bims-metlip 2023-02-12 papers

bims-metlip

Biomed News

on Methods and protocols in metabolomics and lipidomics

Issue of 2023–02–12
twenty papers selected by
Sofia Costa, Matterworks

Optimization of Mobile Phase Modifiers for Fast LC-MS-Based Untargeted Metabolomics and Lipidomics.
A New Heart-Cutting Method for a Multiplex Quantitative Analysis of Steroid Hormones in Plasma Using 2D-LC/MS/MS Technique.
An in-depth analysis of four classes of antidepressants quantification from human serum using LC-MS/MS.
Analysis of doping control samples using supercritical fluid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry: ready for routine use.
Analysis of highly polar pesticides in foods by LC-MS/MS.
A noise-robust deep clustering of biomolecular ions improves interpretability of mass spectrometric images.
A Passive Membrane System for On-line Mass Spectrometry Reagent Addition.
Evaluating LC-HRMS metabolomics data processing software using FAIR principles for research software.
SMART: A data reporting standard for mass spectrometry imaging.
Understanding the mechanism of CO2-Assisted electrospray ionization for parameter optimization in supercritical fluid chromatography mass spectrometry.
[Determination of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in serum by pre-column derivatization-stable isotope labeling-ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole electrostatic field orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry].
Rapid Detection of Estrogens in Cosmetics by Chemical Derivatization and Paper-Spray Ionization Mass-Spectrometry.
Innovation in identifying metabolites from complex metabolome-Highlights of recent analytical platforms and protocols.
Creation of a Plant Metabolite Spectral Library for Untargeted and Targeted Metabolomics.
Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis of delamanid and its metabolite in human cerebrospinal fluid using protein precipitation and on-line solid-phase extraction.
Quantitative multiple fragment monitoring with enhanced in-source fragmentation/annotation mass spectrometry.
Development of a Novel LC-MS/MS Multi-Method for the Determination of Regulated and Emerging Food Contaminants Including Tenuazonic Acid, a Chromatographically Challenging Alternaria Toxin.
Development of Capillary Zone Electrophoresis Method for the Simultaneous Separation and Quantification of Metformin and Pioglitazone in Dosage Forms; and Comparison with HPLC Method.
Determination of nicotine in newborn meconium by high-Resolution ambient mass spectrometry using wooden-Tip spray.
Determination of nine prohibited N-nitrosamines in cosmetic products by vortex-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction prior to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jan 19. pii: 1987. [Epub ahead of print]24(3):

Optimization of Mobile Phase Modifiers for Fast LC-MS-Based Untargeted Metabolomics and Lipidomics.

Tomas Cajka, Jiri Hricko, Lucie Rudl Kulhava, Michaela Paucova, Michaela Novakova, Ondrej Kuda.

  Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is the method of choice for the untargeted profiling of biological samples. A multiplatform LC-MS-based approach is needed to screen polar metabolites and lipids comprehensively. Different mobile phase modifiers were tested to improve the electrospray ionization process during metabolomic and lipidomic profiling. For polar metabolites, hydrophilic interaction LC using a mobile phase with 10 mM ammonium formate/0.125% formic acid provided the best performance for amino acids, biogenic amines, sugars, nucleotides, acylcarnitines, and sugar phosphate, while reversed-phase LC (RPLC) with 0.1% formic acid outperformed for organic acids. For lipids, RPLC using a mobile phase with 10 mM ammonium formate or 10 mM ammonium formate with 0.1% formic acid permitted the high signal intensity of various lipid classes ionized in ESI(+) and robust retention times. For ESI(-), the mobile phase with 10 mM ammonium acetate with 0.1% acetic acid represented a reasonable compromise regarding the signal intensity of the detected lipids and the stability of retention times compared to 10 mM ammonium acetate alone or 0.02% acetic acid. Collectively, we show that untargeted methods should be evaluated not only on the total number of features but also based on common metabolites detected by a specific platform along with the long-term stability of retention times.

Keywords:  LC-MS; additives; lipidomics; liquid chromatography; mass spectrometry; metabolomics; mobile phase; modifiers; optimization

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24031987
Molecules. 2023 Feb 01. pii: 1379. [Epub ahead of print]28(3):

A New Heart-Cutting Method for a Multiplex Quantitative Analysis of Steroid Hormones in Plasma Using 2D-LC/MS/MS Technique.

Marcela Kotasova, Ondrej Lacina, Drahomira Springer, Jan Sevcik, Tomas Brutvan, Jana Jezkova, Tomas Zima.

  The aim of the current research was to develop a simple and rapid mass spectrometry-based assay for the determination of 15 steroid hormones in human plasma in a single run, which would be suitable for a routine practice setting. For this purpose, we designed a procedure based on the 2D-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with a minimalistic sample pre-treatment. In our arrangement, the preparation of one sample takes only 10 min and can accommodate 40 samples per hour when tested in series. The following analytical run is 18 min long for all steroid hormones. In addition, we developed an independent analytical run for estradiol, significantly increasing the assay accuracy while taking an additional 10 min to perform an analytical run of a sample. The optimized method was applied to a set of human plasma samples, including chylous. Our results indicate the linearity of the method for all steroid hormones with squared regression coefficients R2 ≥ 0.995, within-run and between-run precision (RSD < 6.4%), and an accuracy of 92.9% to 106.2%. The absolute recovery for each analyzed steroid hormone ranged between 101.6% and 116.5%. The method detection limit for 15 steroid hormones ranged between 0.008 nmol/L (2.88 pg/mL) for aldosterone and 0.873 nmol/L (0.252 ng/mL) for DHEA. For all the analytes, the lowest calibration point relative standard deviation was less than 10.8%, indicating a good precision of the assay within the lowest concentration of interest. In conclusion, in this method article, we describe a simple, sensitive, and cost-effective 2D-LC/MS/MS method suitable for the routine analysis of a complex of steroid hormones allowing high analytical specificity and sensitivity despite minimal sample processing and short throughput times.

Keywords:  2D-LC/MS/MS; QuEChERS method; multiplexed analysis of steroid hormones; two dimensional-liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28031379
Sci Rep. 2023 Feb 06. 13(1): 2115

An in-depth analysis of four classes of antidepressants quantification from human serum using LC-MS/MS.

Ramisa Fariha, Prutha S Deshpande, Emma Rothkopf, Mohannad Jabrah, Adam Spooner, Oluwanifemi David Okoh, Anubhav Tripathi.

Depression is a growing global crisis, with females at a higher rate of diagnosis than males. While the percentage of patients on prescribed antidepressants have tripled over the last two decades, we are still at a crossroad where the discrepancy lies between finding a drug to suit a patient and monitoring the abundance of it in the body to prevent unwanted side effects. Liquid Chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has garnered the attention of clinicians as a technique to accurately monitor therapeutic drugs in human serum with high specificity and accuracy. This may be a potential solution, but the challenge persists in the realm of sample preparation, where a method is automatable. We have developed and validated an LC-MS/MS-based assay for simultaneous quantification of 4 different classes of commonly prescribed antidepressants in women that is automated using a JANUS G3 Robotic Liquid Handler. Our method utilizes a simple sample preparation technique, utilizing only 20 μL of a serum sample, to accurately measure Bupropion, Citalopram, Desipramine, Imipramine, Olanzapine, Sertraline and Vilazodone across a range of 1.0 to 230 ng/mL. Our method exhibits a linearity of R2 ≥ 0.99 when detected in MRM mode and % CV of ≤ 20% for all analytes across the board. In addition, we have designed a prototype that can be utilized at a clinical mass spectrometry lab and assessed the long-term use of this prototype using an accelerated stability study. Overall, our developed method has the potential to be translated to clinical settings to monitor postpartum depression for a large number of patient samples using automation.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-29229-0
J Sep Sci. 2023 Feb 05. e2200880

Analysis of doping control samples using supercritical fluid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry: ready for routine use.

Bernhard Wuest, Ivana Gavrilović, David Cowan, Xavier de la Torre, Francesco Botrè, Maria Kristina Parr.

  Supercritical fluid chromatography is proving to be a good separation and sample preparation tool for various analytical applications and, as such, has gained the attention of the anti-doping community. Here, the applicability of supercritical fluid chromatography hyphenated to MS/MS for routine doping control analysis was tested. A multi-analyte method was developed to cover 197 drugs and metabolites that are prohibited in sport. More than 1000 samples were analysed applying a "dilute and inject" approach after hydrolysis of glucuronide metabolites. Additionally, a comparison with routinely used LC-MS was performed with 250 of the 1000 samples and a number of past positive anti-doping samples. It revealed some features where supercritical fluid chromatography MS/MS was found to be complementary or advantageous to LC-MS for anti-doping purposes, such as better retention of analytes that are poorly retained in reversed-phase LC. Our results suggest that supercritical fluid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry is sensitive (LOD <50% relevant minimum required performance level required by the World Anti-Doping Agency for anti-doping analysis), reproducible, robust, precise (analytes of interest area coefficient of variation <5%; retention time difference coefficient of variation <1%) and complementary to existing techniques currently used for routine analysis in the World Anti-Doping Agency accredited laboratories. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Keywords:  Bioanalysis; doping agents; drugs; method performance; reliability

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/jssc.202200880
J Food Drug Anal. 2022 Nov 23. 30(4): 538-548

Analysis of highly polar pesticides in foods by LC-MS/MS.

Wan-Rou Liao, Kuan-Lu Wu, Kun-Hao Chiang, Chieh-En Teng, Sung-Fang Chen.

Highly polar pesticides (HPP) are a group of pesticides that are characterize as low Log Kow. Many high-throughput multi-residue analysis methods based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for the simultaneous determination of such polar pesticides have been proposed. In this article, we summarize the various sample preparation methods including quick polar pesticides (QuPPe), dispersive solid phase extraction (dSPE), solid phase extraction (SPE) and QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe), especially for QuPPe, which are mainly used for the determination of HPP in foods. In addition, we summarize LC-based separation methodologies that are currently used for the analysis of HPP in foods, including reversed-phase chromatography (RPC), hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC), ion chromatography (IC) and mixed-mode chromatography (MMC). Finally, the current mass spectrometry-based methodologies for the analysis of HPP are summarized with a specific focus on MS configurations and acquisition modes.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.38212/2224-6614.3420
Bioinformatics. 2023 Feb 06. pii: btad067. [Epub ahead of print]

A noise-robust deep clustering of biomolecular ions improves interpretability of mass spectrometric images.

Dan Guo, Melanie Christine Föll, Kylie Ariel Bemis, Olga Vitek.

MOTIVATION: Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MSI) analyzes complex biological samples such as tissues. It simultaneously characterizes the ions present in the tissue in the form of mass spectra, and the spatial distribution of the ions across the tissue in the form of ion images. Unsupervised clustering of ion images facilitates the interpretation in the spectral domain, by identifying groups of ions with similar spatial distributions. Unfortunately, many current methods for clustering ion images ignore the spatial features of the images, and are therefore unable to learn these features for clustering purposes. Alternative methods extract spatial features using deep neural networks pre-trained on natural image tasks; however, this is often inadequate since ion images are substantially noisier than natural images.
RESULTS: We contribute a deep clustering approach for ion images that accounts for both spatial contextual features and noise. In evaluations on a simulated dataset and on four experimental datasets of different tissue types, the proposed method grouped ions from the same source into a same cluster more frequently than existing methods. We further demonstrated that using ion image clustering as a pre-processing step facilitated the interpretation of a subsequent spatial segmentation as compared to using either all the ions or one ion at a time. As a result, the proposed approach facilitated the interpretability of MSI data in both the spectral domain and the spatial domain.
AVAILABILITY: The data and code are available at https://github.com/DanGuo1223/mzClustering.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btad067
Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2023 Feb 04. e9487

A Passive Membrane System for On-line Mass Spectrometry Reagent Addition.

Taelor M Zarkovic, Scott A Borden, Erik T Krogh, Chris G Gill.

RATIONALE: Post-separation addition of chemical modifiers in liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is widely used for improving ionization sensitivity and selectivity. This is typically accomplished using a post column T-junction, which can result in sample dilution and imperfect mixing. We present a passive semi-permeable hollow fibre membrane approach for the addition of chemical modifiers that avoids these issues.
METHODS: Model compounds were directly infused by flow injection to an electrospray ionization triple quadrupole mass spectrometer after passing through a polydimethylsiloxane hollow fibre membrane. Ionization enhancement reagents were introduced into the flowing stream by membrane permeation from aqueous solutions. Ionization enhancement from volatile acids and bases in positive and negative electrospray ionization was evaluated to assess feasibility for this approach.
RESULTS: The membrane-based apparatus resulted in relative ionization enhancement factors of up to 14×, depending upon the analyte, reagent, and ionization mode used. Ionization enhancement signal stability is reasonable (RSD 5-7 %) for extended periods from the same reagent solution, and minimal analyte dilution is observed. A proof-of-concept demonstration of the chromatographic 'trifluoroacetic acid fix' strategy is presented.
CONCLUSIONS: An on-line mass spectrometry ionization reagent addition method with potential post-chromatography reagent addition applications was developed using a hollow fibre polydimethylsiloxane membrane. This approach offers a promising alternative to traditional methods requiring additional hardware such as pumps and T-junctions that can result in sample dilution and imperfect reagent mixing.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.9487
Metabolomics. 2023 Feb 06. 19(2): 11

Evaluating LC-HRMS metabolomics data processing software using FAIR principles for research software.

Xinsong Du, Farhad Dastmalchi, Hao Ye, Timothy J Garrett, Matthew A Diller, Mei Liu, William R Hogan, Mathias Brochhausen, Dominick J Lemas.

   BACKGROUND: Liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) is a popular approach for metabolomics data acquisition and requires many data processing software tools. The FAIR Principles - Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability - were proposed to promote open science and reusable data management, and to maximize the benefit obtained from contemporary and formal scholarly digital publishing. More recently, the FAIR principles were extended to include Research Software (FAIR4RS).
AIM OF REVIEW: This study facilitates open science in metabolomics by providing an implementation solution for adopting FAIR4RS in the LC-HRMS metabolomics data processing software. We believe our evaluation guidelines and results can help improve the FAIRness of research software.
KEY SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS OF REVIEW: We evaluated 124 LC-HRMS metabolomics data processing software obtained from a systematic review and selected 61 software for detailed evaluation using FAIR4RS-related criteria, which were extracted from the literature along with internal discussions. We assigned each criterion one or more FAIR4RS categories through discussion. The minimum, median, and maximum percentages of criteria fulfillment of software were 21.6%, 47.7%, and 71.8%. Statistical analysis revealed no significant improvement in FAIRness over time. We identified four criteria covering multiple FAIR4RS categories but had a low %fulfillment: (1) No software had semantic annotation of key information; (2) only 6.3% of evaluated software were registered to Zenodo and received DOIs; (3) only 14.5% of selected software had official software containerization or virtual machine; (4) only 16.7% of evaluated software had a fully documented functions in code. According to the results, we discussed improvement strategies and future directions.

Keywords:  FAIR principles; Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; Metabolomics; Open science; Reproducibility; Research software

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-023-01974-3
J Mass Spectrom. 2023 Feb;58(2): e4904

SMART: A data reporting standard for mass spectrometry imaging.

Ying Xi, Alexandria L Sohn, Alena N Joignant, Stephanie M Cologna, Boone M Prentice, David C Muddiman.

  Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is an important analytical technique that simultaneously reports the spatial location and abundance of detected ions in biological, chemical, clinical, and pharmaceutical studies. As MSI grows in popularity, it has become evident that data reporting varies among different research groups and between techniques. The lack of consistency in data reporting inherently creates additional challenges in comparing intra- and inter-laboratory MSI data. In this tutorial, we propose a unified data reporting system, SMART, based on the common features shared between techniques. While there are limitations to any reporting system, SMART was decided upon after significant discussion to more easily understand and benchmark MSI data. SMART is not intended to be comprehensive but rather capture essential baseline information for a given MSI study; this could be within a study (e.g., effect of spot size on the measured ion signals) or between two studies (e.g., different MSI platform technologies applied to the same tissue type). This tutorial does not attempt to address the confidence with which annotations are made nor does it deny the importance of other parameters that are not included in the current SMART format. Ultimately, the goal of this tutorial is to discuss the necessity of establishing a uniform reporting system to communicate MSI data in publications and presentations in a simple format to readily interpret the parameters and baseline outcomes of the data.

Keywords:  data reporting standards; mass spectrometry imaging

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/jms.4904
Anal Chim Acta. 2023 Mar 15. pii: S0003-2670(23)00084-3. [Epub ahead of print]1246 340863

Understanding the mechanism of CO2-Assisted electrospray ionization for parameter optimization in supercritical fluid chromatography mass spectrometry.

Yuka Fujito, Yoshihiro Izumi, Kohta Nakatani, Masatomo Takahashi, Yoshihiro Hayakawa, Mitsuo Takayama, Takeshi Bamba.

  Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) is often coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) for analyte detection because of its detection capability to a wide range of chemical properties. However, MS sensitivity is highly dependent on the chromatographic conditions, so that it is important to understand the ionization mechanism to determine the optimal chromatographic conditions. The ionization mechanism in SFC/ESI-MS is different to that of liquid chromatography because of the use of CO2 as a mobile phase. Some studies have suggested that alkoxycarbonic acids are formed in the mixture of CO2 and the alcohol modifier, and these species contribute to ionization in CO2-assisted SFC/ESI-MS. Therefore, in this study, we investigated CO2-assisted ESI to test this hypothesis, and we confirmed that methoxylcarbonic acid is generated in CO2/methanol mixtures and contributed to ion generation and detection because it acts as a proton donor in positive-ion mode. However, methoxylcarbonic acid interfered with ionization in negative-ion mode. Addition of ammonium acetate, which is often added to the modifier for negative ion detection in SFC/MS analysis, did not contribute to the recovery of MS sensitivity, although it tended to suppress the formation of metoxylcarbonic acid. This is likely due to ion suppression and neutralization of the negative sites of the analytes by anions or cations derived from ammonium acetate in the negative ion mode. Thus, additive-free methanol/CO2 was the most suitable mobile phase for obtaining high sensitivity in SFC/MS. To demonstrate the practicality of these findings, we tested our optimal mobile phase selection for pesticide analysis. In addition, we tested the addition of 0, 1, and 5 mM ammonium formate to the modifier and make-up solvent, and found that the addition of 1 mM ammonium formate gave the best results in pesticides analysis. In SFC/MS, salt is often added to improve separation or prevent desorption, but our findings suggest that the concentration of salt must be kept as low as possible to achieve highly sensitive MS detection. The results of this study reveal the best selection of the optimal conditions for the modifier and make-up solvent for CO2-assisted SFC/MS analysis and will be useful for the method development in SFC/MS.

Keywords:  Atmospheric pressure ionization; Carbon dioxide; Mass spectrometry; Supercritical fluid chromatography

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2023.340863
Wei Sheng Yan Jiu. 2023 Jan;52(1): 129-135

[Determination of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in serum by pre-column derivatization-stable isotope labeling-ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole electrostatic field orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry].

Feng Han, Yuxin Wang, Jingguang Li, Zizi Li, Di Mu, Li He, Jian Zhang.

   OBJECTIVE: To establish a rapid and accurate method for the determination of 25-hydroxyvitamin D_3(25(OH)D_3) and 25-hydroxyvitamin D_2(25(OH)D_2)in serum by pre-column derivatization with stable isotope labeling and ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole electrostatic field orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry, which could be used to diagnose vitamin deficiency and to assess the nutritional status of vitamin D in the population.
METHODS: The serum samples with isotopic internal standard were extracted by mixed extraction solvent(ethyl acetate∶hexane = 2∶1, V/V), centrifuged and dried by the nitrogen blowing, and derivatized with 4-phenyl-1, 2, 4-triazoline-3, 5-dione(PTAD). The reaction products were separated on a BEH C_(18) column(2.1 mm×50 mm, 1.7 μm), and eluted with a 0.1% formic acid/water solution-acetonitrile gradient. The mass spectrometry was performed in positive electrospray ionization(ESI~+) and parallel reaction monitoring(PRM) for the detection of the targets, and quantified by isotope internal standard.
RESULTS: The limits of detection both for 25(OH)D_3 and 25(OH)D_2 were 0.01 ng/mL and the limits of quantification were 0.03 ng/mL. The concentration series of 25(OH)D_2 ranged from 0.5 to 40.0 ng/mL and the concentration series of 25(OH)D_3 ranged from 2.5 to 200.0 ng/mL. The recoveries(n=5) were 95.7%-101.3% for 25(OH)D_3, and 98.7%-108.6% for 25(OH)D_2, with the relative standard deviations(RSDs) of 0.5%-4.9% and 2.2%-3.4%, respectively. The accuracy of the determination of 25(OH)D_3 and 25(OH)D_2 in Level 2 serum of the 25(OH)D standard reference material NIST SRM 972a was 104.8% and 94.9%, respectively. The M(P25, P75)serum levels of 25(OH)D_3 and 25(OH)D_2 for 116 pregnant women at the first trimester from Beijing were 25.7(20.8, 32.6) ng/mL and 0.8(0.4, 1.1) ng/mL, respectively.
CONCLUSION: This method is highly sensitive, qualitatively accurate and suitable for evaluation and monitoring the nutritional status of vitamin D in the population.

Keywords:  25-hydroxyvitamin D_2; 25-hydroxyvitamin D_3; derivatization; ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole electrostatic field orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.19813/j.cnki.weishengyanjiu.2023.01.022
Molecules. 2023 Jan 23. pii: 1130. [Epub ahead of print]28(3):

Rapid Detection of Estrogens in Cosmetics by Chemical Derivatization and Paper-Spray Ionization Mass-Spectrometry.

Dongning Song, Song Yuan, Caiyu Zhang, Lin Luan, Yang Liu, Qingsheng Zhang.

  Estrogens in personal care products are harmful to customers. Conventional methods such as HPLC and LC-MS require tedious sample pretreatment and long analytical time. Paper-spray ionization mass spectrometry (PSI-MS) is a powerful tool for the determination of compounds with little time and minimal pretreatment procedures. Since most estrogens show poor responses in PSI-MS, we developed a chemical derivatization and PSI-MS method to determinate three estrogens: estradiol, estriol and ethinyloestradiol with estradiol valerate as the internal standard (I.S.). After derivatization with 2-fluoro-1-methyl-pyridinium-p-toluene-sulfonate, the three estrogens could be quantified in seconds. This method showed good linearity in the range of 0.1~30 μg·mL-1, with R2 > 0.999. Their recovery results were all between 85%~115%. The limits of detection (LOD) were 0.04 μg·mL-1, 0.02 μg·mL-1 and 0.02 μg·mL-1 for estradiol, estriol and ethinyloestradiol respectively, which improved around 200, 2000, and 900 times compared to non-derivative PSI-MS. The method could quantitatively determine estrogens in cosmetics.

Keywords:  chemical derivatization; cosmetics; estrogens; paper-spray ionization mass spectrometry (PSI-MS)

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28031130
Front Chem. 2023 ;11 1129717

Innovation in identifying metabolites from complex metabolome-Highlights of recent analytical platforms and protocols.

Shi Qiu, Sifan Guo, Qiang Yang, Yiqiang Xie, Songqi Tang, Aihua Zhang.

  Metabolites are closely intertwined genotypes that can provide clear information about the final phenotype. The high-throughput analysis platform used to identify candidate metabolites and describe their contributions can help to quickly detect metabolic characteristics from large spectral data, which may lead to peak data preprocessing, statistical analysis and functional interpretation. Developing a comprehensive strategy for discovering and verifying bioactive metabolites can provide a large number of new functional biomarkers, and then more closely reveal their functional changes, which has relevant biological significance for disease diagnosis and prognosis treatment.

Keywords:  diagnosis; functional biomarkers; metabolic pathway; metabolites; metabolomics

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2023.1129717
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jan 23. pii: 2249. [Epub ahead of print]24(3):

Creation of a Plant Metabolite Spectral Library for Untargeted and Targeted Metabolomics.

Yangyang Li, Wei Zhu, Qingyuan Xiang, Jeongim Kim, Craig Dufresne, Yufeng Liu, Tianlai Li, Sixue Chen.

  Large-scale high throughput metabolomic technologies are indispensable components of systems biology in terms of discovering and defining the metabolite parts of the system. However, the lack of a plant metabolite spectral library limits the metabolite identification of plant metabolomic studies. Here, we have created a plant metabolite spectral library using 544 authentic standards, which increased the efficiency of identification for untargeted metabolomic studies. The process of creating the spectral library was described, and the mzVault library was deposited in the public repository for free download. Furthermore, based on the spectral library, we describe a process of creating a pseudo-targeted method, which was applied to a proof-of-concept study of Arabidopsis leaf extracts. As authentic standards become available, more metabolite spectra can be easily incorporated into the spectral library to improve the mzVault package.

Keywords:  Arabidopsis; metabolomics; mzVault; pseudo-targeted method; spectral library

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24032249
J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2023 Feb 03. pii: S0731-7085(23)00050-X. [Epub ahead of print]227 115281

Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis of delamanid and its metabolite in human cerebrospinal fluid using protein precipitation and on-line solid-phase extraction.

Marian T Mazanhanga, Anton Joubert, Sandra A Castel, Marthinus van der Merwe, Gary Maartens, Kelly E Dooley, Caryn M Upton, Lubbe Wiesner.

  The penetration of the antituberculosis drug delamanid into the central nervous system is not established. The distribution of delamanid and its major metabolite, DM-6705, into the cerebrospinal fluid requires investigation. A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the quantification of delamanid and DM-6705 in human cerebrospinal fluid was developed and validated. The calibration range for both analytes was 0.300 - 30.0 ng/mL. The deuterium-labelled analogue of delamanid (delamanid-d4) and OPC-14714 were used as internal standards for delamanid and DM-6705, respectively. Samples were processed by protein precipitation followed by on-line solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography on an Agilent 1260 HPLC system. A Phenomenex Gemini-NX C18 (5.0 µm, 50 mm × 2.0 mm) analytical column was used for on-line solid-phase extraction, and a Waters Xterra MS C18 (5.0 µm, 100 mm × 2.1 mm) analytical column for chromatographic separation using gradient elution, at a flow rate of 300 µL/min. The total run time was 7.5 min. Analytes were detected by multiple reaction monitoring on an AB Sciex 5500 triple quadrupole mass spectrometer at unit mass resolution, with electrospray ionization in the positive mode. Accuracy and precision were assessed over three independent validation batches. Extraction recoveries were more than 98% and were consistent across the analytical range. Both analytes in CSF exhibited non-specific adsorption to polypropylene tubes. The method was used to analyse cerebrospinal fluid samples from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in an exploratory pharmacokinetic study.

Keywords:  Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF); DM-6705; Delamanid; Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB); LC-MS/MS; On-line solid-phase extraction (SPE)

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2023.115281
Nat Protoc. 2023 Feb 08.

Quantitative multiple fragment monitoring with enhanced in-source fragmentation/annotation mass spectrometry.

Samuel Bernardo-Bermejo, Jingchuan Xue, Linh Hoang, Elizabeth Billings, Bill Webb, M Willy Honders, Sanne Venneker, Bram Heijs, María Castro-Puyana, María Luisa Marina, Erik B van den Akker, Marieke Griffioen, Gary Siuzdak, Martin Giera, Elena Sánchez-López.

Analytical techniques with high sensitivity and selectivity are essential to the quantitative analysis of clinical samples. Liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry is the gold standard in clinical chemistry. However, tandem mass spectrometers come at high capital expenditure and maintenance costs. We recently showed that it is possible to generate very similar results using a much simpler single mass spectrometry detector by performing enhanced in-source fragmentation/annotation (EISA) combined with correlated ion monitoring. Here we provide a step-by-step protocol for optimizing the analytical conditions for EISA, so anyone properly trained in liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry can follow and apply this technique for any given analyte. We exemplify the approach by using 2-hydroxyglutarate (2-HG) which is a clinically relevant metabolite whose D-enantiomer is considered an 'oncometabolite', characteristic of cancers associated with mutated isocitrate dehydrogenases 1 or 2 (IDH1/2). We include procedures for determining quantitative robustness, and show results of these relating to the analysis of DL-2-hydroxyglutarate in cells, as well as in serum samples from patients with acute myeloid leukemia that contain the IDH1/2 mutation. This EISA-mass spectrometry protocol is a broadly applicable and low-cost approach for the quantification of small molecules that has been developed to work well for both single-quadrupole and time-of-flight mass analyzers.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41596-023-00803-0
Molecules. 2023 Feb 02. pii: 1468. [Epub ahead of print]28(3):

Development of a Novel LC-MS/MS Multi-Method for the Determination of Regulated and Emerging Food Contaminants Including Tenuazonic Acid, a Chromatographically Challenging Alternaria Toxin.

Ádám Tölgyesi, Attila Cseh, Andrea Simon, Virender K Sharma.

  The regulation of food contaminants in the European Union (EU) is comprehensive, and there are several compounds in the register or being added to the recommendation list. Recently, European standard methods for analysis have also been issued. The quick analysis of different groups of analytes in one sample requires a number of methods and the simultaneous use of various instruments. The aim of the present study was to develop a method that could analyze several groups of food contaminants: in this case, 266 pesticides, 12 mycotoxins, 14 alkaloid toxins, and 3 Alternaria toxins. The main advantage of the herein described approach over other methods is the simultaneous analysis of tenuazonic acid (TEA) and other relevant food contaminants. The developed method unites the newly published standard methods such as EN 15662:2018, EN 17194:2019, EN 17256:2019, EN 17425:2021, EN 17521:2021, which describes the analysis of both regulated and emerging contaminants. The developed method is based on a QuEChERS sample preparation, followed by LC-MS/MS analysis under alkaline mobile phase conditions. The pH of the aqueous eluent was set to 8.3, which resulted in baseline separation among ergot alkaloids and their corresponding epimers, a symmetric chromatographic peak shape for analyzing TEA and fit-for-purpose sensitivity for MS/MS detection in both positive and negative ionization modes. Those compounds, which possess the corresponding isotopically labeled internal standards (ISTD), allowed for direct quantification by the developed method and no further confirmation was necessary. This was proven by satisfactory analyses of a number of quality control (QC), proficiency test (PT), and validation samples.

Keywords:  LC-MS/MS; cereals; pesticides; screening; toxins; validation

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28031468
Molecules. 2023 Jan 25. pii: 1184. [Epub ahead of print]28(3):

Development of Capillary Zone Electrophoresis Method for the Simultaneous Separation and Quantification of Metformin and Pioglitazone in Dosage Forms; and Comparison with HPLC Method.

Maymonah K I AlThikrallah, Abubakr M Idris, Abdalla Ahmed Elbashir, Rafea E E Elgorashe, Alyah Buzid, Ahmed O Alnajjar.

  A capillary zone electrophoretic (CZE) method was developed, validated, and applied for the assay of metformin (MET) and pioglitazone (PIO) in pharmaceutical formulations. The optimum running buffer composition was found to be 75 mmol/L phosphate buffer containing 30% acetonitrile (ACN) at pH 4.0. The optimum instrumental conditions were found to be injection time, 10 s; applied voltage, 25 kV; hydrodynamic injection pressure, 0.5 psi for 10 s, capillary temperature, 25 °C; and the detection wavelength, 210 nm. The quantifications were calculated based on the ratio of the peak areas of analytes to atenolol as an internal standard. The CZE method was validated in terms of accuracy (98.21-104.81%), intra- and inter-day precision of migration time and peak area (relative standard deviation ≤ 5%), linearity (correlation coefficients ≥ 0.9985), limit of detection (≤0.277 μg/mL), and limit of quantitation (≤0.315 μg/mL). The proposed method was applied for the analysis of PIO and MET both individually and in a combined dosage tablet formulation. All electrophoretic parameters were calculated and evaluated. A previously reported high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was also applied to the same samples. A comprehensive comparison was then carried out for the analytical features of both methods CZE and HPLC. Comparable results were obtained with the advantage of reagent consumption and separation efficiency of CZE over HPLC and shorter analysis time by HPLC compared with CZE.

Keywords:  analytical method validation; capillary electrophoresis; diabetes mellitus; metformin; pharmaceutical formulations; pioglitazone

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28031184
Front Chem. 2023 ;11 1122137

Determination of nicotine in newborn meconium by high-Resolution ambient mass spectrometry using wooden-Tip spray.

Xinrong Wang, Mingyu Yang, Hui Xiao, Danping Liu, Lu Pan, Liuyang Zhang, Yan Yang, Qing Lu, Yanqiu Liu, Xiao Yang, Bicheng Yang.

  Prenatal exposure to nicotine that are mainly produced from tobacco smoke has been reported to affect infants. Therefore, nicotine exposure is one of important health concerns for newborn screening. Detecting nicotine and its metabolites such as cotinine in meconium were widely used to evaluate the tobacco exposure of pregnancy. In this study, disposable wooden tips were applied for touch sampling of meconium from newborn infants, and then were directly mounted on mass spectrometer (MS) to perform rapid screening of nicotine and cotinine. Choice of extraction/spray solvents was optimized. The limits of detection, reproducibility, linear response for direct analysis of meconium were also investigated. It is found the limits of detection (S/N = 3) to be as low as 0.36 ng/mg and 1.18 ng/mg for nicotine and cotinine, respectively, while the limits of quantitation (S/N = 10) to be 1.19 ng/mg and 3.94 ng/mg for nicotine and cotinine, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSD) were found to be at 8.4%-19.8% (n = 6) for nicotine and cotinine, a good linear range from 5-500 ng/mL (R 2 > 0.99). These analytical performances are well-accepted levels for ambient mass spectrometer analysis. In this study, evaluation of nicotine and cotinine in 22 puerpera volunteers were conducted by the established wooden-tip spray mass spectrometry (WTS-MS). These results showed that wooden-tip spray mass spectrometry would be useful for newborn screening of nicotine and cotinine in meconium with high reproducibility, speed, sensitivity, and specificity. Owing to the use of disposable wooden tips that involves no sample preparation and no chromatographic separation, our results show that wooden-tip spray mass spectrometry is a powerful tool for determination of nicotine in newborn meconium.

Keywords:  ambient mass spectrometry; electrospray ionization; meconium; nicotine; wooden tip

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2023.1122137
RSC Adv. 2023 Jan 18. 13(5): 2963-2971

Determination of nine prohibited N-nitrosamines in cosmetic products by vortex-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction prior to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Lorenza Schettino, Juan L Benedé, Alberto Chisvert.

An analytical method for the simultaneous determination of nine prohibited N-nitrosamines in cosmetic products is presented. N-nitrosamines are banned compounds in cosmetic products due to their harmful effects. Therefore, these compounds are not intentionally added to these products but, however, small amounts of them may be present due to unintentional causes, and thus sensitive methods for their analytical control are required. The proposed method is based on vortex-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (VA-DLLME) to extract and preconcentrate the analytes, followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for their determination. The variables involved in the VA-DLLME process were optimized by using a Box-Behnken design and, due to the different polarity of the N-nitrosamines studied, several approaches for sample treatment were compared to achieve the best results. The method was successfully validated, showing a good linearity at least up to 20 ng mL-1, enrichment factors from 2 to 100 depending on the target analyte, limits of detection and quantification at the low μg kg-1 level, and good repeatability values (<13%). Finally, the proposed analytical method was applied to the determination of N-nitrosamines in commercial cosmetic samples of different nature, avoiding the matrix effect by means of standard addition calibration. Significant amounts of some of the N-nitrosamines, even exceeding the established regulatory limit, were found in the samples. The resulting method is fast, simple, and affordable to carry out the quality control of cosmetic products to ensure consumer safety for most laboratories.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d2ra06553c