Fabric-Phase Sorptive Membrane Array As a Noninvasive In Vivo Sampling Device For Human Exposure To Different Compounds

Distinguish Esophageal Cancer Cells through VOCs Induced by Methionine Regulation

Detection of exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is promising for noninvasive screening of esophageal cancer (EC). Cellular VOC analysis can be used to investigate potential biomarkers. Considering the crucial role of methionine (Met) during cancer development, exploring associated abnormal metabolic phenotypes becomes imperative. In this work, we employed headspace solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) to investigate the volatile metabolic profiles of EC cells (KYSE150) and normal esophageal epithelial cells (HEECs) under a Met regulation strategy. Using untargeted approaches, we analyzed the metabolic VOCs of the two cell types and explored the differential VOCs between them. Subsequently, we utilized targeted approaches to analyze the differential VOCs in both cell types under gradient Met culture conditions. The results revealed that there were five/six differential VOCs between cells under Met-containing/Met-free culture conditions. And the difference in levels of two characteristic VOCs (1-butanol and ethyl 2-methylbutyrate) between the two cell types intensified with the increase of the Met concentration. Notably, this is the first report on VOC analysis of EC cells and the first to consider the effect of Met on volatile metabolic profiles. The present work indicates that EC cells can be distinguished through VOCs induced by Met regulation, which holds promise for providing novel insights into diagnostic strategies.

Wearable sampling of proteins from human exhaled aerosols for nano-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis: A pilot study

RATIONALE

Human exhaled breath usually contains unique proteins that may provide clues to characterize individual physiological activities and many diseases. However, the concentration of exhaled proteins in exhaled breath is extremely low and usually does not reach the detection limits of all online breath mass spectrometry instruments. Therefore, developing a new breath sampler for collecting and characterizing exhaled proteins is important.

METHODS

In this study, a new mask-based wearable sampler was developed by fixing metal materials into the inner surface of the KN95 mask. Human exhaled proteins could be directly adsorbed onto the metal material while wearing the mask. After sampling, the collected proteins were eluted, digested, and identified using nano-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (nano-LC-MS/MS).

RESULTS

The adsorption of exhaled proteins was evaluated, showing that modified gold foil is an effective material for collecting exhaled proteins. Various endogenous proteins were successfully identified from exhaled breath, many of which can be potential biomarkers for disease diagnosis.

CONCLUSIONS

By coupling the newly developed mask sampler with nano-LC-MS/MS, human exhaled proteins were successfully collected and identified. Our results show that the mask sampler is wearable, simple, and convenient, and the method is noninvasive for investigating disease diagnosis and human health.

Recent advance on microextraction sampling technologies for bioanalysis

The contents of target substances in biological samples are usually at low concentration levels, and the matrix of biological samples is usually complex. Sample preparation is considered a very critical step in bioanalysis. At present, the utilization of microextraction sampling technology has gained considerable prevalence in the realm of biological analysis. The key developments in this field focus on the efficient microextraction media and the miniaturization and automation of adaptable sample preparation methods currently. In this review, the recent progress on the microextraction sampling technologies for bioanalysis has been introduced from point of view of the preparation of microextraction media and the microextraction sampling strategies. The advance on the microextraction media was reviewed in detail, mainly including the aptamer-functionalized materials, molecularly imprinted polymers, carbon-based materials, metal-organic frameworks, covalent organic frameworks, etc. The advance on the microextraction sampling technologies was summarized mainly based on in-vivo sampling, in-vitro sampling and microdialysis technologies. Moreover, the current challenges and perspective on the future trends of microextraction sampling technologies for bioanalysis were briefly discussed.

Analytical techniques for screening of cannabis and derivatives from human hair specimens

Cannabis and associated substances are some of the most frequently abused drugs across the globe, mainly due to their anxiolytic and euphorigenic properties. Nowadays, the analysis of hair samples has been given high importance in forensic and analytical sciences and in clinical studies because they are associated with a low risk of infection, do not require complicated storage conditions, and offer a broad window of non-invasive detection. Analysis of hair samples is very easy compared to the analysis of blood, urine, and saliva samples. This review places particular emphasis on methodologies of analyzing hair samples containing cannabis, with a special focus on the preparation of samples for analysis, which involves screening and extraction techniques, followed by confirmatory assays. Through this manuscript, we have presented an overview of the available literature on the screening of cannabis using mass spectroscopy techniques. We have presented a detailed overview of the advantages and disadvantages of this technique, to establish it as a suitable method for the analysis of cannabis from hair samples.

A hybrid microcrystalline cellulose/metal-organic framework for dispersive solid phase microextraction of selected pharmaceuticals: A proof-of-concept

Solid phase microextraction (SPME) is considered simple, ecofriendly, sustainable, cost-effective and timesaving sample preparation mode in comparison with other sample preparation procedures. The researchers always try to develop new sorbents with higher surface area in comparison with other conventional sorbents aiming to enhance the extraction efficiency. In this work for the first time, a comparative study was performed between Ca-BTC MOF (1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid, BTC; metal-organic framework, MOF) and a hybrid Ca-BTC-MCC MOF (microcrystalline cellulose, MCC) by using as model compounds seven drugs with different physicochemical properties. The evaluation of the extraction efficiency of both sorbents were obtained by means of an HPLC/DAD instrument configuration in reversed phase mode under isocratic elution mode. The results indicate that Ca-BTC MOF showed superior extraction efficiency than Ca-BTC-MCC MOF in the case of all analytes except nirmatrelvir and ritonavir. The results highlight that not only the surface area of adsorbents controlled the adsorption capacity, but also other factors have a role in extraction efficiency including morphology of adsorbent and physico-chemical properties of the analytes. It is worth mentioning that this is the first time that a comparative study was performed between Ca-BTC MOF and Ca-BTC-MCC MOF hybrid material.

Detection of abused drugs in human exhaled breath using mass spectrometry: A review

RATIONALE

Human breath analysis has been attracting increasing interest in the detection of abused drugs in forensic and clinical applications because of its noninvasive sampling and distinctive molecular information. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based approaches have been proven to be powerful tools for accurately analyzing exhaled abused drugs. The major advantages of MS-based approaches include high sensitivity, high specificity, and versatile couplings with various breath sampling methods.

METHODS

Recent advances in the methodological development of MS analysis of exhaled abused drugs are discussed. Breath collection and sample pretreatment methods for MS analysis are also introduced.

RESULTS

Recent advances in technical aspects of breath sampling methods are summarized, highlighting active and passive sampling. MS methods for detecting different exhaled abused drugs are reviewed, emphasizing their features, advantages, and limitations. The future trends and challenges in MS-based breath analysis of exhaled abused drugs are also discussed.

CONCLUSIONS

The coupling of breath sampling methods with MS approaches has been proven to be a powerful tool for the detection of exhaled abused drugs, offering highly attractive results in forensic investigations. MS-based detection of exhaled abused drugs in exhaled breath is a relatively new field and is still in the early stages of methodological development. New MS technologies promise a substantial benefit for future forensic analysis.

An integrated automatic lab-in-syringe sol-gel coated foam microextraction platform as a front-end to high performance liquid chromatography for the migration studies of bisphenol A

The proof-of-concept of an integrated automatic foam microextraction lab-in-syringe (FME-LIS) platform coupled to high performance liquid chromatography is presented. Three different sol-gel coated foams were synthesized, characterized, and conveniently packed inside the glass barrel of the LIS syringe pump, as an alternative approach for sample preparation, preconcentration and separation. The proposed system efficiently combines the inherent benefits of lab-in-syringe technique, the good features of sol-gel sorbents, the versatile nature of foams/sponges, as well as the advantages of automatic systems. Bisphenol A (BPA) was used as model analyte, due to the increasing concern for the migration of this compound from household containers. The main parameters that affect the extraction performance of the system were optimized and the proposed method was validated. The limit of detection for BPA were 0.5 and 2.9 μg L^-1, for a sample volume of 50 mL and 10 mL, respectively. The intra-day precision was <4.7% and the inter-day precision was <5.1% in all cases. The performance of the proposed methodology was evaluated for the migration studies of BPA using different food simulants, as well as for the analysis of drinking water. Good method applicability was observed based on the relative recovery studies (93-103%).

Mask device as a new wearable sampler for breath analysis: what can we expect in the future?

Human exhaled breath is becoming an attractive clinical source as it is foreseen to enable noninvasive diagnosis of many diseases. Because mask devices can be used for efficiently filtering exhaled substances, mask-wearing has been required in the past few years in daily life since the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, there is a new development of mask devices as new wearable breath samplers for collecting exhaled substances for disease diagnosis and biomarker discovery. This paper attempts to identify new trends in mask samplers for breath analysis. The couplings of mask samplers with different (bio)analytical approaches, including mass spectrometry (MS), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), sensor, and others for breath analysis, are summarized. The developments and applications of mask samplers in disease diagnosis and human health are reviewed. The limitations and future trends of mask samplers are also discussed.

Dual Lab-in-Syringe Flow-Batch Platform for Automatic Fabric Disk Sorptive Extraction/Back-extraction as a Front End to Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry

A novel dual lab-in-syringe flow-batch (D-LIS-FB) platform for automatic fabric-disk-in-syringe sorptive extraction followed by oxidative back-extraction as a front end to inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) is presented for the first time. Sol-gel poly(caprolactone)-poly(dimethylsiloxane)-poly(caprolactone)-coated polyester fabric disks were packed at the top of the glass barrel of a microsyringe pump as an alternative to column preconcentration. Herein lie multiple significant advantages including effectiveness, compactness, lower back-pressure, and lower time of analysis. Copper, lead, and cadmium were used as model analytes for the exploration of the capabilities of the developed platform. The online retained metal-diethyldithiophosphate complexes were eluted using diisopropyl ketone prior to atomization. Undesirable incompatibility of organic solvents for direct injection into the ICP-AES system was overcome ingeniously in a flow manner by oxidative back-extraction of the analytes utilizing a second lab-in-syringe setup. Following its optimization, the D-LIS-FB platform showed excellent linearity, in combination with good method precision (i.e., RSD < 3.4%) and trueness. Moreover, the limits of detection were 0.25 μg L^-1 for Cd(II), 0.13 μg L^-1 for Cu(II), and 0.37 μg L^-1 for Pb(II), confirming the applicability of the proposed system for metal analysis at trace levels. As a proof-of-concept, the developed versatile system was utilized for the analysis of different environmental, food, and biological samples.

Filter mask as a new candidate of personal belonging used in cadaver identification – a case report

The case report presents an identification process based on DNA isolated from personal belongings, including a filter mask. In May 2021, an unidentified 65-year-old male corpse was revealed by the city’s outskirts road. Since it was impossible to use material from living relatives for comparative analysis, the samples of personal belongings of the alleged victim were used instead: clippings of the filtering face piece type 2 (FFP2) face mask (parts adhering to the nose and the earlobes, the central part of the mask), swabs from the razor (blade and shaft), toothbrush shaft, and toothbrush filaments clippings. The presented case indicates the need for collecting a wide range of samples for genetic analyses, including filter masks as an alternative item of personal belonging.

Green bioanalysis: an innovative and eco-friendly approach for analyzing drugs in biological matrices

Green bioanalytical techniques aim to reduce or eliminate the hazardous waste produced by bioanalytical technologies. A well-organized and practical approach towards bioanalytical method development has an enormous contribution to the green analysis. The selection of the appropriate sample extraction process, organic mobile phase components and separation technique makes the bioanalytical method green. UHPLC-MS is the best option, whereas supercritical fluid chromatography is one of the most effective green bioanalytical procedures. Nevertheless, there remains excellent scope for further research on green bioanalytical methods. This review details the various sample preparation techniques that follow green analytical chemistry principles. Furthermore, it presents green solvents as a replacement for conventional organic solvents and highlights the strategies to convert modern analytical techniques to green methods.

Recent Developments in the Sensitive Electrochemical Assay of Common Opioid Drugs

Opioids are a class of drugs used to treat moderate to severe pain and have short-term adverse effects. Nevertheless, they are considered necessary for pain management. However, well-known hazards are connected with an opioid prescription, such as overuse, addiction, and overdose deaths. For example, the death rate from opioid analgesic poisoning in the USA approximately doubled, owing to the overuse and addiction of opioid analgesics. Also, opioids are a very important group of analytes in forensic chemistry, so it is necessary to use reliable, fast, and sensitive analytical tools to determine opioid analgesics. This review focuses on the opioid overdose crisis, the properties of commonly used opioid drugs, their mechanism, effects, and some chromatographic and spectroscopic detection methods are explained briefly. Then most essentially recent developments covering the last ten years in the sensitive electrochemical methods of common opioid analgesics, their innovations and features, and future research directions are presented.

M. Ali H. Fabric phase sorptive extraction coupled with UPLC-ESI-MS/MS method for fast and sensitive quantitation of tadalafil in a bioequivalence study

The current study coupled fabric phase sorptive extraction (FPSE) with ultraperformance liquid chromatography method with electrospray ionization and tandem mass detection (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS) for fast and sensitive determination of tadalafil (TAD) in a bioequivalence study. Fabric phase sorptive extraction allowed direct extraction of TAD from the sample matrix with improved selectivity, repeatability, and recoveries. A sol–gel Carbowax 20 M (CX-20 M) coated FPSE membrane revealed the best extraction efficiency for TAD because of its strong affinity for analytes via intermolecular interactions, high mass transfer rate to FPSE membrane, and high permeability. An automated multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) optimizer was employed for the best selection of the precursor and product ions, ion breakdown profile, the fine adjustment of the fragmentor voltages for each precursor ions, and the collision energies for the product ions. The chromatographic separation was conducted using a mobile phase A: 5.0 mM ammonium acetate with 0.1 % formic acid in water and mobile phase B: formic acid (0.1%) in acetonitrile in ratio (55:45, v/v) through isocratic elution mode on an Agilent EclipsePlus C18 (50 × 2.1 mm, 1.8 μm) column and the flow rate was adjusted at 0.4 mL min⁻¹. The total run time per sample was 1.0 min. The method was validated by FDA standards for bioanalytical method validation over a concentration range of 0.1–100 ng mL⁻¹ with a correlation coefficient of 0.9993 and the lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) was 0.1 ng mL⁻¹ in rat plasma. Intra- and inter-assay precision (%RSD) were lower than 4.1% and accuracy (%RE) was within 2.4%. The developed FPSE-UPLC-ESI-MS/MS method was effectively used in a randomized, two-way, single-dose, crossover study to compare the bioequivalence of two TAD formulations from different companies in male rats and verified to be bioequivalent.

Recent Advances in Facemask Devices for In Vivo Sampling of Human Exhaled Breath Aerosols and Inhalable Environmental Exposures

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the unprecedented use of facemasks has been requiring for wearing in daily life. By wearing facemask, human exhaled breath aerosols and inhaled environmental exposures can be efficiently filtered and thus various filtration residues can be deposited in facemask. Therefore, facemask could be a simple, wearable, in vivo, onsite and noninvasive sampler for collecting exhaled and inhalable compositions, and gain new insights into human health and environmental exposure. In this review, the recent advances in developments and applications of in vivo facemask sampling of human exhaled bacteria, viruses, proteins, and metabolites, and inhalable facemask contaminants and air pollutants, are reviewed. New features of facemask sampling are highlighted. The perspectives and challenges on further development and potential applications of facemask devices are also discussed.

Novel Applications of Microextraction Techniques Focused on Biological and Forensic Analyses

In recent years, major attention has been focused on microextraction procedures that allow high recovery of target analytes, regardless of the complexity of the sample matrices. The most used techniques included liquid-liquid extraction (LLE), solid-phase extraction (SPE), solid-phase microextraction (SPME), dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME), microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS), and fabric-phase sorptive extraction (FPSE). These techniques manifest a rapid development of sample preparation techniques in different fields, such as biological, environmental, food sciences, natural products, forensic medicine, and toxicology. In the biological and forensic fields, where a wide variety of drugs with different chemical properties are analyzed, the sample preparation is required to make the sample suitable for the instrumental analysis, which often includes gas chromatography (GC) and liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with mass detectors or tandem mass detectors (MS/MS). In this review, we have focused our attention on the biological and forensic application of these innovative procedures, highlighting the major advantages and results that have been accomplished in laboratory and clinical practice.

Simultaneous quantification of nineteen Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs in oral fluid by liquid chromatography - high resolution mass spectrometry. Application on ultratrail runner's oral fluid

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are a therapeutic class suspected to be used by ultratrail runners. The use of NSAIDs during ultratrails is known to be associated with various adverse effects. To study the prevalence of NSAIDs intake in ultratrail runners, oral fluid (OF) is a relevant matrix as it is noninvasive and easy to collect. The aim of our work was to develop and validate a liquid-liquid extraction followed by a LC-MS/HRMS method for the simultaneous quantification of nineteen NSAIDs in OF. After a comparison of different liquid-liquid extraction methods, a double step liquid-liquid extraction with chloroform was performed on OF collected with Quantisal®, with extraction recoveries higher than 90 %. An Accucore AQ column was selected for the chromatographic separation of NSAIDs. The Q Exactive Plus mass spectrometer operated in full scan and ddms2 mode after positive and negative electrospray ionization. Selectivity, carry-over, matrix effect, and linearity were validated for all NSAIDs. Within-day and between-day accuracy and precision were validated for all NSAIDs (< 15 % for QC samples and < 20 % for LLOQ), except within-day accuracy for the LLOQ of mefenamic acid. A stability study was also performed on OF at room temperature and +4 °C. The method was applied on OF from runners who participate to Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc®.

Fast Quantitative LC-MS/MS Determination of Illicit Substances in Solid and Liquid Unknown Seized Samples

Narcotic and psychotropic substances are natural, synthetic, or semisynthetic compounds that are present in both solid and liquid illicit products. The alterations effects on the central nervous system related to their use can be psycholeptic, psychoanaleptic, or psychodiseptic and are able to generate tolerance, addiction, or dependence phenomena, creating social and public order problems. In this scenario, the analytical evaluations that aim to determine these analytes in seized nonbiological samples, and which assume the character of judicial evidence, must meet high analytical requirements of reliability, transparency, and procedures uniformity at a national level. For the first time in the literature, the herein validated method is able to provide the simultaneous quantitative determination of 37 of the most common narcotic substances as well as the most commonly used excipients/adulterants found in seized illicit material. Additionally, the validated method can process both solid and liquid samples maintaining the precision and trueness levels (intraday and interday) in accordance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency international guidelines (<14.31 and <13.41%, respectively). Furthermore, it provides a simple and fast procedure for sample preparation using the dilute and shoot approach, exploiting the sensitivity and selectivity of the LC-MS/MS instrument configuration used and the signal acquisition in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode (both positive and negative polarization modes).

Simultaneous determination of febuxostat and montelukast in human plasma using fabric phase sorptive extraction and high performance liquid chromatography-fluorimetric detection

In the present work, a new sensitive and selective high-performance liquid chromatography-fluorimetric detection (HPLC-FLD) method was developed and validated to quantify febuxostat (FBX) and montelukast (MON) in human plasma. The developed procedure was successfully applied to a study aimed at evaluating the pharmacokinetic profiles of febuxostat and montelukast in human plasma. A sol-gel poly (caprolactone)-block-poly(dimethylsiloxane)-block-poly(caprolactone) (sol-gel PCAP-PDMS-PCAP) extraction sorbent coated fabric phase sorptive extraction membrane was used in the extraction process. The entire chromatographic analysis was performed with isocratic elution of the composition of the mobile phase (acetonitrile:water, 60:40, v:v, 0.032% glacial acetic acid) on the C18 column. The flow rate is varied during the analysis, particularly from 0.5 mL min^-1 at the start and linearly increased to 1.5 mL min^-1 in 7 min. The detection and quantification of the analytes was carried out by means of a fluorimetric detector at 320 nm and 350 nm as absorption wavelengths and at 380 and 400 nm as emission wavelengths for FBX and MON, respectively. The calibration curves demonstrated linearity in the range 0.3-10 ng mL^-1 and 5-100 ng mL^-1 for FBX and MON, respectively, while the LOD and LOQ values were 0.1 and 0.3 ng mL^-1 for FBX and 1.5 and 5 ng mL^-1 for MON. Intraday and interday RSD% values were found lower than 5.79%. As reported, the method was applied to real plasma samples obtained from a volunteer who was co-administered both the drugs. Pharmacokinetic data reveal that the concentration of both the drugs reaches the plateau approximately at the same time, but exhibits an elimination phase at different rates. This study demonstrated the usefulness of the new method and its applicability in therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM).

A fabric phase sorptive extraction method for the LC-UV determination of bisphenol A and leaching monomers from dental materials in human saliva

A rapid and simple fabric phase sorptive extraction (FPSE) procedure is developed for the simultaneous extraction of four monomers (Bisphenol A, BPA; Triethylene glycol dimethacrylate, TEGDMA; Urethane dimethacrylate, UDMA; Bisphenol A-glycidyl methacrylate, BisGMA) in human saliva, prior to the determination by high pressure liquid chromatography with an ultraviolet-visible detector. FPSE is a green sample preparation technique, harmonized with the principles of Green Analytical Chemistry (GAC), which utilizes a flexible surface, such as cellulose, chemically coated with a polymeric material using sol-gel technology. FPSE membranes are characterized by superior chemical stability and any solvent or solvent mixture can be used for elution. Among twelve different sol-gel coated membranes, an FPSE membrane coated with sol-gel polytetrahydrofuran (sol-gel PTHF) was found optimum to extract four target compounds from saliva samples, which were first centrifuged. Parameters with most significant impact on the extraction efficiency of FPSE including elution solvent, utilization of magnetic stirring, extraction time have been comprehensively studied and optimized. The studied compounds' separation was carried out by a Perfect Sil 120 ODS-2 chromatographic column (250 mm × 4.0 mm, 5 μm), using a mobile phase constituting of acetonitrile-water 70:30 % v/v (isocratic elution). The total analysis time was 10 min. Detection was achieved by an ultraviolet-visible detector at 220 nm. The method was validated in terms of sensitivity, linearity, trueness, precision, selectivity and stability of samples. For all four compounds, the limit of detection and the limit of quantification were 0.075 ng/μL and 0.25 ng/μL, respectively. Relative recovery rates were between 90.0 and 106.7%, while RSD values were <8.1 and 12% for interday and intraday repeatability, respectively. Youden & Steiner approach was applied to study method's ruggedness and reusability of the media was tested, which enhanced the green nature of technique.

Determination of phenolic compounds in human saliva after oral administration of red wine by high performance liquid chromatography

Red wine is a relevant source of bioactive compounds, which contribute to its antioxidant activity and other beneficial advantages for human health. However, the bioavailability of phenols in humans is not well understood, and the inter-individual variability in the production of phenolic compounds has not been comprehensively assessed to date. The present work describes a new method for the extraction and analysis of phenolic compounds including gallic acid (Gal), vanillic acid (Van), caffeic acid (Caf), syringic acid (Sir); (-)-epicatechin (Epi); p-coumaric acid (Cum) and resveratrol (Rsv) in human saliva samples. The target analytes were extracted using Fabric Phase Sorptive Extraction (FPSE), and subsequently analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with photodiode array detector (PDA). Chromatographic separation was achieved using a Symmetry C18 RP column in gradient elution mode, with methanol and phosphate buffer as the mobile phases. The linearity (intercept, slope, and determination coefficient) was evaluated in the range from 1 to 50 µg/mL. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 1 µg/mL (LLOQ ≥0.8 µg/mL), whereas limit of detection was 0.25 µg/mL. The intra and inter-day RSD% and BIAS% values were less than± 15%. The analytical performances were further tested on human saliva collected from healthy volunteers after administering red wine. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first FPSE procedure for the analysis of phenols in saliva, using a non-invasive and easy to perform sample collection protocol. The proposed fast and inexpensive approach can be deployed as a reliable tool to study other biological matrices to proliferate understanding of these compounds distribution in human body.

Use of Saliva as an Alternative Matrix to Serum/Plasma for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Using Reverse-Phase HPLC

PURPOSE

This study was conducted to examine and verify the use of saliva as an alternative matrix for monitoring phenytoin drug levels in patients with epilepsy. Drug concentrations are measured to evaluate whether a suitable drug level has been achieved to minimize the risk for toxicity, inadequate efficacy, or therapy resistance and compliance issues.

METHODS

Quantitative analysis was performed by using reverse-phase HPLC after sample pretreatment with acetonitrile. Seventy-eight patients who met the inclusion/exclusion criteria were examined in this study. Trough concentrations of both saliva and serum were taken at steady state.

FINDINGS

Of the 78 patients enrolled, only 11 (14.1%) had normal levels. Twenty-eight patients (35.9%) had subtherapeutic levels, and 39 (50%) had toxic levels. Simultaneously, salivary phenytoin levels were analyzed; only 13 patients (17.3%) had therapeutic levels, 25 patients (33.3%) had subtherapeutic levels, and 37 (49.3%) had toxic levels. Among the study population, most of the patients were aged 31 to 40 years (25.6%) followed by the age group 21 to 30 years (19.2%). The lowest percentage of patients were in the age groups 71 to 80 years and >80 years (1.3%) each. This study found a statistically significant relationship between free serum and salivary phenytoin levels (P < 0.001). A very weak and insignificant correlation was observed between serum/salivary phenytoin levels and sex/age of the study population. The results of the present study support the use of saliva as an alternative to serum/plasma for monitoring phenytoin therapy.

IMPLICATIONS

The free concentration of a drug represents the freely diffusible drug fraction, which is the therapeutically active form. Accordingly, the free drug concentration correlates to clinical efficacy and drug toxicity better than total concentration.

Paper-in-Facemask Device for Direct Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Human Respiratory Aerosols and Environmental Exposures via Wearable Continuous-Flow Adsorptive Sampling: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Facemasks are considered safe and wearable devices that cover the human mouth and nose for filtering exhaled aerosols and inhaled environmental exposures; various chemical and environmental residues thus can remain in facemasks. Therefore, direct analysis of residues in facemasks can be used to investigate the wearer's health and behavior. Here, we developed a simple paper-in-facemask sampling method for adsorbing a wearer's respiratory aerosol and environmental exposures by fixing paper strips at the outside and inside surfaces of facemasks, and the paper strips were then analyzed by paper spray mass spectrometry (PSMS) for directly detecting adsorbed analytes without any sample pretreatment. The applicability of this device was demonstrated by directly analyzing exhaled aerosolized saliva, breath metabolites, and inhalable environmental exposures. The technical aspects, including sampling time, sampling position, paper property, and spray solvent, were investigated. The sampling process was revealed to involve a continuous-flow adsorptive mechanism. These findings motivated us to extend this work and build a wearable sampling device that is capable of simultaneously monitoring both exhaled and inhaled biomarkers in situ to investigate human health and environmental exposure. This work highlights that facemasks are promising platforms for aerosol collection and direct MS analysis, which is expected to be a promising method for monitoring human health, diseases, and behaviors.

Fast liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous determination of phytocannabinoids in oily based preparations

The reported method aims to be a powerful aid for the simultaneous determination of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN), cannabigerol (CBG), tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), and tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) in oily based preparations. The chromatographic separation was carried out using an Hypersil Gold PFP (50 × 2.1 mm, 1.9 μm) column, using H2O + 2 mM ammonium formate + 0.2 % formic acid (M1) and Methanol + 2 mM ammonium formate + 0.2 % formic acid (M2) as mobile phases. The flow rate was set 0.4 mL/min. Specifically, this method was validated in terms of linearity, limit of detections and quantifications (LODs and LOQs), accuracy (precision and trueness, both intra and interday), selectivity, and matrix effects. This procedure allowed quantifying seven phytocannabinoids in less than 10 min. The validated method shows a good linearity within the range 0.25-1000 ng/mL, while precision and trueness (intra- and inter-day) were below <13.25 % and 7.59 %, respectively. Regarding the matrix effect, the method satisfies all the requirements, except for the THC and THCV, where it reaches about 120 %. This element does not affect the method performances as it has been observed that this value is constant and reproducible and therefore does not involve errors in the quantitative analysis. The method was tested and applied on more 70 different oily based preparations. Furthermore, starting from four different cannabis cultivar (FM2, Bedrolite, Bedrocan, and Bediol), it allowed to evaluate the reproducibility of the magistrali preparations. The real samples, in fact, derive from different local pharmacies, and were analyzed by the accredited UNI CEI EN ISO/IEC 17025:2018, Pharmatoxicology Laboratory (ACCREDIA, lab n. 2274 ASLPE, accreditation number 1822 L), accordingly to the current regulations.

Fast fabric phase sorptive extraction of selected β-blockers from human serum and urine followed by UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS analysis

A fast fabric phase sorptive extraction method is presented herein for the rapid isolation of selected beta-blocker drugs from human serum and urine. Among many high efficiency sol-gel sorbent coated FPSE membranes, sol-gel CW20 M coated FPSE membrane was identified as the best FPSE membrane for the target beta-blocker drugs possessing logP values ranging from 0.1 (highly polar) to 3.1 (moderately polar). Due to the engineered affinity towards the analytes via complementary intermolecular interactions and high mass transfer rate of the analytes from the bulk sample solution to the FPSE membrane, the extraction is accomplished in relatively short time (15 min) while its high permeability permits the direct extraction of biological samples without any other pretreatment. The advantages of the fabricated extraction membrane were exploited for the determination of six beta-blockers (namely atenolol, nadolol, metoprolol, oxprenolol, labetalol and propranolol) in biological matrices in combination with UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS. Important parameters including extraction time, sample volume, sorbent size, elution solvent, etc. affecting the performance of the extraction were systematically investigated. The linearity of the method was evaluated in the range of 50-5000 ng mL^-1 by constructing weighted (1/X) matrix-matched calibration curves. The intra-day and inter-day trueness were ranged between - 17.2 to 13.3% and - 10.8 to 12.6%, respectively. The intra-day and inter-day precision were less than 11.5 and 14.5 %, respectively. The proposed analytical scheme was successfully applied to the determination of the target drugs in human serum and urine.