Determination of multiple human arsenic metabolites employing high performance liquid chromatography inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

The relevance of arsenic speciation analysis in health & medicine

Long term exposure to arsenic through consumption of contaminated groundwater has been a global issue since the last five decades; while from an alternate standpoint, arsenic compounds have emerged as unparallel chemotherapeutic drugs. This review highlights the contribution from arsenic speciation studies that have played a pivotal role in the progression of our understanding of the biological behaviour of arsenic in humans. We also discuss the limitations of the speciation studies and their association with the interpretation of arsenic metabolism. Chromatographic separation followed by spectroscopic detection as well as the utilization of biotinylated pull-down assays, protein microarray and radiolabelled arsenic have been instrumental in identifying hundreds of metabolic arsenic conjugates, while, computational modelling has predicted thousands of them. However, these species exhibit a variegated pattern, which supports more than one hypothesis for the metabolic pathway of arsenic. Thus, the arsenic species are yet to be integrated into a coherent mechanistic pathway depicting its chemicobiological fate. Novel biorelevant arsenic species have been identified due to significant evolution in experimental methodologies. However, these methods are specific for the identification of only a group of arsenicals sharing similar physiochemical properties; and may not be applicable to other constituents of the vast spectrum of arsenic species. Consequently, the identity of arsenic binding partners in vivo and the sequence of events in arsenic metabolism are still elusive. This resonates the need for additional focus on the extraction and characterization of both low and high molecular weight arsenicals in a combinative manner.

Study on the Mechanism of Arsenic-Induced Lung Injury Based on SWATH Proteomics Technology

Chronic arsenic poisoning is a global health problem that affects millions of people, and studies have found that long-term ingestion of arsenic-containing compounds can lead to lung damage, but the exact mechanism is unknown. In this study, Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were used as the research object, and the proteomic analysis method based on sequential window acquisition of all theoretical fragment ions (SWATH) was used to detect the changes in the expression levels of related proteins in the lung tissue of arsenic-exposed rats, and to explore the mechanism of arsenic compound-induced lung injury. The results showed that arsenic exposure resulted in the abnormal expression of collagen type III and proteins involved in metabolic, immune, and cellular processes, leading to the dysfunction of important pathways associated with these proteins, resulting in lung injury. It suggested that the underlying mechanism of arsenic-induced lung injury may be related to oxidative stress, immune injury, cell junction, and collagen type III. This result provides a new research idea for revealing the mechanism of lung injury caused by arsenic exposure.

Origins, fate, and actions of methylated trivalent metabolites of inorganic arsenic: progress and prospects

The toxic metalloid inorganic arsenic (iAs) is widely distributed in the environment. Chronic exposure to iAs from environmental sources has been linked to a variety of human diseases. Methylation of iAs is the primary pathway for metabolism of iAs. In humans, methylation of iAs is catalyzed by arsenic (+ 3 oxidation state) methyltransferase (AS3MT). Conversion of iAs to mono- and di-methylated species (MAs and DMAs) detoxifies iAs by increasing the rate of whole body clearance of arsenic. Interindividual differences in iAs metabolism play key roles in pathogenesis of and susceptibility to a range of disease outcomes associated with iAs exposure. These adverse health effects are in part associated with the production of methylated trivalent arsenic species, methylarsonous acid (MAs^III) and dimethylarsinous acid (DMAs^III), during AS3MT-catalyzed methylation of iAs. The formation of these metabolites activates iAs to unique forms that cause disease initiation and progression. Taken together, the current evidence suggests that methylation of iAs is a pathway for detoxification and for activation of the metalloid. Beyond this general understanding of the consequences of iAs methylation, many questions remain unanswered. Our knowledge of metabolic targets for MAs^III and DMAs^III in human cells and mechanisms for interactions between these arsenicals and targets is incomplete. Development of novel analytical methods for quantitation of MAs^III and DMAs^III in biological samples promises to address some of these gaps. Here, we summarize current knowledge of the enzymatic basis of MAs^III and DMAs^III formation, the toxic actions of these metabolites, and methods available for their detection and quantification in biomatrices. Major knowledge gaps and future research directions are also discussed.

Ti (IV) modified vinyl phosphate magnetic nanoparticles for simultaneous preconcentration of multiple arsenic species from chicken samples followed by HPLC-ICP-MS analysis

Ti (IV)-modified vinyl phosphate magnetic nanoparticles (Fe₃ O₄ @SiO₂ @KH570-PO₄ -Ti (IV)) was prepared for simultaneous extraction of multiple arsenic species, followed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)- inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis. Inorganic arsenic (iAs), dimethyl arsenic acid (DMA), monomethyl arsenic acid (MMA), p-amino phenyl arsenic acid (p-ASA), 4-hdroxyphenylarsenic acid (4-OH), phenyl arsenic acid (PAA), and 3-nitro-4-hydroxyphenylarsenic acid (ROX) were investigated as interest analytes. It was found that they were quantitatively adsorbed on Fe₃ O₄ @SiO₂ @KH570-PO₄ -Ti (IV) at pH 5, and desorbed completely with 0.1 mol/L sodium hydroxide solution. Enrichment factor of 100-fold was obtained by consuming 100 mL sample solution. Under the optimal conditions, the method combining MSPE with HPLC-ICP-MS presented a linear range of 1-5000 ng/L for seven arsenic species. The limits of detection were 0.39, 0.60, 0.23, 1.85, 0.54, 0.48, and 0.84 ng/L for DMA, MMA, p-ASA, iAs, 4-OH, PAA, ROX, with the relative standard deviations (c = 10 ng/L, n = 7) of 3.6, 3.9, 5.5, 12.4, 6.1, 5.8, 5.0, respectively. The accuracy of the method was validated by analyzing BCR 627 Tuna fish. The application potential of the method was further evaluated by chicken muscle and liver samples. No target arsenic species were detected in these samples, and good recoveries (80.6-123%) were obtained for the spiked samples at low, medium, and high concentration levels.

A novel electrochemical sensor based on double-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene hybrid thin film for arsenic(V) detection

In this work, we demonstrate the preparation of hybrid thin films based on double-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene for electrochemical sensing applications. The hybrid films were synthesized on polycrystalline copper foil by thermal chemical vapor deposition under low pressure. This carbonaceous hybrid film has exhibited high transparency with a transmittance of 94.3 %. The occurrence of this hybrid material on the electrode surface of screen-printed electrodes was found to increase electroactive surface area by 1.4 times, whereas electrochemical current was enhanced by 2.4 times. Such a highly transparent and conductive hybrid film was utilized as a transducing platform of enzymatic electrochemical arsenic(V) sensor. The as-prepared sensor shows the linear detection of arsenic(V) in the range from 1 to 10 ppb, with a limit of detection as low as 0.287 ppb. These findings provide a promising approach to develop new multifunctional electrochemical sensing systems for environmental monitoring and biomedical diagnostics.

Organoarsenicals inhibit bacterial peptidoglycan biosynthesis by targeting the essential enzyme MurA

Trivalent organoarsenicals such as methylarsenite (MAs(III)) are considerably more toxic than inorganic arsenate (As(V)) or arsenite (As(III)). In microbial communities MAs(III) exhibits significant antimicrobial activity. Although MAs(III) and other organoarsenicals contribute to the global arsenic biogeocycle, how they exert antibiotic-like properties is largely unknown. To identify possible targets of MAs(III), a genomic library of the gram-negative bacterium, Shewanella putrefaciens 200, was expressed in Escherichia coli with selection for MAs(III) resistance. One clone contained the S. putrefaciens murA gene (SpmurA), which catalyzes the first committed step in peptidoglycan biosynthesis. Overexpression of SpmurA conferred MAs(III) resistance to E. coli. Purified SpMurA was inhibited by MAs(III), phenylarsenite (PhAs(III)) or the phosphonate antibiotic fosfomycin but not by inorganic As(III). Fosfomycin inhibits MurA by binding to a conserved residue that corresponds to Cys117 in SpMurA. A C117D mutant was resistant to fosfomycin but remained sensitive to MAs(III), indicating that the two compounds have different mechanisms of action. New inhibitors of peptidoglycan biosynthesis are highly sought after as antimicrobial drugs, and organoarsenicals represent a new area for the development of novel compounds for combating the threat of antibiotic resistance.

Arsenic Species in Cordyceps sinensis and Its Potential Health Risks

High arsenic residues make Cordyceps sinensis a concern in China. Arsenic toxicity is related to its species. Many studies have evaluated the toxicity of total arsenic, but few have studied its species. In this study, the species of arsenic in C. sinensis and its potential health risk were investigated. SEC-HPLC-ICP-MS was used to analysis of arsenic in C. sinensis and unknown arsenic (uAs) was discovered. Additionally, arsenic in C. sinensis was mainly found in alkali-soluble proteins. The trend of arsenic transformation indicated that unknown arsenic in C. sinensis may be converted into free inorganic arsenic, which enhanced toxicity. The result of risk assessment indicated that there were potential health risks of uAs. Hereon, we proposed recommendations for the use of C. sinensis and regulatory recommendations for arsenic standards. This study contributed to the toxicity reveal, safety evaluation, and risk assessment of arsenic in C. sinensis.

Reduction of Organoarsenical Herbicides and Antimicrobial Growth Promoters by the Legume Symbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti

Massive amounts of methyl [e.g., methylarsenate, MAs(V)] and aromatic arsenicals [e.g., roxarsone (4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenylarsonate, Rox(V)] have been utilized as herbicides for weed control and growth promotors for poultry and swine, respectively. The majority of these organoarsenicals degrade into more toxic inorganic species. Here, we demonstrate that the legume symbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti both reduces MAs(V) to MAs(III) and catalyzes sequential two-step reduction of nitro and arsenate groups in Rox(V), producing the highly toxic trivalent amino aromatic derivative 4-hydroxy-3-aminophenylarsenite (HAPA(III)). The existence of this process suggests that S. meliloti possesses the ability to transform pentavalent methyl and aromatic arsenicals into antibiotics to provide a competitive advantage over other microbes, which would be a critical process for the synthetic aromatic arsenicals to function as antimicrobial growth promoters. The activated trivalent aromatic arsenicals are degraded into less-toxic inorganic species by an MAs(III)-demethylating aerobe, suggesting that environmental aromatic arsenicals also undergo a multiple-step degradation pathway, in analogy with the previously reported demethylation pathway of the methylarsenate herbicide. We further show that an FAD-NADPH-dependent nitroreductase encoded by mdaB gene catalyzes nitroreduction of roxarsone both in vivo and in vitro. Our results demonstrate that environmental organoarsenicals trigger competition between members of microbial communities, resulting in gradual degradation of organoarsenicals and contamination by inorganic arsenic.

Thiolated arsenic in natural systems: What is current, what is new and what needs to be known

Thiolated arsenic compounds are the sulfur analogous substructures of oxo-arsenicals as the arsinoyl (As = O) is substituted by an arsinothioyl (As = S) group. Relatively brief history of thioarsenic research, mostly in the current decade has endeavored to understand their consequences in the natural environment. However, thioarsenic related aspects have by far not attached much research concern on global scale compared to other arsenic species. This review attempts to provide a critical overview for the first time on formation mechanisms of thioarsenicals, their chemistry, speciation and analytical methodologies in order to provide a rational assessment of what is new, what is current, what needs to be known or what should be done in future research. Thioarsenic compounds play a vital role in determining the biogeochemistry of arsenic in sulfidic environments under reducing conditions. Thioarsenic species are widely immobilized by naturally occurring processes such as the adsorption on iron (oxyhydr)oxides and precipitation on iron sulfide minerals. Accurate measurement of thioarsenic species is a challenging task due to their instability upon pH, temperature, redox potential, and concentrations of oxygen, sulfur and iron. Assessment of direct and indirect effects of toxic thioarsenic species on global population those who frequently get exposed to high levels of arsenic is an urgent necessity. Dimethylmonothioarsinic acid (DMMTA^V) is the most cytotoxic arsenic metabolite having similar toxicological effects as dimethylarsinous acid (DMA^III) in human and animal tissues. The formation and chemical analysis of thioarsenicals in soil and sediments are highly unknown. Therefore, future research needs to be more inclined towards in determining the molecular structure of unknown thioarsenic complexes in various environmental suites. Contemporary approaches hyphenated to existing technologies would pave the way to overcome critical challenges of thioarsenic speciation such as standards synthesis, structural determination, quantification and sample preservation in future research.

Metabolism and disposition of arsenic species from controlled oral dosing with sodium arsenite in adult female CD-1 mice. I. Pilot study to determine dosing, analytical measurements, and sampling strategies

Arsenic (As) is ubiquitous in the earth's crust, with typical dietary intake in developed countries <1 μg/kg bw/d, and atypical groundwater exposures in developing countries approaching 50 μg/kg bw/d. Arsenic exposures are linked with human diseases and doses of toxicological concern are similar to typical dietary intake estimates. The methylation of arsenite by arsenite-3-methyltransferase (As3MT) promotes the clearance of arsenic as pentavalent species, but also generates reactive trivalent intermediates. This study measured inorganic arsenic and its metabolites in pentavalent and trivalent states in blood, tissues, and excreta after oral administration of arsenite (50-200 μg/kg bw). While liver was a major site for clearance of arsenite and formation of methylated species, it also had extensive binding of trivalent intermediates; however, thiol exchange and oxidation reactions of trivalent arsenic were facile since dimethylarsinic acid (DMA^V) was the predominant species in blood and urine. Consistent evidence was observed for a non-linear relationship between doses above 50 μg/kg bw and levels of bound trivalent As metabolites. The abundance of protein-bound trivalent arsenic within target tissues should correlate with disruption of critical cellular processes, which rely on defined interactions of thiol functional groups, and could provide dose-response relationships from animal models for human risk assessment.

Biochemical Characterization of ArsI: A Novel C-As Lyase for Degradation of Environmental Organoarsenicals

Organoarsenicals such as the methylarsenical methylarsenate (MAs(V)) and aromatic arsenicals including roxarsone (4-hydroxy-3-nitrobenzenearsenate or Rox(V)) have been extensively used as an herbicide and growth enhancers in animal husbandry, respectively. They undergo environmental degradation to more toxic inorganic arsenite (As(III)) that contaminates crops and drinking water. We previously identified a bacterial gene (arsI) responsible for aerobic demethylation of methylarsenite (MAs(III)). The gene product, ArsI, is an Fe(II)-dependent extradiol dioxygenase that cleaves the carbon-arsenic (C-As) bond in MAs(III) and in trivalent aromatic arsenicals. The objective of this study was to elucidate the ArsI mechanism. Using isothermal titration calorimetry, we determined the dissociation constants and ligand-to-protein stoichiometry of ArsI for Fe(II), MAs(III), and aromatic phenylarsenite. Using a combination of methods including chemical modification, site-directed mutagenesis, and fluorescent spectroscopy, we demonstrated that amino acid residues predicted to participate in Fe(II)-binding (His5-His62-Glu115) and substrate binding (Cys96-Cys97) are involved in catalysis. Finally, the products of Rox(III) degradation were identified as As(III) and 2-nitrohydroquinone, demonstrating that ArsI is a dioxygenase that incorporates one oxygen atom from dioxygen into the carbon and the other to the arsenic to catalyze cleavage of the C-As bond. These results augment our understanding of the mechanism of this novel C-As lyase.

Thiolated arsenicals in arsenic metabolism: Occurrence, formation, and biological implications

Arsenic (As) is a notoriously toxic pollutant of health concern worldwide with potential risk of cancer induction, but meanwhile it is used as medicines for the treatment of different conditions including hematological cancers. Arsenic can undergo extensive metabolism in biological systems, and both toxicological and therapeutic effects of arsenic compounds are closely related to their metabolism. Recent studies have identified methylated thioarsenicals as a new class of arsenic metabolites in biological systems after exposure of inorganic and organic arsenicals, including arsenite, dimethylarsinic acid (DMA^V), dimethylarsinous glutathione (DMA^IIIGS), and arsenosugars. The increasing detection of thiolated arsenicals, including monomethylmonothioarsonic acid (MMMTA^V), dimethylmonothioarsinic acid (DMMTA^V) and its glutathione conjugate (DMMTA^VGS), and dimethyldithioarsinic acid (DMDTA^V) suggests that thioarsenicals may be important metabolites and play important roles in arsenic toxicity and therapeutic effects. Here we summarized the reported occurrence of thioarsenicals in biological systems, the possible formation pathways of thioarsenicals, and their toxicity, and discussed the biological implications of thioarsenicals on arsenic metabolism, toxicity, and therapeutic effects.

Arsenic ototoxicity

High levels of arsenic are found in many parts of the world and more than 100 million people may have been exposed to it. There is growing evidence to indicate that arsenic has a deleterious effect on the auditory system. This paper provides the general information of arsenic and its ototoxic effects.