retention behaviors. Multi-dimensional information was obtained, including heteroatom class, double bond equivalent (DBE), carbon number, retention time, and MS/MS spectra. The developed method was compared with a popular petroleomics software, similar relative abundance class distribution was obtained, and much more formulas of low abundant components were uniquely extracted by the developed method. Finally, it was applied to reveal variation between feed and product oils in hydrodenitrogenation. Significantly compositional and structural differences were revealed. The developed method provides a useful pipeline for molecular data mining of petroleum samples.

Keywords:  Data processing; High-resolution mass spectrometry; Liquid chromatography; Petroleomics

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2022.463194
Talanta. 2022 May 31. pii: S0039-9140(22)00435-0. [Epub ahead of print]248 123639

Rapid and simultaneous determination of multiple endocrine-disrupting chemicals and their metabolites in human serum and urine samples.

Aijing Li, Fengbang Wang, Le Tao, Chunyan Ma, Lei Bi, Maoyong Song, Guibin Jiang.

  Bisphenols, parabens, and their metabolites are a group of chemical compounds with a wide range of polarities but similar chemical structures, which presents a challenge for the simultaneous determination of these compounds in complex biological samples. In this study, a rapid and sensitive method for simultaneous quantification of free bisphenol A (BPA), conjugated BPA, bisphenols, and parabens analogs was developed using solid-phase extraction (SPE) tandem liquid-liquid extraction (LLE). We compared the effects of different types of SPE cartridges, diluents, and LLE solvents on the analyte recovery. Utilizing the direct and indirect determination methods (enzyme hydrolysis), we confirmed the accuracy of the direct method for measuring BPA glucuronide and BPA disulfate. The method enabled the analysis of 24 endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in one injection through UHPLC-MSMS measurements, with satisfactory recovery (mean: 91.8-98.6% for urine, 80.2%-96.8% for serum) and precision (RSD <15%). The LOD and LOQ values were 0.003 and 0.01 ng/mL for serum, and 0.002 and 0.006 ng/mL for urine samples, respectively. For real sample analysis, the median concentration of analytes in serum and urine samples ranged from 0.04 ng/mL (BPS) to 56.4 ng/mL (4-HB) and 0.11 ng/mL (BPA) to 136 ng/mL (4-HB), respectively. This method provides a new strategy to simultaneously identify compounds with a wide range of polarities from complicated biological matrices.

Keywords:  BPA conjugates; Biological matrices; Endocrine-disrupting chemicals; Solid-phase extraction tandem liquid–liquid extraction; Varied polarity

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2022.123639
Molecules. 2022 Jun 02. pii: 3577. [Epub ahead of print]27(11):

Development and Validation of a Method of Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Tandem Mass Spectrometry for Quantification of ST-246 (Tecovirimat) in Human Plasma.

Galina A Oleinik, Vladimir V Koval, Svetlana V Usova, Larisa N Shishkina, Alexander A Chernonosov.

  The aim of this work was to develop and validate a sensitive and robust method of liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry to quantitate ST-246 (tecovirimat) in plasma using an internal standard (2-hydroxy-N-{3,5-dioxo-4-azatetracyclo [5.3.2.02.6.08.10]dodec-11-en-4-yl}-5-methylbenzamide). The method was validated in negative multiple reaction monitoring mode following recommendations of the European Medicines Agency for the validation of bioanalytical methods. The calibration curve for the analyte was linear in the 10-2500 ng/mL range with determination coefficient R2 > 0.99. Intra- and inter-day accuracy and precision for three concentrations of quality control were <15%. Testing of long-term stability of ST-246 (tecovirimat) in plasma showed no degradation at -20 °C for at least 3 months. The method was applied to a clinical assay of a new antipoxvirus compound, NIOCH-14. Thus, the proposed method is suitable for therapeutic drug monitoring of ST-246 (tecovirimat) itself and of NIOCH-14 as its metabolic precursor.

Keywords:  LC-MS/MS; MRM; NIOCH-14; ST-246; plasma; tecovirimat

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27113577
Zhonghua Lao Dong Wei Sheng Zhi Ye Bing Za Zhi. 2022 May 20. 40(5): 373-377

[Determination of acetochlor and its metabolites in urine using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry].

M Y Chen, H Zhang, Z L Huo, H Chen, J R Dou, B L Zhu, F Zhang.

  Objective: A method for the determination of acetochlor and its metabolites in urine by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was established. Methods: After cleaned-up by a HLB extraction cartridges, the urine was eluted with 1% acetic acid acetonitrile solution. The target compounds were separated by ACQUITY UPLC®HSS T3 Column (2.1 mm×100 mm×1.8 μm) by using 1% formic acid solution and acetonitrile as mobile phase with gradient elution program, and analyzed in positive electrospray ionization mode by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Results: All the target compounds showed good linear relationships in the range of 1-50 μg/L, and the correlation coefficients (r) were higher than 0.997. The recoveries rates at three different spiked levels for all target compounds in blank matrices were 107.6%-129.1%, and the relative standard deviations (RSD) were 1.5%-9.9% (n=6) . The limits of detection and quantitation of the method were 0.04-0.11 μg/L and 0.15-0.42 μg/L, respectively, and target substances were detected in all urine samples from occupational exposure workers to acetochlor. Conclusion: This method is suitable for rapid screening and analysis of acetochlor and metabolites in urine with the advantages of accuracy, rapidity, simplicity, high sensitivity and good specificity.

Keywords:  Acetochlor; LC-MS/MS; Metabolites; Solid phase extraction; Urine

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3760/cma.j.cn121094-20210917-00464
J Mass Spectrom. 2022 Jun;57(6): e4869

Normalization techniques for high-throughput screening by infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

Kevan T Knizner, Michael C Bagley, Fan Pu, Nathaniel L Elsen, Jon D Williams, David C Muddiman.

  Mass spectrometry (MS) is an effective analytical tool for high-throughput screening (HTS) in the drug discovery field. Infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption electrospray ionization (IR-MALDESI) MS is a high-throughput platform that has achieved analysis times of sub-seconds-per-sample. Due to the high-throughput analysis speed, methods are needed to increase the analyte signal while decreasing the variability in IR-MALDESI-MS analyses to improve data quality and reduce false-positive hits. The Z-factor is used as a statistic of assay quality that can be improved by reducing the variation of target ion abundances or increasing signal. Herein we report optimal solvent compositions for increasing measured analyte abundances with direct analysis by IR-MALDESI-MS. We also evaluate normalization strategies, such as adding a normalization standard that is similar or dissimilar in structure to the model target drug, to reduce the variability of measured analyte abundances with direct analyses by IR-MALDESI-MS in both positive and negative ionization modes.

Keywords:  IR-MALDESI; Orbitrap mass spectrometer; high-throughput screening; normalization

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/jms.4869
Eur J Mass Spectrom (Chichester). 2022 Jun 06. 14690667221105837

Sample preparation and quantification of polar drug, allopurinol, in human plasma using LCMSMS.

Emily Yii Ling Wong, Gabriel Onn Kit Loh, Chen Zhu Goh, Yvonne Tze Fung Tan, Sharon Shi Min Ng, Kian Boon Law, Kit Yee Cheah, Hani Farhana Mohd, Kok Khiang Peh.

  A fast, selective and reproducible LC-MS/MS method with simple sample preparation was developed and validated for a polar compound, allopurinol in human plasma, using acyclovir as internal standard (IS). Chromatographic separation was achieved using Agilent Poroshell 120 EC-C18 (100 × 2.1 mmID, 2.7 µm) analytical column. The mobile phase was comprised of 0.1%v/v formic acid-methanol (95:05; v/v), at a flow rate of 0.45 mL/min. The effect of different protein precipitation agents used in sample preparation such as methanol, acetonitrile, a mixture of acetonitrile-methanol and a mixture of acetonitrile-acetone were evaluated to optimize the extraction efficiency of allopurinol and IS. The use of acetone-acetonitrile (50:50, v/v) as protein precipitating agent shortened the sample preparation time and improved the recovery of allopurinol to above 93%. The IS-normalised matrix factors at two concentration levels were 1.0, with CV of 5.1% and 4.2%. Allopurinol in plasma was stable at benchtop for 24 h, in autosampler tray for 48 h, in instrumentation room for 48 h, in freezer after 7 freeze-thaw cycles and in freezer for 140 days. Allopurinol stock standard solutions were stable for 140 days at room temperature and in the chiller. The short sample run time of the validated bioanalytical method allowed high throughput analysis of plasma samples in pharmacokinetic study of an allopurinol formulation. The robustness and reproducibility of the bioanalytical method was reaffirmed through incurred sample reanalysis (ISR).

Keywords:  acetone-acetonitrile solvent mixtures; allopurinol; human plasma; pharmacokinetic study; polar drug; recovery

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/14690667221105837
J Vet Med Sci. 2022 Jun 08.

Comprehensive profiling of lipid metabolites in urine of canine patients with liver mass.

Taiki Kida, Arisa Yamazaki, Tatsuro Nakamura, Koji Kobayashi, Sho Yoshimoto, Shingo Maeda, Takayuki Nakagawa, Ryohei Nishimura, Takahisa Murata.

  Fatty acids are an essential component of mammalian bodies. They go through different metabolic pathways depending on physiological states and inflammatory stimuli. In this study, we conducted a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based comprehensive analysis of lipid metabolites in urine of canine patients with liver mass. There were significant differences in quantity of some lipid metabolites that may be closely associated with the disease and/or general inflammatory responses, including increased metabolites of PGE2 and/or PGF2α. We demonstrated that our approach of profiling lipid metabolites in the urine is useful in gaining insights into the disease. These findings may also have an application as a screening test or a diagnosis tool for canine liver mass.

Keywords:  dog; lipid metabolite; liver mass; urine

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1292/jvms.22-0191
J Chromatogr A. 2022 May 20. pii: S0021-9673(22)00352-1. [Epub ahead of print]1675 463159

Preparation of imidazolidinone compounds as derivatization reagent for diastereomerization and chromatographic separation of chiral organic acids.

Maho Umino, Tatsuya Sakamoto, Mayu Onozato, Takeshi Fukushima.

  A chiral derivatization reagent for application in LC-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based detection, benzyl 5-(2-aminoethyl)-3-methyl-4-oxoimidazolidine-1-carboxylate (CIM-C2-NH2), which can react with the carboxyl group, was synthesized. Both chiral and non-chiral organic acids such as lactic acid, 2-hydroxybutyric acid, 3-hydroxybutyric acid, acetic acid, succinic acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, and citramalic acid were derivatized with CIM-C2-NH2; their derivatives were analyzed by LC-MS/MS. We investigated the enantioseparation of chiral organic acids on an octadecylsilica column and obtained the resolution values within 1.31-2.19 with a mobile phase of H2O-CH3CN with the exception of malic acid. In contrast, no enantioseparation of the chiral organic acids was observed when benzyl 5-(aminomethyl)-3-methyl-4-oxoimidazolidine-1-carboxylate (CIM-C1-NH2), which bears fewer methylene units than CIM-C2-NH2, was used. In addition, the mass spectra of malic acid, tartaric acid, and succinic acid, which have two carboxyl groups, showed product ions of m/z 278, while those of other organic acids showed product ions of m/z 91, corresponding to the benzyl moiety. The proposed method was applied to analyze organic acids in commercial wine, and some organic acids such as d- and l-lactic acid were successfully detected.

Keywords:  Benzyl 5-(2-aminoethyl)-3-methyl-4-oxoimidazolidine-1-carboxylate; Chiral organic acid; Derivatization; LC-MS/MS

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2022.463159
RSC Adv. 2022 May 23. 12(25): 15694-15704

Simple simultaneous determination of moxifloxacin and metronidazole in complex biological matrices.

Amira F El-Yazbi, Faten M Aboukhalil, Essam F Khamis, Mohammed A W Elkhatib, Mahmoud A El-Sayed, Rasha M Youssef.

A simple, sensitive and rapid RP-HPLC method is presented, for the first time, for the simultaneous determination of moxifloxacin hydrochloride and metronidazole in different biological fluids including saliva and plasma without any matrix interference. The separation was performed using ACN and phosphate buffer (30 : 70% v/v) as the mobile phase on a Zorbax Eclipse Plus-C18 column attached to a guard column. The method was validated according to the FDA guidelines for bioanalytical method validation and was successfully applied for simultaneous determination of the studied drugs in saliva and plasma samples. The good precision and selectivity of the developed method allow it to be used for routine therapeutic drug monitoring of such drugs and it presents a simple and sensitive analytical tool for performing versatile pharmacokinetics and bioavailability studies. A DAD detector is valuable to determine each drug at its maximum wavelength to ensure high sensitivity. Determination of such a combination in saliva introduces a quick and non-invasive alternative to blood analysis.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d2ra01631a
Sci Rep. 2022 Jun 04. 12(1): 9322

Multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) LC-MS/MS quantitation of venlafaxine and its O-desmethyl metabolite for a preclinical pharmacokinetic study in rabbits.

Abdul Aala Fazli, Bala Krishna Panigrahy, Varinder Kumar, Syed Naiem Raza, Bilal Ahmad Zarger, Taha Umair Wani, Shavej Ahmad, Arshad Khuroo, Nisar Ahmad Khan.

Preclinical pharmacokinetic (PK) studies in animal models during the formulation development phase give preliminary evidence and near clear picture of the PK behavior of drug and/or its dosage forms before clinical studies on humans and help in the tailoring of the dosage form according to the expected and requisite clinical behavior. The present work reports a first of its kind preclinical PK study on extended-release (ER) solid oral dosage forms of venlafaxine (VEN) in New Zealand White rabbits. The VEN is a highly prescribed and one of the safest and most effective therapeutic agents used in the treatment of different types of depression disorders worldwide. The multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) LC-MS/MS method developed for this purpose demonstrated enough reliability in simultaneously quantitating VEN and its equipotent metabolite O-desmethylvenlafaxine (ODV) in rabbit plasma. The method described uses solid-phase extraction for sample preparation followed by an ultrafast LC-MS/MS analysis. The chromatographic separation was achieved isocratically with a predominantly polar mobile phase by employing RPLC. The triple quadrupole LC/MS/MS system operated in MRM mode used an ESI probe as an ion source in positive polarity. The validation results are within the permissible limits of US FDA recommendations and acceptance criteria for bioanalytical method validation.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-13389-6
J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2022 Jul 01. pii: S1570-0232(22)00219-7. [Epub ahead of print]1203 123315

Development, validation and standardization of urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid determination by LC-MS/MS for implementation in quality-controlled environments.

Ying Shen, Xia Luo, Qing Guan, Liming Cheng.

  Carcinoid tumors referred to neuroendocrine neoplasms that often are indolent and may not became clinical apparent until there has been metastatic spread. Urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) was recommended as a first-line screening biomarker for the diagnosis and follow-up of carcinoid tumors. The measurement of this analyte is conventionally performed by spectrophotometer or high performance liquid chromatography, and has switched to liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) recently. In this study, a fast, simple and reliable LC-MS/MS method has been developed and validated for 24 h urinary 5-HIAA determination and the quality assurance referring to post-implementation monitoring has been explored. 50 μL of urine was mixed with 200 μL of a 50% methanol/water solution containing the internal standard 5-HIAA-d5. The mixture was centrifuged and the supernatant was used for direct analysis by LC-MS/MS. The retention time of 5-HIAA is 2.37 min and a total run time is 4 min. This method was validated for excellent linearity from 0.675 to 43.3 μM with CVs ≤ 6.64% and good recovery in the range of 87.1%-107%. No obvious matrix effect was observed. Intra- and inter-day imprecision were below 3.95% and 4.66% respectively. The reference interval of 24-hour urinary 5-HIAA in Chinese adults was established. The quality assurance could ensure reliable and comparable results in routine clinical testing. Thus, this fast, simple and reliable LC-MS/MS method could be proposed as a tool for clinical testing of urinary 5-HIAA in quality-controlled environments.

Keywords:  5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid; LC-MS/MS; Quality assurance; Urine

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchromb.2022.123315
Anal Chem. 2022 Jun 07.

Power of mzRAPP-Based Performance Assessments in MS1-Based Nontargeted Feature Detection.

Yasin El Abiead, Maximilian Milford, Harald Schoeny, Mate Rusz, Reza M Salek, Gunda Koellensperger.

When performing chromatography-mass spectrometry-based nontargeted metabolomics, or exposomics, one of the key steps in the analysis is to obtain MS1-based feature tables. Inapt parameter settings in feature detection will result in missing or wrong quantitative values and might ultimately lead to downstream incorrect biological interpretations. However, until recently, no strategies to assess the completeness and abundance accuracy of feature tables were available. Here, we show that mzRAPP enables the generation of benchmark peak lists by using an internal set of known molecules in the analyzed data set. Using the benchmark, the completeness and abundance accuracy of feature tables can be assessed in an automated pipeline. We demonstrate that our approach adds to other commonly applied quality assurance methods such as manual or automatized parameter optimization techniques or removal of false-positive signals. Moreover, we show that as few as 10 benchmark molecules can already allow for representative performance metrics to further improve quantitative biological understanding.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.1c05270
J Anim Sci. 2022 Jun 06. pii: skac207. [Epub ahead of print]

TECHNICAL NOTE: Analysis of volatile fatty acids in rumen fluid by gas chromatography mass spectrometry using a dimethyl carbonate extraction.

Andrew P Foote.

  Analysis of rumen fluid volatile fatty acids (VFA) is typically conducted by injecting acidified aqueous rumen fluid into a gas chromatograph (GC) with a flame ionization detector (FID). Aqueous samples are highly problematic because of the large vapor volume that can lead to poor peak shape and contamination of inlets, potentially causing sample carryover. Methods using aqueous samples are not well suited for use in a mass spectrometer (MS) detector system. The objective of this project was to validate a dimethyl carbonate (DMC) extraction process and GCMS method for rumen VFA analysis. To perform the extraction, 100 µL of sample, KHSO4 (500 g/L), and 2-ethylbutyrate (internal standard; 8.5 mM) were added to a microcentrifuge tube (in order) followed by 1 mL of DMC. The mixture was thoroughly vortexed, and centrifuged. The organic layer (top) was removed and placed in a GC vial. The DMC extract was injected (0.5 µL) into an Agilent 5977B GCMS (8:1 split injection) with a polar DB-FFAP column. The column was held at 105°C for 5 min, increased at 10°C/min to 150°C, then 65°C/min to 240°C, and held constant for 10 min. The peak area of acetate relative to the internal standard is linear from approximately 2 mM to at least 130 mM and encompasses the expected values of rumen concentrations for the other VFA. Recovery of VFA from spiked rumen fluid was tested at three concentrations in rumen fluid from steers fed a finishing diet or grazing wheat pasture. Recovery was not affected by the diet of the animals (P > 0.10) or the amount of VFA spiked (P > 0.19) for acetate, propionate, isobutyrate, or butyrate. There was an interaction of amount of VFA spiked and the diet of the animal (P = 0.021) for valerate and a tendency for an interaction (P = 0.051) for isovalerate, due to the recovery of the VFA being lower in the medium spike amount in rumen fluid from cattle on wheat pasture. Overall, recovery was greatest for propionate (101.9 ± 1.67%) and lowest for valerate (95.7± 1.95%). Including the 10 min hold at 240°C at the end of each run prevented carryover from sample to sample. This method appears to perform well in a GCMS system and accurately and precisely quantifies rumen fluid VFA.

Keywords:  Gas chromatography; VFA analysis; mass spectrometer

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skac207
Front Mol Biosci. 2022 ;9 880559

Tracing Lipid Metabolism by Alkyne Lipids and Mass Spectrometry: The State of the Art.

Lars Kuerschner, Christoph Thiele.

  Lipid tracing studies are a key method to gain a better understanding of the complex metabolic network lipids are involved in. In recent years, alkyne lipid tracers and mass spectrometry have been developed as powerful tools for such studies. This study aims to review the present standing of the underlying technique, highlight major findings the strategy allowed for, summarize its advantages, and discuss some limitations. In addition, an outlook on future developments is given.

Keywords:  analog; click; fatty acid; lipidomics; metabolism; probe; tracer; β-oxidation

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2022.880559