Sample records for undiluted human urine

  1. Characterization of ultrafiltration of undiluted and diluted stored urine.

    PubMed

    Ouma, J; Septien, S; Velkushanova, K; Pocock, J; Buckley, C

    2016-11-01

    Urine ultrafiltration (UF) was studied in terms of flux, permeability, resistance and fouling. Two types of samples were used: stored urine representing the feedstock obtained from urine diversion dry toilets; and diluted stored urine representing the feedstock obtained from urinals. Three different filtration experiment sets were adopted in this study. For the first case, pressure was set in an ascending order, i.e. from 10 to 60 kPa during filtration of stored urine. For the second case, pressure was set in a descending order, i.e. from 60 to 10 kPa for the same feed stream. The third case involved filtration of diluted urine with pressure in ascending order, i.e. from 10 to 60 kPa. The results indicated that diluted urine had higher flux than undiluted urine with maximum values of 43 and 26 L·m -2 ·h -1 respectively. Cake formation was the dominating fouling mechanism during urine filtration with a contribution of about 90% to the total hydraulic resistance. The contribution of chemically irreversible fouling was low (-2%), unless operating from high to low pressures. Indeed, irreversible fouling appeared to be greater during the experiments starting at higher pressure. Although undiluted urine had a higher fouling potential compared to diluted urine, the specific cake resistance was higher for diluted urine, probably due to a denser cake caused by lower particle sizes in that sample. The permeate obtained after urine filtration had much lower suspended solids content compared to the feedstock, with rejections up to 99%. The concentration of the ionic species remained unchanged, and 75% of the organic compounds and dissolved solids remained in the permeate. Urine UF could then be used as pre-treatment to remove suspended solids.

  2. Direct and label-free detection of the human growth hormone in urine by an ultrasensitive bimodal waveguide biosensor.

    PubMed

    González-Guerrero, Ana Belén; Maldonado, Jesús; Dante, Stefania; Grajales, Daniel; Lechuga, Laura M

    2017-01-01

    A label-free interferometric transducer showing a theoretical detection limit for homogeneous sensing of 5 × 10 -8 RIU, being equivalent to a protein mass coverage resolution of 2.8 fg mm -2 , is used to develop a high sensitive biosensor for protein detection. The extreme sensitivity of this transducer combined with a selective bioreceptor layer enables the direct evaluation of the human growth hormone (hGH) in undiluted urine matrix in the 10 pg mL -1 range. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  3. Simultaneous quantitative and qualitative analysis of aliskiren, enalapril and its active metabolite enalaprilat in undiluted human urine utilizing LC-ESI-MS/MS.

    PubMed

    Burckhardt, Bjoern B; Tins, Jutta; Laeer, Stephanie

    2014-12-01

    The benefit-risk ratio of combined blocking by the direct renin inhibitor aliskiren and an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (e.g. enalapril) on the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is discussed. No method was available for simultaneous determination of both drugs in urine. A novel sensitive method for simultaneous quantification in undiluted human urine was developed which enables systematic pharmacokinetic investigations, especially in poorly investigated populations like children. Matrix effects were clearly reduced by applying solid-phase extraction followed by a chromatographic separation on Xselect(TM) C18 CSH columns. Mobile phase consisted of methanol and water, both acidified with formic acid. Under gradient conditions and a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min the column effluent was monitored by tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization. Calibration curves were constructed in the range of 9.4-9600 ng/mL regarding aliskiren, 11.6-12000 ng/mL for enalapril and 8.8-9000 ng/mL for enalaprilat. All curves were analyzed utilizing 1/x(2) -weighted quadratic squared regression. Intra-run and inter-run precision were 3.2-5.8% and 6.1-10.3% for aliskiren, 2.4-6.1% and 3.9-7.9% for enalapril as well as 3.1-9.4% and 4.7-12.7% regarding enalaprilat. Selectivity, accuracy and stability results comply with current international bioanalysis guidelines. The fully validated method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic investigation in healthy volunteers. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  4. The influence of indoxyl sulfate and ammonium on the autofluorescence of human urine.

    PubMed

    Perinchery, Sandeep Menon; Kuzhiumparambil, Unnikrishnan; Vemulpad, Subramanyam; Goldys, Ewa M

    2010-01-15

    Despite biological variability the spectral characteristics of undiluted human urine show relatively low autofluorescence at short UV (250-300nm) excitation. However with dilution the fluorescence intensity remarkably increases. This paper examines the mechanisms behind this effect, by using excitation-emission matrices. Corrections for the inner filter effect were made for improved understanding of the spectral patterns. We focused on three major fluorophores (tryptophan, indoxyl sulfate and 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetate) that are excited at these wavelengths, and whose content in urine is strongly linked with various health conditions. Their fluorescence was studied both individually and in combinations. We also examined the effect of ammonium on the fluorescence of these major fluorophores individually and in combinations. Through these studies we have identified the leading effects that reduce the UV fluorescence, namely higher concentration of indoxyl sulfate producing the inner filter effect and concentration quenching and quenching of fluorophores by ammonium. This result will assist in broader utilisation of UV fluorescence in medical diagnostics.

  5. Fertilizer from dried human urine added to ash and lime - a potential product from eco-sanitation system.

    PubMed

    Dutta, Shanta; Vinnerås, Björn

    2016-09-01

    This research explored the possibility of making fertilizer at a laboratory from source separated and untreated human urine added to ash and lime by drying at low temperatures. A mixture of ash and lime (1:1) was used as drying agent and human urine was applied as undiluted and fresh. Ash and lime were chosen as drying agents for maintaining a pH > 10 during the drying process, which should inhibit urea hydrolysis in urine, and thereby urea should be retained in the drying agent. The drying technique was developed and drying capacity of the system was quantified; three specific temperatures (20 °, 35 °, 60 °C) and two airflow rates (1 L/min and 5 L/min) were used in the experiment. A mass balance for nitrogen in the system was obtained. It was evident from the experiment that urea can be retained by maintaining a high pH (>10). Urine drying at 20 °C was not a feasible option, since rate of evaporation was very low. The highest retention of inflow nitrogen at 35 °C and 60 °C were 74% and 54%, respectively, in the produced fertilizer. Reduced evaporation rate, flooding of urine over drying agent, and blockage in airflow influenced nitrogen loss and concentration of nitrogen in the final product.

  6. High-dose HOOK effect in urinary DcR2 assay in patients with chronic kidney disease.

    PubMed

    Chen, Jia; Chen, Ke-Hong; Wang, Li-Ming; Zhang, Wei-Wei; Feng, Lei; Dai, Huan-Zi; He, Ya-Ni

    2018-06-05

    Urinary DcR2 (uDcR2) is a biomarker for the early detection the tubulointerstitial injury (TII) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), but the high-dose hook effect may lead to falsely low or even negative results when using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). This study aimed to investigate if the high-dose hook effect exists with ELISA testing, and to uncover a potential approach for reducing this effect. 72 CKD patients were recruited and categorized into four groups based on TII scores. uDcR2 was measured in undiluted and serially diluted (two-, four-, eight- and 16-fold dilutions) urine using an ELISA kit. The results from the assay were normalized to urinary creatinine. We evaluated the correlation between uDcR2/cre levels at different dilutions and renal histological parameters. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to examine the value of uDcR2/cre for predicting TII. uDcR2/cre levels in the undiluted urine were significantly higher in patients with CKD than those in the control. However, higher TII scores did not yield higher levels of uDcR2/cre in the undiluted urine. After serial dilution, uDcR2/cre levels were highest with the four-fold dilution. A positive correlation was found between uDcR2/cre levels at different dilutions and TII scores, with the highest correlation coefficient and the largest AUC being observed at the four-fold dilution. The high-dose hook effect was apparent during ELISA testing of uDcR2 in CKD patients, yet dilution of the urine samples neutralized this effect. However, the use of a four-fold dilution of urine for uDcR2/cre testing may eliminate the high-dose hook effect and make it possible to effectively monitor the severity of TII in CKD patients. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  7. Searching for biological traces on different materials using a forensic light source and infrared photography.

    PubMed

    Sterzik, V; Panzer, S; Apfelbacher, M; Bohnert, M

    2016-05-01

    Because biological traces often play an important role in the investigation process of criminal acts, their detection is essential. As they are not always visible to the human eye, tools like a forensic light source or infrared photography can be used. The intention of the study presented was to give advice how to visualize biological traces best. Which wavelengths and/or filters give the best results for different traces on different fabrics of different colors? Therefore, blood (undiluted and diluted), semen, urine, saliva, and perspiration have been examined on 29 different materials.

  8. The effects of intracrystalline and surface-bound proteins on the attachment of calcium oxalate monohydrate crystals to renal cells in undiluted human urine

    PubMed Central

    Grover, Phulwinder K.; Thurgood, Lauren A.; Wang, Tingting; Ryall, Rosemary L.

    2010-01-01

    Objective To compare the binding to Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK)-II cells of: (i) inorganic calcium oxalate monohydrate (iCOM) crystals and COM crystals precipitated from urine containing different concentrations of protein; and (ii) urinary COM crystals containing intracrystalline and intracrystalline + surface-bound protein. Materials and methods Urinary COM crystals were generated in sieved (sCOM), centrifuged and filtered (cfCOM), and ultrafiltered (ufCOM) portions of a pooled human urine and their adhesion to MDCK-II cells was compared using six different ultrafiltered urine samples as the binding medium. Crystal matrix extract (CME) was prepared by demineralizing calcium oxalate crystals precipitated from human urine and used to prepare COM crystals with intracrystalline, and intracrystalline + surface-bound CME at protein concentrations of 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5 and 5.0 mg/L. The amount of protein associated with the crystals was qualitatively assessed by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blotting, using prothrombin fragment 1 (PTF1) as a marker. Protein concentration was determined in sieved, centrifuged and filtered, and ultrafiltered fractions of 10 additional urine samples. Results The median crystal attachment in the six urine types decreased in the order iCOM > ufCOM > cfCOM = sCOM, in inverse proportion to the concentration of protein in the solution or urine from which they were precipitated. sCOM and cfCOM crystals bound ≈□ 23% less than iCOM crystals. The attachment of COM crystals generated in the presence of increasing concentrations of CME proteins was unaffected up to a concentration of 5 mg/L, but binding of crystals containing the same concentrations of intracrystalline + surface-bound proteins decreased proportionally at protein concentrations from 0 to 5.0 mg/L. Conclusion Inorganic COM crystals bind significantly more strongly to MDCK-II cells than urinary crystals precipitated from sieved, centrifuged and filtered, and ultrafiltered urine, and binding affinity is inversely related to the concentration of protein in the urine in which they are formed. While both intracrystalline and superficial CME proteins reduce the attachment of COM crystals to MDCK-II cells, those located on the crystal surface have a greater influence than those incarcerated within the mineral bulk. Future cell–crystal interaction studies should use urinary crystals and be performed in human urine. PMID:19694711

  9. Probing thyroglobulin in undiluted human serum based on pattern recognition and competitive adsorption of proteins

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Ran; Huang, Shuai; Li, Jing; Chae, Junseok

    2014-10-01

    Thyroglobulin (Tg) is a sensitive indicator of persistent or recurrent differentiated thyroid cancer of follicular cell origin. Detection of Tg in human serum is challenging as bio-receptors, such as anti-Tg, used in immunoassay have relatively weak binding affinity. We engineer sensing surfaces using the competitive adsorption of proteins, termed the Vroman Effect. Coupled with Surface Plasmon Resonance, the "cross-responsive" interactions of Tg on the engineered surfaces produce uniquely distinguishable multiple signature patterns, which are discriminated using Linear Discriminant Analysis. Tg-spiked samples, down to 2 ng/ml Tg in undiluted human serum, are sensitively and selectively discriminated from the control (undiluted human serum).

  10. Speciation of organotin compounds in urine by GC-MIP-AED and GC-MS after ethylation and liquid-liquid extraction.

    PubMed

    Zachariadis, G A; Rosenberg, E

    2009-04-15

    A method for the determination of organotin compounds in urine samples based on liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) in hexane and gas chromatographic separation was developed and optimized. Seven organotin species, namely monobutyltin (MBT), dibutyltin (DBT), tributyltin (TBT), tetrabutyltin (TeBT), monophenyltin (MPhT), diphenyltin (DPhT) and triphenyltin (TPhT), were in situ derivatized by sodium tetraethylborate (NaBEt(4)) to form ethylated less polar derivatives directly in the urine matrix. The critical parameters which have a significant effect on the yield of the successive liquid-liquid extraction procedure were examined, by using standard solutions of tetrabutyltin in hexane. The method was optimized for use in direct analysis of undiluted human urine samples and ways to overcome practical problems such as foam formation during extraction, due to various constituents of urine are discussed. After thorough optimization of the extraction procedure, all examined species could be determined after 3 min of simultaneous derivatization and extraction at room temperature and 5 min phase separation by centrifugation. Gas chromatography with a microwave-induced plasma atomic emission detector (MIP-AED) as element specific detector was employed for quantitative measurements, while a quadrupole mass spectrometric detector (MS) was used as molecular specific detector. The detection limits were between 0.42 and 0.67 microg L(-1) (as Sn) for the quantitative LLE-GC-MIP-AED method and the precision between 4.2% and 11.7%, respectively.

  11. Smartphone-based, sensitive µPAD detection of urinary tract infection and gonorrhea.

    PubMed

    Cho, Soohee; Park, Tu San; Nahapetian, Tigran G; Yoon, Jeong-Yeol

    2015-12-15

    The presence of bacteria in urine can be used to monitor the onset or prognosis of urinary tract infection (UTI) and some sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs), such as gonorrhea. Typically, bacteria's presence in urine is confirmed by culturing samples overnight on agar plates, followed by a microscopic examination. Additionally, the presence of Escherichia coli in a urine sample can be indirectly confirmed through assaying for nitrite (generated by reducing nitrate in urine), however this is not sufficiently specific and sensitive. Species/strains identification of bacteria in a urine sample provides insight to appropriate antibiotic treatment options. In this work, a microfluidic paper analytical device (µPAD) was designed and fabricated for evaluating UTI (E. coli) and STD (Neisseria gonorrhoeae) from human urine samples. Anti-E. coli or anti-N. gonorrhoeae antibodies were conjugated to submicron particles then pre-loaded and dried in the center of each paper microfluidic channel. Human urine samples (undiluted) spiked with E. coli or N. gonorrhoeae were incubated for 5 min with 1% Tween 80. The bacteria-spiked urine samples were then introduced to the inlet of paper microfluidic channel, which flowed through the channel by capillary force. Data confirms that proteins were not filtered by μPAD, which is essential for this assay. Urobilin, the component responsible for the yellow appearance of urine and green fluorescence emission, was filtered by μPAD, resulting in significantly minimized false-positive signals. This filtration was simultaneously made during the μPAD assay and no pretreatment/purification step was necessary. Antibody-conjugated particles were immunoagglutinated at the center of the paper channel. The extent of immunoagglutination was quantified by angle-specific Mie scatter under ambient lighting conditions, utilizing a smartphone camera as a detector. The total μPAD assay time was less than 30s. The detection limit was 10 CFU/mL for both E. coli and N. gonorrhoeae, while commercially available gonorrhea rapid kit showed a detection limit of 10(6) CFU/mL. A commercially available nitrite assay test strip also had a detection limit of 10(6) CFU/mL, but this method is not antibody-based and thus not sufficiently specific. By optimizing the particle concentration, we were also able to extend the linear range of the assay up to 10(7) CFU/mL. The proposed prototype will serve as a low-cost, point-of-care, sensitive urinalysis biosensor to monitor UTI and gonorrhea from human urine. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. A novel way to monitor urine concentration: fluorescent concentration matrices.

    PubMed

    Dubayova, Katarina; Luckova, Iveta; Sabo, Jan; Karabinos, Anton

    2015-01-01

    The amount of water found in urine is important diagnostic information; nevertheless it is not yet directly determined. Indirectly, the water content in urine is expressed by its density (specific gravity). However, without the diuresis value it is not possible to determine whether the increase in density of urine is due to a decrease in water secretion or an increase in the concentration of secreted substances. This problem can be solved by the use of fluorescent concentration 3D-matrices which characterise urine concentration through the pφ (or -logφ) value of the first fluorescence centre. The urine fluorescent concentration 3D-matrix was created by the alignment of the synchronous spectra of the dilution series of urine starting from undiluted (pφ = 0) to 1000-fold diluted urine (pφ = 3). Using the fluorescence concentration 3D-matrix analysis of the urine samples from healthy individuals, a reference range was established for the value pφ, determining the normal, concentrated or diluted type of urine. The diagnostic potential of this approach was tested on urine samples from two patients with a chronic glomerulonephritis. The pφ value of the urine fluorescence concentration 3D-matrix analysis determines whether the urine sample falls within the normal, concentrated or diluted type of urine. This parameter can be directly utilised in sportsmen's hydration state monitoring, as well as in the diagnosis and treatment of serious diseases. An important advantage of this novel diagnostic approach is that a 12/24 h urine collection is not required, which predetermines it for use especially within paediatrics.

  13. Functionalizable and ultra stable nanoparticles coated with zwitterionic poly(carboxybetaine) in undiluted blood serum.

    PubMed

    Yang, Wei; Zhang, Lei; Wang, Shanlin; White, Andrew D; Jiang, Shaoyi

    2009-10-01

    A new surface chemistry presenting an abundance of functional groups for ligand immobilization in an ultra-low fouling background all in one material for nanoparticles was introduced. This surface platform, as demonstrated by zwitterionic poly(carboxybetaine acrylamide) (polyCBAA) coated nanoparticles, is not only ultra stable in undiluted human blood serum, but also can be conjugated to biomolecules conveniently and effectively. Thus, this surface chemistry is ideal to create multi-functional nanoparticles for targeted delivery and diagnostics. In addition, this work clearly shows that 10% blood serum commonly used to evaluate the stability of nanoparticles is insufficient and a new evaluation criterion with undiluted blood serum is recommended.

  14. Reverse osmosis brine for phosphorus recovery from source separated urine.

    PubMed

    Tian, Xiujun; Wang, Guotian; Guan, Detian; Li, Jiuyi; Wang, Aimin; Li, Jin; Yu, Zhe; Chen, Yong; Zhang, Zhongguo

    2016-12-01

    Phosphorus (P) recovery from waste streams has recently been recognized as a key step in the sustainable supply of this indispensable and non-renewable resource. The feasibility of using brine from a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane unit treating cooling water as a precipitant for P recovery from source separated urine was evaluated in the present study. P removal efficiency, process parameters and precipitate properties were investigated in batch and continuous flow experiments. More than 90% of P removal was obtained from both undiluted fresh and hydrolyzed urines by mixing with RO brine (1:1, v/v) at a pH over 9.0. Around 2.58 and 1.24 Kg of precipitates could be recovered from 1 m 3 hydrolyzed and fresh urine, respectively, and the precipitated solids contain 8.1-19.0% of P, 10.3-15.2% of Ca, 3.7-5.0% of Mg and 0.1-3.5% of ammonium nitrogen. Satisfactory P removal performance was also achieved in a continuous flow precipitation reactor with a hydraulic retention time of 3-6 h. RO brine could be considered as urinal and toilet flush water despite of a marginally higher precipitation tendency than tap water. This study provides a widely available, low - cost and efficient precipitant for P recovery in urban areas, which will make P recovery from urine more economically attractive. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. PEE POWER® urinal II - Urinal scale-up with microbial fuel cell scale-down for improved lighting

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Walter, Xavier Alexis; Merino-Jiménez, Irene; Greenman, John; Ieropoulos, Ioannis

    2018-07-01

    A novel design of microbial fuel cells (MFC) fuelled with undiluted urine was demonstrated to be an efficient power source for decentralised areas, but had only been tested under controlled laboratory conditions. Hence, a field-trial was carried out to assess its feasibility for practical implementation: a bespoke stack of 12 MFC modules was implemented as a self-sufficient lit urinal system at UK's largest music festival. Laboratory investigation showed that with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 44 h, a cascade of 4 modules (19.2 L displacement volume) was continuously producing ≈150 mW. At the same HRT, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) was reduced from 5586 mg COD·L-1 to 625 mg COD·L-1. Field results of the system under uncontrolled usage indicate an optimal retention time for power production between 2h30 and ≈9 h. When measured (HRT of ≈11h40), the COD decreased by 48% and the total nitrogen content by 13%. Compared to the previous PEE POWER® field-trial (2015), the present system achieved a 37% higher COD removal with half the HRT. The 2016 set-up produced ≈30% more energy in a third of the total volumetric footprint (max 600 mW). This performance corresponds to ≈7-fold technological improvement.

  16. [Experimental and clinical evaluation of cefotetan in pediatrics].

    PubMed

    Toyonaga, Y; Kurosu, Y; Sugita, M; Kita, A; Yoshino, N; Kouda, N; Kumagai, K; Horiuchi, K; Hori, M; Takahashi, T

    1983-06-01

    Preclinical and clinical studies were carried out on cefotetan (CTT), a new synthetic cephamycin antibacterial agent. The results are described below. Antibacterial activity The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of CTT, CEZ, CTM and CMZ were determined against clinical isolates of S. aureus, E. coli, K. pneumoniae and P. mirabilis. To CTT S. aureus, showed its sensitivity peak (in the graphic plot of the MIC distribution) at a concentration range of 3.13-6.25 micrograms/ml when a 100-fold dilution of the pathological specimen was employed as the inoculum. These results were inferior to those with CEZ and CTM by 2-4 concentration tubes. The CTT results were also about 2 tubes inferior to the results with CMZ, which is a cephamycin antibiotic. On the other hand, CTT was found to show very strong antibacterial activity against Gram-negative rods. For example, the sensitivity peak of E. coli, occurred at an antibiotic concentration of less than or equal to 0.1-0.2 microgram/ml, regardless of whether the inoculum was the undiluted pathological specimen or the 100-fold dilution thereof. Similar results were obtained in relation to the K. pneumoniae strains: at a CTT concentration of less than or equal to 0.1 microgram/ml, suppression of growth was achieved in 74% of the strains when the inocula were the undiluted specimens, and 86% when the inocula were the 100-fold dilutions thereof. In addition, against P. mirabilis, when the inoculum consisted of the undiluted pathological specimen the MIC peak for CTT occurred at a concentration range of 0.39-0.78 microgram/ml, whereas the peak occurred at 0.2-0.39 microgram/ml when the bacterial inoculum was the 100-fold dilution of the collected specimen. In contrast, CTM showed slightly stronger antibacterial activity than CTT in relation to P. mirabilis; that is, its MIC peak occurred at less than or equal to 0.1-0.2 microgram/ml when the inoculum was the undiluted pathological specimen, and at less than or equal to 0.1 microgram/ml when the bacterial inoculum was the 100-fold dilution. Otherwise, against these 3 species of bacteria, CTT yielded results which were clearly superior to those achieved with the other 3 antibiotics. Absorption and excretion CTT was administered to children at a dosage of 10 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg as a one-shot intravenous injection or as a 1-hour intravenous drip infusion. Thereafter, the serum concentration of the antibiotic was monitored and it excretion rate in the urine was also determined.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

  17. Extreme testing of undiluted e-cigarette aerosol in vitro using an Ames air-agar-interface technique.

    PubMed

    Thorne, D; Hollings, M; Seymour, A; Adamson, J; Dalrymple, A; Ballantyne, M; Gaca, M

    2018-04-01

    There is a growing consensus that e-cigarettes hold the potential for reducing the harm associated with cigarette smoking. Recently published studies have reported in vitro testing of e-cigarettes, demonstrating reduced toxicological and biological effects. Few studies however have reported the use of e-cigarettes under extreme testing conditions. To assess the full mutagenic potential of a commercially available electronic-cigarette (Vype ePen), this study investigated the delivery of aerosol under extreme conditions, using a scaled-down 35 mm plate Ames bacterial reverse mutagenicity assay. S. typhimurium strains TA98, TA100, TA97, TA104 and E. coli WP2 uvrA pKM101 with or without metabolic activation (S9), were employed. Using a modified Vitrocell VC 10 exposure system 0, 180, 360, 540, 720 or 900 puffs of undiluted e-cigarette aerosol was generated and delivered to bacterial cultures aligned to reported human consumption data. The results demonstrate that no mutagenic activity was observed in any strain under any test condition even when exposed to 900 puffs of undiluted e-cigarette aerosols +/- S9. Positive control responses were observed in all strains +/- S9. Nicotine assessments demonstrated an increased and consistent aerosol delivery, with calculated maximum doses of ∼1 mg/mL delivery of nicotine. These data demonstrate the validity of this unique testing approach and adds further information to the growing weight of evidence that e-cigarettes offer substantially reduced exposure when compared to conventional cigarette smoke. For future in vitro assessments of next generation tobacco and nicotine products, the generation, delivery and testing of undiluted aerosols can now be considered. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Characterisation of the borgwaldt LM4E system for in vitro exposures to undiluted aerosols from next generation tobacco and nicotine products (NGPs).

    PubMed

    Adamson, Jason; Jaunky, Tomasz; Thorne, David; Gaça, Marianna D

    2018-03-01

    Traditional in vitro exposure to combustible tobacco products utilise exposure systems that include the use of smoking machines to generate, dilute and deliver smoke to in vitro cell cultures. With reported lower emissions from next generation tobacco and nicotine products (NGPs), including e-cigarettes and tobacco heating products (THPs), diluting the aerosol is potentially not required. Herein we present a simplified exposure scenario to undiluted NGP aerosols, using a new puffing system called the LM4E. Nicotine delivery from an e-cigarette was used as a dosimetry marker, and was measured at source across 4 LM4E ports and in the exposure chamber. Cell viability studies, using Neutral Red Uptake (NRU) assay, were performed using H292 human lung epithelial cells, testing undiluted aerosols from an e-cigarette and a THP. E-cigarette mean nicotine generated at source was measured at 0.084 ± 0.005 mg/puff with no significant differences in delivery across the 4 different ports, p = 0.268 (n = 10/port). Mean nicotine delivery from the e-cigarette to the in vitro exposure chamber (measured up to 100 puffs) was 0.046 ± 0.006 mg/puff, p = 0.061. Aerosol penetration within the LM4E was 55% from source to chamber. H292 cells were exposed to undiluted e-cigarette aerosol for 2 h (240 puffs) or undiluted THP aerosol for 1 h (120 puffs). There were positive correlations between puff number and nicotine in the exposed culture media, R 2  = 0.764 for the e-cigarette and R 2  = 0.970 for the THP. NRU determined cell viability for e-cigarettes after 2 h' exposure resulted in 21.5 ± 17.0% cell survival, however for the THP, full cytotoxicity was reached after 1-h exposure. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  19. Decision support for redesigning wastewater treatment technologies.

    PubMed

    McConville, Jennifer R; Künzle, Rahel; Messmer, Ulrike; Udert, Kai M; Larsen, Tove A

    2014-10-21

    This paper offers a methodology for structuring the design space for innovative process engineering technology development. The methodology is exemplified in the evaluation of a wide variety of treatment technologies for source-separated domestic wastewater within the scope of the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge. It offers a methodology for narrowing down the decision-making field based on a strict interpretation of treatment objectives for undiluted urine and dry feces and macroenvironmental factors (STEEPLED analysis) which influence decision criteria. Such an evaluation identifies promising paths for technology development such as focusing on space-saving processes or the need for more innovation in low-cost, energy-efficient urine treatment methods. Critical macroenvironmental factors, such as housing density, transportation infrastructure, and climate conditions were found to affect technology decisions regarding reactor volume, weight of outputs, energy consumption, atmospheric emissions, investment cost, and net revenue. The analysis also identified a number of qualitative factors that should be carefully weighed when pursuing technology development; such as availability of O&M resources, health and safety goals, and other ethical issues. Use of this methodology allows for coevolution of innovative technology within context constraints; however, for full-scale technology choices in the field, only very mature technologies can be evaluated.

  20. Low volume undiluted Btk application against heavy gypsy moth population densities in southern Corsica

    Treesearch

    Robert A. Fusco; Jean-Claude Martin

    2003-01-01

    Low volume undiluted applications of Bacillus thuringiensis are common and efficacious against coniferous forest pests such as pine processionary moth and spruce budworm, but have not been common practice against deciduous forest pests due to coverage issues.

  1. Resolution of an apparent hook effect in Roche partner DRI oxycodone immunoassay.

    PubMed

    Colón-Franco, Jessica M; Cox, Elbert T; Crosby, David B; Dawling, Sheila

    2013-01-01

    A presumed hook effect in the semiquantitative DRI Oxycodone immunoassay, OXY3S (Cobas Integra, Roche Diagnostics), was investigated in 14 urine samples with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) >10,000 ng/mL but OXY3S <1,000 ng/mL. These samples included the index case, a false-negative OXY3S result with >75,000 ng/mL oxycodone + oxymorphone by GC-MS confirmation. Patient samples needed 2- to 16-fold dilution to obtain the correct OXY3S response. The OXY3S test did not hook at high-spiked concentrations of oxycodone, oxymorphone or oxymorphone-3β-d-glucuronide in drug-free urine. The OXY3S test parameters were replicated in a development channel on the Cobas using DRI Reagents (Microgenics, CA, USA) and were subsequently modified. Delayed sample addition or doubling of Reagent 1 (R1: antibody/substrate/co-factor) yielded maximal immunoassay response (>10,000 ng/mL) in 12 of 14 and 14 of 14 undiluted patient samples, respectively. Supplementation of R1 with substrate alone did not correctly recover oxycodone from any of the samples, while co-factor supplementation resulted a maximal OXY3S response in 13 of 14 samples. The remaining (index) sample could only be corrected by supplemental R1. The semiquantitative utility of the DRI Oxycodone assay is questionable. Although the precise cause of the under-recovery could not be determined, the modification presented permits reliable oxycodone determination at the high concentrations frequently seen in clinical urine samples.

  2. A self-sampling method to obtain large volumes of undiluted cervicovaginal secretions.

    PubMed

    Boskey, Elizabeth R; Moench, Thomas R; Hees, Paul S; Cone, Richard A

    2003-02-01

    Studies of vaginal physiology and pathophysiology sometime require larger volumes of undiluted cervicovaginal secretions than can be obtained by current methods. A convenient method for self-sampling these secretions outside a clinical setting can facilitate such studies of reproductive health. The goal was to develop a vaginal self-sampling method for collecting large volumes of undiluted cervicovaginal secretions. A menstrual collection device (the Instead cup) was inserted briefly into the vagina to collect secretions that were then retrieved from the cup by centrifugation in a 50-ml conical tube. All 16 women asked to perform this procedure found it feasible and acceptable. Among 27 samples, an average of 0.5 g of secretions (range, 0.1-1.5 g) was collected. This is a rapid and convenient self-sampling method for obtaining relatively large volumes of undiluted cervicovaginal secretions. It should prove suitable for a wide range of assays, including those involving sexually transmitted diseases, microbicides, vaginal physiology, immunology, and pathophysiology.

  3. Exploring the HYDRAtion method for loading siRNA on liposomes: the interplay between stability and biological activity in human undiluted ascites fluid.

    PubMed

    Dakwar, George R; Braeckmans, Kevin; Ceelen, Wim; De Smedt, Stefaan C; Remaut, Katrien

    2017-04-01

    Delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) is recently gaining tremendous attention for the treatment of ovarian cancer. The present study investigated the potential of different liposomal formulations composed of (2,3-dioleoyloxy-propyl)-trimethylammonium (DOTAP) and 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE) encapsulating siRNA (hydration method) for their ability to knockdown luciferase (Luc) activity in human ovarian cancer SKOV-3 cells. Fluorescence single particle tracking (fSPT) and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) in human-undiluted ascites fluid obtained from a peritoneal carcinomatosis patient revealed that cationic hydra-lipoplexes (HYDRA-LPXs) and HYDRA-LPXs decorated with stable DSPE-PEG (DSPE HYDRA-LPXs) showed high stability during at least 24 h. HYDRA-LPXs decorated with sheddable C8 and C16 PEG-Ceramides (Cer HYDRA-LPXs) resulted in rapid and premature release of siRNA already in the first hours. Despite their role in preventing aggregation in vivo, liposomes decorated with stable PEG residues resulted in a poor transfection compared to the ones decorated with sheddable PEG residues in reduced serum conditions. Yet, the transfection efficiency of both Cer HYDRA-LPXs significantly decreased following 1 h of incubation in ascites fluid due to a drastic drop in the cellular uptake, while DSPE HYDRA-LPXs are still taken up by cells, but too stable to induce efficient gene silencing.

  4. Rapid and Effective Virucidal Activity of Povidone-Iodine Products Against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara (MVA).

    PubMed

    Eggers, Maren; Eickmann, Markus; Zorn, Juergen

    2015-12-01

    Since the first case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection was reported in 2012, the virus has infected more than 1300 individuals in 26 countries, and caused more than 480 deaths. Human-to-human transmission requires close contact, and has typically occurred in the healthcare setting. Improved global awareness, together with improved hygiene practices in healthcare facilities, has been highlighted as key strategies in controlling the spread of MERS-CoV. This study tested the in vitro efficacy of three formulations of povidone iodine (PVP-I: 4% PVP-I skin cleanser, 7.5% PVP-I surgical scrub, and 1% PVP-I gargle/mouthwash) against a reference virus (Modified vaccinia virus Ankara, MVA) and MERS-CoV. According to EN14476, a standard suspension test was used to assess virucidal activity against MVA and large volume plating was used for MERS-CoV. All products were tested under clean (0.3 g/L bovine serum albumin, BSA) and dirty conditions (3.0 g/L BSA + 3.0 mL/L erythrocytes), with application times of 15, 30, and 60 s for MVA, and 15 s for MERS-CoV. The products were tested undiluted, 1:10 and 1:100 diluted against MVA, and undiluted against MERS-CoV. A reduction in virus titer of ≥4 log10 (corresponding to an inactivation of ≥99.99%) was regarded as evidence of virucidal activity. This was achieved versus MVA and MERS-CoV, under both clean and dirty conditions, within 15 s of application of each undiluted PVP-I product. These data indicate that PVP-I-based hand wash products for potentially contaminated skin, and PVP-I gargle/mouthwash for reduction of viral load in the oral cavity and the oropharynx, may help to support hygiene measures to prevent transmission of MERS-CoV. Mundipharma Research GmbH & Co.

  5. Single ether group in a glycol-based ultra-thin layer prevents surface fouling from undiluted serum.

    PubMed

    Sheikh, Sonia; Yang, David Yi; Blaszykowski, Christophe; Thompson, Michael

    2012-01-30

    Through systematic structural modification, it is shown that the internal, single oxygen atom of simple monoethylene glycol-based organic films is essential for radically altering the fouling behaviour of quartz against undiluted serum, as characterized by the electromagnetic piezoelectric acoustic sensor. The synergy is strongest with distal hydroxyls.

  6. Effects of holding temperature and storage time on respiratory rate, motility, and fertility of chicken and turkey semen.

    PubMed

    Clarke, R N; Sexton, T J; Ottinger, M A

    1982-09-01

    A series of experiments was conducted to measure the respiratory activity, motility, and fertility of chicken and turkey sperm in undiluted and diluted (1 part semen to 5 parts Beltsville Poultry Semen Extender) semen held at either 41, 25, 15, or 5 C for 3 or 6 hr. Sperm respiration was temperature dependent, increasing with increasing temperature. When incubated under identical conditions, the respiratory rate of spermatozoa in diluted semen of both species was significantly (P less than .05) higher than in undiluted semen. In undiluted and diluted chicken and turkey semen, sperm mortality was lowest at 41 C. No differences in the motility of spermatozoa from undiluted and diluted semen of either species were observed in the unstored controls. Sperm motility in samples held at 15 or 5 C was similar to that of the unstored controls. The fertility of diluted chicken semen was highest (75%) after 6 hr of storage at 5 C. Fertility levels (71 to 83%) of chicken semen was highest (75%) after 6 hr of storage at 5 C. Fertility levels (71 to 83%) of chicken semen held for 3 hr at 25, 15, or 5 C did not differ from the unstored control. In contrast, the fertilizing capacity of diluted turkey semen (0 to 45%) was significantly lower than the unstored controls (68%), regardless of holding times and temperatures. The fertility of undiluted turkey semen was significantly (P less than .05) lower than the unstored control in all cases, with the exception of semen held at 25 C for 3 hr.

  7. beta-Glucan production by Botryosphaeria rhodina on undiluted olive-mill wastewaters.

    PubMed

    Crognale, S; Federici, F; Petruccioli, M

    2003-12-01

    Botryosphaeria rhodina produced beta-glucan when grown on undiluted olive-mill wastewaters (OMW). The production of exopolysaccharide increased with the COD up to 17.2 g l(-1) on the most loaded OMW (151 and 66 g l(-1) of COD and total sugar, respectively). The total phenol content of OMW was reduced from 8 to 4.1 g l(-1).

  8. Hydrogen fermentation properties of undiluted cow dung.

    PubMed

    Yokoyama, Hiroshi; Waki, Miyoko; Ogino, Akifumi; Ohmori, Hideyuki; Tanaka, Yasuo

    2007-07-01

    Anaerobic treatment of undiluted cow dung (15% total solids), so-called dry fermentation, produced hydrogen (743 ml-H(2)/kg-cow dung) at an optimum temperature of 60 degrees C, with butyrate and acetate formation. The hydrogen production was inhibited by the addition of NH(4)(+) in a dose-dependent manner. A bacterium with similarity to Clostridium cellulosi was detected in the fermented dung by a 16S rDNA analysis.

  9. Disregarded Effect of Biological Fluids in siRNA Delivery: Human Ascites Fluid Severely Restricts Cellular Uptake of Nanoparticles.

    PubMed

    Dakwar, George R; Braeckmans, Kevin; Demeester, Joseph; Ceelen, Wim; De Smedt, Stefaan C; Remaut, Katrien

    2015-11-04

    Small interfering RNA (siRNA) offers a great potential for the treatment of various diseases and disorders. Nevertheless, inefficient in vivo siRNA delivery hampers its translation into the clinic. While numerous successful in vitro siRNA delivery stories exist in reduced-protein conditions, most studies so far overlook the influence of the biological fluids present in the in vivo environment. In this study, we compared the transfection efficiency of liposomal formulations in Opti-MEM (low protein content, routinely used for in vitro screening) and human undiluted ascites fluid obtained from a peritoneal carcinomatosis patient (high protein content, representing the in vivo situation). In Opti-MEM, all formulations are biologically active. In ascites fluid, however, the biological activity of all lipoplexes is lost except for lipofectamine RNAiMAX. The drop in transfection efficiency was not correlated to the physicochemical properties of the nanoparticles, such as premature siRNA release and aggregation of the nanoparticles in the human ascites fluid. Remarkably, however, all of the formulations except for lipofectamine RNAiMAX lost their ability to be taken up by cells following incubation in ascites fluid. To take into account the possible effects of a protein corona formed around the nanoparticles, we recommend always using undiluted biological fluids for the in vitro optimization of nanosized siRNA formulations next to conventional screening in low-protein content media. This should tighten the gap between in vitro and in vivo performance of nanoparticles and ensure the optimal selection of nanoparticles for further in vivo studies.

  10. Attraction thresholds and sex discrimination of urinary odorants in male and female aromatase knockout (ArKO) mice.

    PubMed

    Pierman, Sylvie; Douhard, Quentin; Balthazart, Jacques; Baum, Michael J; Bakker, Julie

    2006-01-01

    We previously found that both male and female aromatase knockout (ArKO) mice, which cannot synthesize estrogens due to a targeted mutation of the aromatase gene, showed less investigation of volatile body odors from anesthetized conspecifics of both sexes in Y-maze tests. We now ask whether ArKO mice are in fact capable of discriminating between and/or responding to volatile odors. Using habituation/dishabituation tests, we found that gonadectomized ArKO and wild-type (WT) mice of both sexes, which were tested without any sex hormone replacement, reliably distinguished between undiluted volatile urinary odors of either adult males or estrous females versus deionized water as well as between these two urinary odors themselves. However, ArKO mice of both sexes were less motivated than WT controls to investigate same-sex odors when they were presented last in the sequence of stimuli. In a second experiment, we compared the ability of ArKO and WT mice to respond to decreasing concentrations of either male or female urinary odors. We found a clear-cut sex difference in urinary odor attraction thresholds among WT mice: WT males failed to respond to urine dilutions higher than 1:20 by volume, whereas WT females continued to respond to urine dilutions up to 1:80. Male ArKO mice resembled WT females in their ability to respond to lower concentrations of urinary odors, raising the possibility that the observed sex difference among WT mice in urine attraction thresholds results from the perinatal actions of estrogen in the male nervous system. Female ArKO mice failed to show significant dishabituation responses to two (1:20 and 1:80) dilutions of female urine, perhaps, again, because of a reduced motivation to investigate less salient, same-sex urinary odors. Previously observed deficits in the preference of ArKO male and female mice to approach volatile body odors from conspecifics of either sex cannot be attributed to an inability of ArKO subjects to discriminate these odors according to sex but instead may reflect a deficient motivation to approach same-sex odors, especially when their concentration is low.

  11. The State of the Human Proteome in 2013 as viewed through PeptideAtlas: Comparing the Kidney, Urine, and Plasma Proteomes for the Biology and Disease-driven Human Proteome Project

    PubMed Central

    Farrah, Terry; Deutsch, Eric W.; Omenn, Gilbert S.; Sun, Zhi; Watts, Julian D.; Yamamoto, Tadashi; Shteynberg, David; Harris, Micheleen M.; Moritz, Robert L.

    2014-01-01

    The kidney, urine, and plasma proteomes are intimately related: proteins and metabolic waste products are filtered from the plasma by the kidney and excreted via the urine, while kidney proteins may be secreted into the circulation or released into the urine. Shotgun proteomics datasets derived from human kidney, urine, and plasma samples were collated and processed using a uniform software pipeline, and relative protein abundances were estimated by spectral counting. The resulting PeptideAtlas builds yielded 4005, 2491, and 3553 nonredundant proteins at 1% FDR for the kidney, urine, and plasma proteomes, respectively—for kidney and plasma, the largest high-confidence protein sets to date. The same pipeline applied to all available human data yielded a 2013 Human PeptideAtlas build containing 12,644 nonredundant proteins and at least one peptide for each of ~14,000 Swiss-Prot entries, an increase over 2012 of ~7.5% of the predicted human proteome. We demonstrate that abundances are correlated between plasma and urine, examine the most abundant urine proteins not derived from either plasma or kidney, and consider the biomarker potential of proteins associated with renal decline. This analysis forms part of the Biology and Disease-driven Human Proteome Project (B/D-HPP) and a contribution to the Chromosome-centric Human Proteome Project (C-HPP) special issue. PMID:24261998

  12. Sperm DNA fragmentation in boars is delayed or abolished by using sperm extenders.

    PubMed

    Pérez-Llano, Begoña; Enciso, María; García-Casado, Pedro; Sala, Rubén; Gosálvez, Jaime

    2006-12-01

    The semen quality of seven young adult boars was assessed for percentages of sperm motility, normal acrosomes, abnormal sperm, cells positive to sHOST (short Hipoosmotic Swelling Test), HPNA cells (sHOST Positive with Normal Acrosome cells) and the percentage of sperm heads, which exhibited DNA fragmentation using the Sperm Chromatin Dispersion test (SCD). These parameters were analysed in sperm samples both undiluted and diluted using a commercial extender and stored at 15 degrees C for 21 days. Results showed that semen quality decreases faster in the undiluted semen samples from day 0 to day 7 compared to diluted semen samples that remained with a high quality up to day 11. The undiluted semen exhibited a low DNA fragmentation index (DFI) during the first days and then a significant increase from day 7 up to day 21. This increase in the DFI coincided with the lowest levels of the other semen quality parameters. On the contrary, the samples diluted in the commercial extender showed very low levels of DNA fragmentation in all boars during the preservation period. When the evolution of DNA fragmentation was analysed in the undiluted samples, differences were found among boars. These differences were not shown in the samples diluted in the extender where the basal DFI remained stable during the 21 days. The main conclusion of this study was that some sperm extenders delay or partially prevent sperm DNA fragmentation.

  13. Treating urine by Spirulina platensis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Chenliang; Liu, Hong; Li, Ming; Yu, Chengying; Yu, Gurevich

    In this paper Spirulina platensis with relatively high nutrition was cultivated to treat human urine. Batch culture showed that the consumption of N in human urine could reach to 99%, and the consumption of P was more than 99.9%, and 1.05 g biomass was obtained by treating 12.5 ml synthetic human urine; continuous culture showed that S. platensis could consume N, Cl, K and S in human urine effectively, and the consumption could reach to 99.9%, 75.0%, 83.7% and 96.0%, respectively, and the consumption of P was over 99.9%, which is very important to increase the closure and safety of the bioregenerative life support system (BLSS).

  14. HCG in urine

    MedlinePlus

    Beta-HCG - urine; Human chorionic gonadotropin - urine; Pregnancy test - hCG in urine ... To collect a urine sample, you urinate into a special (sterile) cup. Home pregnancy tests require the test strip to be dipped into ...

  15. Gold/silver/gold trilayer films on nanostructured polycarbonate substrates for direct and label-free nanoplasmonic biosensing.

    PubMed

    López-Muñoz, Gerardo A; Estévez, M-Carmen; Vázquez-García, Marc; Berenguel-Alonso, Miguel; Alonso-Chamarro, Julián; Homs-Corbera, Antoni; Lechuga, Laura M

    2018-05-01

    Ultrasmooth gold/silver/gold trilayer nanostructured plasmonic sensors were obtained using commercial Blu-ray optical discs as nanoslits-based flexible polymer substrates. A thin gold film was used as an adhesion and nucleation layer to improve the chemical stability and reduce the surface roughness of the overlying silver film, without increasing ohmic plasmon losses. The structures were physically and optically characterized and compared with nanostructures of single gold layer. Ultrasmooth and chemically stable trilayer nanostructures with a surface roughness <0.5 nm were obtained following a simple and reproducible fabrication process. They showed a figure of merit (FOM) value up to 69.2 RIU -1 which is significantly higher (more than 95%) than the gold monolayer counterpart. Their potential for biosensing was demonstrated by employing the trilayer sensor for the direct and refractometric (label-free) detection of C-reactive protein (CRP) biomarker in undiluted urine achieving a Limit of Detection (LOD) in the pM order. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  16. Alkaline dehydration of anion-exchanged human urine: Volume reduction, nutrient recovery and process optimisation.

    PubMed

    Simha, Prithvi; Senecal, Jenna; Nordin, Annika; Lalander, Cecilia; Vinnerås, Björn

    2018-06-02

    In urine-separating sanitation systems, bacterial urease enzymes can hydrolyse urea to ammonia during the pipe transport and storage of urine. The present study investigated whether it was possible to reduce the urine volume without losing the nitrogen as ammonia. A method for stabilising the urine prior to dehydration was developed. Briefly, fresh human urine was stabilised by passage through an anion-exchanger, added to an alkaline media (wood ash or alkalised biochar), and dehydrated. Urine dehydration was investigated at three temperatures: 40, 45 and 50 °C. The influence of various factors affecting the dehydration process was modelled and the rate of urine dehydration was optimised. Results indicated that 75% (v/v) of the urine has to pass through the ion-exchanger for alkaline stabilisation of urine to occur. At all investigated temperatures, the dehydrator accomplished >90% volume reduction of ion-exchanged urine, > 70% N retention and 100% recovery of P and K. To realise high degree of nutrient valorisation, this study proposes combining source-separation of human urine with alkaline dehydration. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  17. Discovery and Characterization of Human-Urine Utilization by Asymptomatic-Bacteriuria-Causing Streptococcus agalactiae

    PubMed Central

    Ipe, Deepak S.; Ben Zakour, Nouri L.; Sullivan, Matthew J.; Beatson, Scott A.; Ulett, Kimberly B.; Benjamin, William H.; Davies, Mark R.; Dando, Samantha J.; King, Nathan P.; Cripps, Allan W.; Dougan, Gordon

    2015-01-01

    Streptococcus agalactiae causes both symptomatic cystitis and asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU); however, growth characteristics of S. agalactiae in human urine have not previously been reported. Here, we describe a phenotype of robust growth in human urine observed in ABU-causing S. agalactiae (ABSA) that was not seen among uropathogenic S. agalactiae (UPSA) strains isolated from patients with acute cystitis. In direct competition assays using pooled human urine inoculated with equal numbers of a prototype ABSA strain, designated ABSA 1014, and any one of several UPSA strains, measurement of the percentage of each strain recovered over time showed a markedly superior fitness of ABSA 1014 for urine growth. Comparative phenotype profiling of ABSA 1014 and UPSA strain 807, isolated from a patient with acute cystitis, using metabolic arrays of >2,500 substrates and conditions revealed unique and specific l-malic acid catabolism in ABSA 1014 that was absent in UPSA 807. Whole-genome sequencing also revealed divergence in malic enzyme-encoding genes between the strains predicted to impact the activity of the malate metabolic pathway. Comparative growth assays in urine comparing wild-type ABSA and gene-deficient mutants that were functionally inactivated for the malic enzyme metabolic pathway by targeted disruption of the maeE or maeK gene in ABSA demonstrated attenuated growth of the mutants in normal human urine as well as synthetic human urine containing malic acid. We conclude that some S. agalactiae strains can grow in human urine, and this relates in part to malic acid metabolism, which may affect the persistence or progression of S. agalactiae ABU. PMID:26553467

  18. Organophosphorus pesticide exposure in agriculture: effects of temperature, ultraviolet light and abrasion on PVC gloves

    PubMed Central

    ISMAIL, Ismaniza; GASKIN, Sharyn; PISANIELLO, Dino; EDWARDS, John W.

    2017-01-01

    Elbow length PVC gloves are often recommended for protection against organophosphorus pesticide (OP) exposure in agriculture. However, performance may be reduced due to high temperature, UV exposure and abrasion. We sought to assess these impacts for two OPs under normal use and reasonable worst-case scenarios. Glove permeation tests were conducted using ASTM cells with two PVC glove brands at 23°C and 45°C for up to 8 h. Technical grade dichlorvos and formulated diazinon were used undiluted and at application strength. Breakthough of undiluted dichlorvos occurred at both 23°C and 45°C, but only at 45°C for application strength. Breakthrough of diazinon was not achieved, except when undiluted at 45°C. UV-exposed and abraded gloves showed reduced performance, with the effect being approximately two-fold for dichlorvos. Only small differences were noted between glove brands. Extra precautions should be taken when handling concentrated OPs at high temperature, or when using abraded or sunlight-exposed gloves. PMID:29199264

  19. Catalytic conversion of hydrocarbons to hydrogen and high-value carbon

    DOEpatents

    Shah, Naresh; Panjala, Devadas; Huffman, Gerald P.

    2005-04-05

    The present invention provides novel catalysts for accomplishing catalytic decomposition of undiluted light hydrocarbons to a hydrogen product, and methods for preparing such catalysts. In one aspect, a method is provided for preparing a catalyst by admixing an aqueous solution of an iron salt, at least one additional catalyst metal salt, and a suitable oxide substrate support, and precipitating metal oxyhydroxides onto the substrate support. An incipient wetness method, comprising addition of aqueous solutions of metal salts to a dry oxide substrate support, extruding the resulting paste to pellet form, and calcining the pellets in air is also discloses. In yet another aspect, a process is provided for producing hydrogen from an undiluted light hydrocarbon reactant, comprising contacting the hydrocarbon reactant with a catalyst as described above in a reactor, and recovering a substantially carbon monoxide-free hydrogen product stream. In still yet another aspect, a process is provided for catalytic decomposition of an undiluted light hydrocarbon reactant to obtain hydrogen and a valuable multi-walled carbon nanotube coproduct.

  20. Octenidine Hydrochloride in Hydatid Disease.

    PubMed

    Altindis, Mustafa; Arikan, Yuksel; Cetinkaya, Zafer; Polat, Coskun; Yılmaz, Sezgin; Akbulut, Gökhan; Dilek, Osman Nuri; Gokce, Ozcan

    2004-01-01

    Hydatid disease is still endemic in many devoloping countries and continues to be an important cause of morbidity. The objective of this study was to determine the in vitro scolicidal effects of octenidine hydrochloride in different concentrations using different exposure times. After hydatid cyst liquid was left to precipitate for 1 h to obtain cystic sand, various concentrations of octenidine (undiluted, 1% and 0.1% diluted) were added to concentrated hydatid cyst sediments for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 45, and 60 min, and scolicidal effects of octenidine were compared with 20% saline and control group for the same times. It was found that undiluted octenidine had a strong scolicidal effect at 15 min compared to saline at 20%. One percent octenidine had a scolicidal effect at 30 min. However, 0.1% octenidine did not have enough scolicidal effect in 1 h. It was concluded that undiluted and 1% diluted octenidine might be used for scolicidal purpose in the treatment of hydatid disease.

  1. Octenidine hydrochloride in hydatid disease.

    PubMed

    Altindis, Mustafa; Arikan, Yuksel; Cetinkaya, Zafer; Polat, Coskun; Yilmaz, Sezgin; Akbulut, Gökhan; Dilek, Osman Nuri; Gokce, Ozcan

    2004-01-01

    Hydatid disease is still endemic in many devoloping countries and continues to be an important cause of morbidity. The objective of this study was to determine the in vitro scolicidal effects of octenidine hydrochloride in different concentrations using different exposure times. After hydatid cyst liquid was left to precipitate for 1 h to obtain cystic sand, various concentrations of octenidine (undiluted, 1% and 0.1% diluted) were added to concentrated hydatid cyst sediments for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 45, and 60 min, and scolicidal effects of octenidine were compared with 20% saline and control group for the same times. It was found that undiluted octenidine had a strong scolicidal effect at 15 min compared to saline at 20%. One percent octenidine had a scolicidal effect at 30 min. However, 0.1% octenidine did not have enough scolicidal effect in 1 h. It was concluded that undiluted and 1% diluted octenidine might be used for scolicidal purpose in the treatment of hydatid disease.

  2. Determination of uromodulin in human urine: influence of storage and processing.

    PubMed

    Youhanna, Sonia; Weber, Julien; Beaujean, Viviane; Glaudemans, Bob; Sobek, Jens; Devuyst, Olivier

    2014-01-01

    Uromodulin (Tamm-Horsfall protein) is the most abundant protein excreted in the urine under physiological conditions. It is exclusively produced in the kidney and secreted into the urine via proteolytic cleavage. The involvement of UMOD, the gene that encodes uromodulin, in rare autosomal dominant diseases, and its robust genome-wide association with the risk of chronic kidney disease suggest that the level of uromodulin in urine could represent a critical biomarker for kidney function. The structure of uromodulin is complex, with multiple disulfide bonds and typical domains of extracellular proteins. Thus far, the conditions influencing stability and measurement of uromodulin in human urine have not been systematically investigated, giving inconsistent results. In this study, we used a robust, in-house ELISA to characterize the conditions of sampling and storage necessary to provide a faithful dosage of uromodulin in the urine. The levels of uromodulin in human urine were significantly affected by centrifugation and vortexing, as well as by the conditions and duration of storage. These results validate a simple, low-cost ELISA and document the optimal conditions of processing and storage for measuring uromodulin in human urine.

  3. Just add water: Accuracy of analysis of diluted human milk samples using mid-infrared spectroscopy.

    PubMed

    Smith, R W; Adamkin, D H; Farris, A; Radmacher, P G

    2017-01-01

    To determine the maximum dilution of human milk (HM) that yields reliable results for protein, fat and lactose when analyzed by mid-infrared spectroscopy. De-identified samples of frozen HM were obtained. Milk was thawed and warmed (40°C) prior to analysis. Undiluted (native) HM was analyzed by mid-infrared spectroscopy for macronutrient composition: total protein (P), fat (F), carbohydrate (C); Energy (E) was calculated from the macronutrient results. Subsequent analyses were done with 1 : 2, 1 : 3, 1 : 5 and 1 : 10 dilutions of each sample with distilled water. Additional samples were sent to a certified lab for external validation. Quantitatively, F and P showed statistically significant but clinically non-critical differences in 1 : 2 and 1 : 3 dilutions. Differences at higher dilutions were statistically significant and deviated from native values enough to render those dilutions unreliable. External validation studies also showed statistically significant but clinically unimportant differences at 1 : 2 and 1 : 3 dilutions. The Calais Human Milk Analyzer can be used with HM samples diluted 1 : 2 and 1 : 3 and return results within 5% of values from undiluted HM. At a 1 : 5 or 1 : 10 dilution, however, results vary as much as 10%, especially with P and F. At the 1 : 2 and 1 : 3 dilutions these differences appear to be insignificant in the context of nutritional management. However, the accuracy and reliability of the 1 : 5 and 1 : 10 dilutions are questionable.

  4. Pathogens and pharmaceuticals in source-separated urine in eThekwini, South Africa.

    PubMed

    Bischel, Heather N; Özel Duygan, Birge D; Strande, Linda; McArdell, Christa S; Udert, Kai M; Kohn, Tamar

    2015-11-15

    In eThekwini, South Africa, the production of agricultural fertilizers from human urine collected from urine-diverting dry toilets is being evaluated at a municipality scale as a way to help finance a decentralized, dry sanitation system. The present study aimed to assess a range of human and environmental health hazards in source-separated urine, which was presumed to be contaminated with feces, by evaluating the presence of human pathogens, pharmaceuticals, and an antibiotic resistance gene. Composite urine samples from households enrolled in a urine collection trial were obtained from urine storage tanks installed in three regions of eThekwini. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays targeted 9 viral and 10 bacterial human pathogens transmitted by the fecal-oral route. The most frequently detected viral pathogens were JC polyomavirus, rotavirus, and human adenovirus in 100%, 34% and 31% of samples, respectively. Aeromonas spp. and Shigella spp. were frequently detected gram negative bacteria, in 94% and 61% of samples, respectively. The gram positive bacterium, Clostridium perfringens, which is known to survive for extended times in urine, was found in 72% of samples. A screening of 41 trace organic compounds in the urine facilitated selection of 12 priority pharmaceuticals for further evaluation. The antibiotics sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim, which are frequently prescribed as prophylaxis for HIV-positive patients, were detected in 95% and 85% of samples, reaching maximum concentrations of 6800 μg/L and 1280 μg/L, respectively. The antiretroviral drug emtricitabine was also detected in 40% of urine samples. A sulfonamide antibiotic resistance gene (sul1) was detected in 100% of urine samples. By coupling analysis of pathogens and pharmaceuticals in geographically dispersed samples in eThekwini, this study reveals a range of human and environmental health hazards in urine intended for fertilizer production. Collection of urine offers the benefit of sequestering contaminants from environmental release and allows for targeted treatment of potential health hazards prior to agricultural application. The efficacy of pathogen and pharmaceutical inactivation, transformation or removal during urine nutrient recovery processes is thus briefly reviewed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Antioxidant capacity of human blood plasma and human urine: simultaneous evaluation of the ORAC index and ascorbic acid concentration employing pyrogallol red as probe.

    PubMed

    Torres, P; Galleguillos, P; Lissi, E; López-Alarcón, C

    2008-10-15

    The oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) methodology has been employed to estimate the antioxidant capacity of human blood plasma and human urine using pyrogallol red (ORAC-PGR) as target molecule. Uric acid, reduced glutathione, human serum albumin, and ascorbic acid (ASC) inhibited the consumption of pyrogallol red, but only ASC generated an induction time. Human blood plasma and human urine protected efficiently pyrogallol red. In these assays, both biological fluids generated neat induction times that were removed by ascorbate oxidase. From these results, ORAC-PGR method could be proposed as a simple alternative to evaluate an ORAC index and, simultaneously, to estimate the concentration of ascorbic acid in human blood plasma or human urine.

  6. Discovery and Characterization of Human-Urine Utilization by Asymptomatic-Bacteriuria-Causing Streptococcus agalactiae.

    PubMed

    Ipe, Deepak S; Ben Zakour, Nouri L; Sullivan, Matthew J; Beatson, Scott A; Ulett, Kimberly B; Benjamin, William H; Davies, Mark R; Dando, Samantha J; King, Nathan P; Cripps, Allan W; Schembri, Mark A; Dougan, Gordon; Ulett, Glen C

    2016-01-01

    Streptococcus agalactiae causes both symptomatic cystitis and asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU); however, growth characteristics of S. agalactiae in human urine have not previously been reported. Here, we describe a phenotype of robust growth in human urine observed in ABU-causing S. agalactiae (ABSA) that was not seen among uropathogenic S. agalactiae (UPSA) strains isolated from patients with acute cystitis. In direct competition assays using pooled human urine inoculated with equal numbers of a prototype ABSA strain, designated ABSA 1014, and any one of several UPSA strains, measurement of the percentage of each strain recovered over time showed a markedly superior fitness of ABSA 1014 for urine growth. Comparative phenotype profiling of ABSA 1014 and UPSA strain 807, isolated from a patient with acute cystitis, using metabolic arrays of >2,500 substrates and conditions revealed unique and specific l-malic acid catabolism in ABSA 1014 that was absent in UPSA 807. Whole-genome sequencing also revealed divergence in malic enzyme-encoding genes between the strains predicted to impact the activity of the malate metabolic pathway. Comparative growth assays in urine comparing wild-type ABSA and gene-deficient mutants that were functionally inactivated for the malic enzyme metabolic pathway by targeted disruption of the maeE or maeK gene in ABSA demonstrated attenuated growth of the mutants in normal human urine as well as synthetic human urine containing malic acid. We conclude that some S. agalactiae strains can grow in human urine, and this relates in part to malic acid metabolism, which may affect the persistence or progression of S. agalactiae ABU. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  7. Optimization of HPV DNA detection in urine by improving collection, storage, and extraction.

    PubMed

    Vorsters, A; Van den Bergh, J; Micalessi, I; Biesmans, S; Bogers, J; Hens, A; De Coster, I; Ieven, M; Van Damme, P

    2014-11-01

    The benefits of using urine for the detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA have been evaluated in disease surveillance, epidemiological studies, and screening for cervical cancers in specific subgroups. HPV DNA testing in urine is being considered for important purposes, notably the monitoring of HPV vaccination in adolescent girls and young women who do not wish to have a vaginal examination. The need to optimize and standardize sampling, storage, and processing has been reported.In this paper, we examined the impact of a DNA-conservation buffer, the extraction method, and urine sampling on the detection of HPV DNA and human DNA in urine provided by 44 women with a cytologically normal but HPV DNA-positive cervical sample. Ten women provided first-void and midstream urine samples. DNA analysis was performed using real-time PCR to allow quantification of HPV and human DNA.The results showed that an optimized method for HPV DNA detection in urine should (a) prevent DNA degradation during extraction and storage, (b) recover cell-free HPV DNA in addition to cell-associated DNA, (c) process a sufficient volume of urine, and (d) use a first-void sample.In addition, we found that detectable human DNA in urine may not be a good internal control for sample validity. HPV prevalence data that are based on urine samples collected, stored, and/or processed under suboptimal conditions may underestimate infection rates.

  8. Preliminary Problem Definition Study of 48 Munitions Related Chemicals. Volume I. Explosives Related Chemicals

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1978-04-01

    fungicide additive to prevent chemical "peal burn" in citrus fruits, and in the textile industry for improved shrinkproofing, dye...1967 undiluted oral Rabbits, 3 1.6-1.9 L0100 Treon at al., 1943 "young" *.a. oral mice 2.78 24 hr LD50 Caujolle & Caujolls, 1965 undiluted i.p. Mice 1.35...presented in Table IV-10. In general, che acute toxicity of the methylamines to mammals is fairly low with LD50 ’s averaging several hundred mg/kg

  9. International Space Station Urine Monitoring System Functional Integration and Science Testing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rodriguez, Branelle R.; Broyan, James Lee, Jr.

    2008-01-01

    Exposure to microgravity during human spaceflight is required to be defined and understood as the human exploration of space requires longer duration missions. It is known that long term exposure to microgravity causes bone loss. Urine voids are capable of measuring the calcium and other metabolic byproducts in a constituent s urine. The International Space Station (ISS) Urine Monitoring System (UMS) is an automated urine collection device designed to collect urine, separate the urine and air, measure the void volume, and allow for syringe sampling. Accurate measuring and minimal cross contamination is essential to determine bone loss and the effectiveness of countermeasures. The ISS UMS provides minimal cross contamination (<0.7 ml urine) and has volume accuracy of +/-2% between 100 to 1000 ml urine voids.

  10. International Space Station Urine Monitoring System Functional Integration and Science Testing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cibuzar, Branelle R.; Broyan, James Lee, Jr.

    2009-01-01

    Exposure to microgravity during human spaceflight is required to be defined and understood as the human exploration of space requires longer duration missions. It is known that long term exposure to microgravity causes bone loss. Urine voids are capable of measuring the calcium and other metabolic byproducts in a constituent s urine. The International Space Station (ISS) Urine Monitoring System (UMS) is an automated urine collection device designed to collect urine, separate the urine and air, measure the void volume, and allow for syringe sampling. Accurate measuring and minimal cross contamination is essential to determine bone loss and the effectiveness of countermeasures. The ISS UMS provides minimal cross contamination (<0.7 ml urine) and has volume accuracy of +/-2% between 100 to 1000 ml urine voids.

  11. Long-Term Frozen Storage of Urine Samples: A Trouble to Get PCR Results in Schistosoma spp. DNA Detection?

    PubMed Central

    Fernández-Soto, Pedro; Velasco Tirado, Virginia; Carranza Rodríguez, Cristina; Pérez-Arellano, José Luis; Muro, Antonio

    2013-01-01

    Background Human schistosomiasis remains a serious worldwide public health problem. At present, a sensitive and specific assay for routine diagnosis of schistosome infection is not yet available. The potential for detecting schistosome-derived DNA by PCR-based methods in human clinical samples is currently being investigated as a diagnostic tool with potential application in routine schistosomiasis diagnosis. Collection of diagnostic samples such as stool or blood is usually difficult in some populations. However, urine is a biological sample that can be collected in a non-invasive method, easy to get from people of all ages and easy in management, but as a sample for PCR diagnosis is still not widely used. This could be due to the high variability in the reported efficiency of detection as a result of the high variation in urine samples’ storage or conditions for handling and DNA preservation and extraction methods. Methodology/Principal Findings We evaluate different commercial DNA extraction methods from a series of long-term frozen storage human urine samples from patients with parasitological confirmed schistosomiasis in order to assess the PCR effectiveness for Schistosoma spp. detection. Patientś urine samples were frozen for 18 months up to 7 years until use. Results were compared with those obtained in PCR assays using fresh healthy human urine artificially contaminated with Schistosoma mansoni DNA and urine samples from mice experimentally infected with S. mansoni cercariae stored frozen for at least 12 months before use. PCR results in fresh human artificial urine samples using different DNA based extraction methods were much more effective than those obtained when long-term frozen human urine samples were used as the source of DNA template. Conclusions/Significance Long-term frozen human urine samples are probably not a good source for DNA extraction for use as a template in PCR detection of Schistosoma spp., regardless of the DNA method of extraction used. PMID:23613907

  12. Long-term frozen storage of urine samples: a trouble to get PCR results in Schistosoma spp. DNA detection?

    PubMed

    Fernández-Soto, Pedro; Velasco Tirado, Virginia; Carranza Rodríguez, Cristina; Pérez-Arellano, José Luis; Muro, Antonio

    2013-01-01

    Human schistosomiasis remains a serious worldwide public health problem. At present, a sensitive and specific assay for routine diagnosis of schistosome infection is not yet available. The potential for detecting schistosome-derived DNA by PCR-based methods in human clinical samples is currently being investigated as a diagnostic tool with potential application in routine schistosomiasis diagnosis. Collection of diagnostic samples such as stool or blood is usually difficult in some populations. However, urine is a biological sample that can be collected in a non-invasive method, easy to get from people of all ages and easy in management, but as a sample for PCR diagnosis is still not widely used. This could be due to the high variability in the reported efficiency of detection as a result of the high variation in urine samples' storage or conditions for handling and DNA preservation and extraction methods. We evaluate different commercial DNA extraction methods from a series of long-term frozen storage human urine samples from patients with parasitological confirmed schistosomiasis in order to assess the PCR effectiveness for Schistosoma spp. detection. Patients urine samples were frozen for 18 months up to 7 years until use. Results were compared with those obtained in PCR assays using fresh healthy human urine artificially contaminated with Schistosoma mansoni DNA and urine samples from mice experimentally infected with S. mansoni cercariae stored frozen for at least 12 months before use. PCR results in fresh human artificial urine samples using different DNA based extraction methods were much more effective than those obtained when long-term frozen human urine samples were used as the source of DNA template. Long-term frozen human urine samples are probably not a good source for DNA extraction for use as a template in PCR detection of Schistosoma spp., regardless of the DNA method of extraction used.

  13. Substitution of human for horse urine disproves an accusation of doping*.

    PubMed

    Díaz, Silvina; Kienast, Mariana E; Villegas-Castagnasso, Egle E; Pena, Natalia L; Manganare, Marcos M; Posik, Diego; Peral-García, Pilar; Giovambattista, Guillermo

    2008-09-01

    In order to detect switching and/or manipulation of samples, the owner of a stallion asked our lab to perform a DNA test on a positive doping urine sample. The objective was to compare the urine DNA profile versus blood and hair DNA profiles from the same stallion. At first, 10 microsatellite markers were investigated to determine the horse identity. No results were obtained when horse specific markers were typed in the urine sample. In order to confirm the species origin of this sample we analyzed the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. This analysis from blood and hair samples produced reproducible and clear PCR-RFLP patterns and DNA sequence match with those expected for horse, while the urine sample results were coincident with human. These results allowed us to exclude the urine sample from the questioned stallion and determine its human species origin, confirming the manipulation of urine sample.

  14. Direct analysis of δ2H and δ18O in natural and enriched human urine using laser-based, Off-Axis Integrated Cavity Output Spectroscopy

    PubMed Central

    Berman, Elena S.F.; Fortsona, Susan L.; Snaith, Steven P.; Gupta, Manish; Baer, Douglas S.; Chery, Isabelle; Blanc, Stephane; Melanson, Edward L.; Thomson, Peter J; Speakman, John R.

    2012-01-01

    The stable isotopes of hydrogen (δ2H) and oxygen (δ18O) in human urine are measured during studies of total energy expenditure by the doubly labeled water method, measurement of total body water, and measurement of insulin resistance by glucose disposal among other applications. An ultrasensitive laser absorption spectrometer based on off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy was demonstrated for simple and inexpensive measurement of stable isotopes in natural isotopic abundance and isotopically enriched human urine. Preparation of urine for analysis was simple and rapid (approx. 25 samples per hour), requiring no decolorizing or distillation steps. Analysis schemes were demonstrated to address sample-to-sample memory while still allowing analysis of 45 natural or 30 enriched urine samples per day. The instrument was linear over a wide range of water isotopes (δ2H = −454 to +1702 ‰ and δ18O= −58.3 to +265 ‰). Measurements of human urine were precise to better than 0.65 ‰ 1σ for δ2H and 0.09 ‰ 1σ for δ18O for natural urines, 1.1 ‰ 1σ for δ2H and 0.13 ‰ 1σ for δ18O for low enriched urines, and 1.0 ‰ 1σ for δ2H and 0.08 ‰ 1σ for δ18O for high enriched urines. Furthermore, the accuracy of the isotope measurements of human urines was verified to better than ±0.81 ‰ in δ2H and ±0.13 ‰ in δ18O (average deviation) against three independent IRMS laboratories. The ability to immediately and inexpensively measure the stable isotopes of water in human urine is expected to increase the number and variety of experiments which can be undertaken. PMID:23075099

  15. SERS quantitative urine creatinine measurement of human subject

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Tsuei Lian; Chiang, Hui-hua K.; Lu, Hui-hsin; Hung, Yung-da

    2005-03-01

    SERS method for biomolecular analysis has several potentials and advantages over traditional biochemical approaches, including less specimen contact, non-destructive to specimen, and multiple components analysis. Urine is an easily available body fluid for monitoring the metabolites and renal function of human body. We developed surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technique using 50nm size gold colloidal particles for quantitative human urine creatinine measurements. This paper shows that SERS shifts of creatinine (104mg/dl) in artificial urine is from 1400cm-1 to 1500cm-1 which was analyzed for quantitative creatinine measurement. Ten human urine samples were obtained from ten healthy persons and analyzed by the SERS technique. Partial least square cross-validation (PLSCV) method was utilized to obtain the estimated creatinine concentration in clinically relevant (55.9mg/dl to 208mg/dl) concentration range. The root-mean square error of cross validation (RMSECV) is 26.1mg/dl. This research demonstrates the feasibility of using SERS for human subject urine creatinine detection, and establishes the SERS platform technique for bodily fluids measurement.

  16. Single-Use Disposable Electrochemical Label-Free Immunosensor for Detection of Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) Using Differential Pulse Voltammetry (DPV).

    PubMed

    Molazemhosseini, Alireza; Magagnin, Luca; Vena, Pasquale; Liu, Chung-Chiun

    2016-07-01

    A single-use disposable in vitro electrochemical immunosensor for the detection of HbA1c in undiluted human serum using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was developed. A three-electrode configuration electrochemical biosensor consisted of 10-nm-thin gold film working and counter electrodes and a thick-film printed Ag/AgCl reference electrode was fabricated on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. Micro-fabrication techniques including sputtering vapor deposition and thick-film printing were used to fabricate the biosensor. This was a roll-to-roll cost-effective manufacturing process making the single-use disposable in vitro HbA1c biosensor a reality. Self-assembled monolayers of 3-Mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) were employed to covalently immobilize anti-HbA1c on the surface of gold electrodes. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed the excellent coverage of MPA-SAM and the upward orientation of carboxylic groups. The hindering effect of HbA1c on the ferricyanide/ferrocyanide electron transfer reaction was exploited as the HbA1c detection mechanism. The biosensor showed a linear range of 7.5-20 µg/mL of HbA1c in 0.1 M PBS. Using undiluted human serum as the test medium, the biosensor presented an excellent linear behavior (R² = 0.999) in the range of 0.1-0.25 mg/mL of HbA1c. The potential application of this biosensor for in vitro measurement of HbA1c for diabetic management was demonstrated.

  17. Single-Use Disposable Electrochemical Label-Free Immunosensor for Detection of Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) Using Differential Pulse Voltammetry (DPV)

    PubMed Central

    Molazemhosseini, Alireza; Magagnin, Luca; Vena, Pasquale; Liu, Chung-Chiun

    2016-01-01

    A single-use disposable in vitro electrochemical immunosensor for the detection of HbA1c in undiluted human serum using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was developed. A three-electrode configuration electrochemical biosensor consisted of 10-nm-thin gold film working and counter electrodes and a thick-film printed Ag/AgCl reference electrode was fabricated on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. Micro-fabrication techniques including sputtering vapor deposition and thick-film printing were used to fabricate the biosensor. This was a roll-to-roll cost-effective manufacturing process making the single-use disposable in vitro HbA1c biosensor a reality. Self-assembled monolayers of 3-Mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) were employed to covalently immobilize anti-HbA1c on the surface of gold electrodes. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed the excellent coverage of MPA-SAM and the upward orientation of carboxylic groups. The hindering effect of HbA1c on the ferricyanide/ferrocyanide electron transfer reaction was exploited as the HbA1c detection mechanism. The biosensor showed a linear range of 7.5–20 µg/mL of HbA1c in 0.1 M PBS. Using undiluted human serum as the test medium, the biosensor presented an excellent linear behavior (R2 = 0.999) in the range of 0.1–0.25 mg/mL of HbA1c. The potential application of this biosensor for in vitro measurement of HbA1c for diabetic management was demonstrated. PMID:27376299

  18. Effect of feeding mode and dilution on the performance and microbial community population in anaerobic digestion of food waste.

    PubMed

    Park, Jong-Hun; Kumar, Gopalakrishnan; Yun, Yeo-Myeong; Kwon, Joong-Chun; Kim, Sang-Hyoun

    2018-01-01

    The effect of feeding mode and dilution was studied in anaerobic digestion of food waste. An upflow anaerobic digester with a settler was fed at six different organic loading rates (OLRs) from 4.6 to 8.6kgCOD/m 3 /d for 200days. The highest methane productivity of 2.78LCH 4 /L/d was achieved at 8.6kgCOD/m 3 /d during continuous feeding of diluted FW. Continuous feeding of diluted food waste showed more stable and efficient performance than stepwise feeding of undiluted food waste. Sharp increase in propionate concentration attributed towards deterioration of the digester performances in stepwise feeding of undiluted food waste. Microbial communities at various OLRs divulged that the microbial distribution in the continuous feeding of diluted food waste was not significantly perturbed despite the increase of OLR up to 8.6kgCOD/m 3 /d, which was contrast to the unstable distribution in stepwise feeding of undiluted food waste at 6.1kgCOD/m 3 /d. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Nutrients removal from undiluted cattle farm wastewater by the two-stage process of microalgae-based wastewater treatment.

    PubMed

    Lv, Junping; Liu, Yang; Feng, Jia; Liu, Qi; Nan, Fangru; Xie, Shulian

    2018-05-24

    Chlorella vulgaris was selected from five freshwater microalgal strains of Chlorophyta, and showed a good potential in nutrients removal from undiluted cattle farm wastewater. By the end of treatment, 62.30%, 81.16% and 85.29% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium (NH 4 + -N) and total phosphorus (TP) were removed. Then two two-stage processes were established to enhance nutrients removal efficiency for meeting the discharge standards of China. The process A was the biological treatment via C. vulgaris followed by the biological treatment via C. vulgaris, and the process B was the biological treatment via C. vulgaris followed by the activated carbon adsorption. After 3-5 d of treatment of wastewater via the two processes, the nutrients removal efficiency of COD, NH 4 + -N and TP were 91.24%-92.17%, 83.16%-94.27% and 90.98%-94.41%, respectively. The integrated two-stage process could strengthen nutrients removal efficiency from undiluted cattle farm wastewater with high organic substance and nitrogen concentration. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Isolation of an indigenous Chlorella vulgaris from swine wastewater and characterization of its nutrient removal ability in undiluted sewage.

    PubMed

    Wen, Yangmin; He, Yongjin; Ji, Xiaowei; Li, Shaofeng; Chen, Ling; Zhou, Youcai; Wang, Mingzi; Chen, Bilian

    2017-11-01

    Bio-treatment of wastewater mediated by microalgae is considered as a promising solution. This work aimed to isolate an indigenous microalgal strain (named MBFJNU-1) from swine wastewater effluent and identify as Chlorella vulgaris. After 12days, the removal efficiencies of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in undiluted swine slurry were 90.51% and 91.54%, respectively. Stress tolerance in response to wastewater was verified by cultivating in artificial wastewater containing different levels of chemical oxygen demand (COD), TN and TP. MBFJNU-1 could grow well in undiluted swine slurry and artificial wastewater containing 30,000mg/L COD or 2000mg/L TN. Furthermore, global nuclear DNA methylation (5-mC) of MBFJNU-1 was employed to explore the possible mechanism in response to wastewater stress. The results showed that the level of 5-mC was inversely proportional to the growth of MBFJNU-1 in different diluted swine slurry, helping to understand 5-mC variation in response to stress environment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. LC-MS/MS determination of alectinib and its major human metabolite M4 in human urine: prevention of nonspecific binding.

    PubMed

    Heinig, Katja; Herzog, Denis; Ferrari, Luca; Fraier, Daniela; Miya, Kazuhiro; Morcos, Peter N

    2017-03-01

    Alectinib (Alecensa ® ) is an anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitor for the treatment of anaplastic lymphoma kinase positive non-small-cell lung cancer, and M4 is its major pharmacologically active metabolite. To characterize the pharmacokinetics and excretion of alectinib and M4 in human urine, a bioanalytical method was required. An LC-MS/MS method using supported liquid extraction was developed for the determination of alectinib and M4 in human urine over the concentration range 0.5-500 ng/ml. Accuracy ranged from 92.0 to 112.2% and precision (CV) was below 9.6%. The method was successfully employed to determine alectinib and M4 concentrations in urine samples from a clinical mass balance study. Addition of the surfactant Tween-20 to urine prevented nonspecific binding of the analytes.

  2. Determination of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in human urine with mass selective detection.

    PubMed

    Hughes, D L; Ritter, D J; Wilson, R D

    2001-11-01

    Method development and validation studies have been completed on an assay that will allow the determination of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in human urine. The accurate determination of 2,4-D in urine is an important factor in monitoring worker and population exposure. These studies successfully validated a method for the detection of 2,4-D in urine at a limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 5.00 ppb (parts per billion) using gas chromatography with mass selective detection (GC/MSD). The first study involved the determination of 2,4-D in control human urine and urine samples fortified with 2,4-D. Due to chromatographic interference, a second study was conducted using 14C-2,4-D to verify the recoverability of 2,4-D from human urine at low levels using the GC/MSD method. The second study supports the results of the original data. The 2,4-D was extracted from human urine using a procedure involving hydrolysis using potassium hydroxide, followed by a liquid-liquid extraction into methylene chloride. The extracted samples were derivatized with diazomethane. The methylated fraction was analyzed by GC/MSD. Quantitation was made by comparison to methylated reference standards of 2,4-D. Aliquots fortified at 5-, 50-, and 500-ppb levels were analyzed. The overall mean recovery for all fortified samples was 90.3% with a relative standard deviation of 14.31%.

  3. Siderophore biosynthesis coordinately modulated the virulence-associated interactive metabolome of uropathogenic Escherichia coli and human urine

    PubMed Central

    Su, Qiao; Guan, Tianbing; Lv, Haitao

    2016-01-01

    Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) growth in women’s bladders during urinary tract infection (UTI) incurs substantial chemical exchange, termed the “interactive metabolome”, which primarily accounts for the metabolic costs (utilized metabolome) and metabolic donations (excreted metabolome) between UPEC and human urine. Here, we attempted to identify the individualized interactive metabolome between UPEC and human urine. We were able to distinguish UPEC from non-UPEC by employing a combination of metabolomics and genetics. Our results revealed that the interactive metabolome between UPEC and human urine was markedly different from that between non-UPEC and human urine, and that UPEC triggered much stronger perturbations in the interactive metabolome in human urine. Furthermore, siderophore biosynthesis coordinately modulated the individualized interactive metabolome, which we found to be a critical component of UPEC virulence. The individualized virulence-associated interactive metabolome contained 31 different metabolites and 17 central metabolic pathways that were annotated to host these different metabolites, including energetic metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and gut microbe metabolism. Changes in the activities of these pathways mechanistically pinpointed the virulent capability of siderophore biosynthesis. Together, our findings provide novel insights into UPEC virulence, and we propose that siderophores are potential targets for further discovery of drugs to treat UPEC-induced UTI. PMID:27076285

  4. Siderophore biosynthesis coordinately modulated the virulence-associated interactive metabolome of uropathogenic Escherichia coli and human urine.

    PubMed

    Su, Qiao; Guan, Tianbing; Lv, Haitao

    2016-04-14

    Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) growth in women's bladders during urinary tract infection (UTI) incurs substantial chemical exchange, termed the "interactive metabolome", which primarily accounts for the metabolic costs (utilized metabolome) and metabolic donations (excreted metabolome) between UPEC and human urine. Here, we attempted to identify the individualized interactive metabolome between UPEC and human urine. We were able to distinguish UPEC from non-UPEC by employing a combination of metabolomics and genetics. Our results revealed that the interactive metabolome between UPEC and human urine was markedly different from that between non-UPEC and human urine, and that UPEC triggered much stronger perturbations in the interactive metabolome in human urine. Furthermore, siderophore biosynthesis coordinately modulated the individualized interactive metabolome, which we found to be a critical component of UPEC virulence. The individualized virulence-associated interactive metabolome contained 31 different metabolites and 17 central metabolic pathways that were annotated to host these different metabolites, including energetic metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and gut microbe metabolism. Changes in the activities of these pathways mechanistically pinpointed the virulent capability of siderophore biosynthesis. Together, our findings provide novel insights into UPEC virulence, and we propose that siderophores are potential targets for further discovery of drugs to treat UPEC-induced UTI.

  5. Analysis of endogenous aldehydes in human urine by static headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Serrano, María; Gallego, Mercedes; Silva, Manuel

    2016-03-11

    Endogenous aldehydes (EAs) generated during oxidative stress and cell processes are associated with many pathogenic and toxicogenic processes. The aim of this research was to develop a solvent-free and automated analytical method for the determination of EAs in human urine using a static headspace generator sampler coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS). Twelve significant EAs used as markers of different biochemical and physiological processes, namely short- and medium-chain alkanals, α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and dicarbonyl aldehydes have been selected as target analytes. Human urine samples (no dilution is required) were derivatized with O-2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzylhydroxylamine in alkaline medium (hydrogen carbonate-carbonate buffer, pH 10.3). The HS-GC-MS method developed renders an efficient tool for the sensitive and precise determination of EAs in human urine with limits of detection from 1 to 15ng/L and relative standard deviations, (RSDs) from 6.0 to 7.9%. Average recoveries by enriching urine samples ranged between 92 and 95%. Aldehydes were readily determined at 0.005-50μg/L levels in human urine from healthy subjects, smokers and diabetic adults. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Human urine and chicken feces as fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) attractants for resource-poor fruit growers.

    PubMed

    Piñero, Jaime; Aluja, Martín; Vázquez, Alejandro; Equihua, Miguel; Varón, Jorge

    2003-04-01

    We evaluated human urine and chicken feces, two naturally occurring, inexpensive, and readily available substances, as baits for the capture of Anostrepha spp. (Diptera: Tephritidae) by using glass McPhail traps. Two studies were performed simultaneously in a commercial mango orchard in Veracruz, México. In the first study, we compared a 50% water dilution of human urine against hydrolyzed protein, both compounds at the fresh and 5-d-old stages, and water alone (control treatment). In the second study, we tested fresh chicken feces mixed with water, a torula yeast/borax solution at three different ages (1-4, 5-9, and 10-15 d), and water (control treatment). Both human urine and chicken feces were attractive to Anastrepha adults compared with water alone, but attracted two and three times fewer adults than hydrolyzed protein and torula yeast/borax, respectively. However, unlike torula yeast/borax, aging of human urine did not decrease its attractiveness. Five-day old human urine attracted numerically more A. serpentina females than males, similar numbers of A. obliqua males and females, and significantly more sexually immature A. obliqua females than mature ones. Chicken feces proved to be as attractive as the aged torula yeast/borax treatments for A. obliqua and A. serpentina. We argue that because both human urine and chicken feces are cost-free and can be easily obtained, they are viable, low-technology alternatives to costly commercial attractants, particularly for low-income growers or backyard farmers in Mexico and other Latin American countries.

  7. Odor intensity and characterization studies of exhaust from a turbojet engine combustor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Butze, H. F.; Kendall, D. A.

    1973-01-01

    Sensory odor tests of the exhaust from a turbojet combustor operating at simulated idle conditions were made by a human panel sniffing diluted exhaust gas. Simultaneously, samples of undiluted exhaust gas were collected on adsorbent substrates, subsequently removed by solvent flushing, and analyzed chemically by liquid chromatographic methods. The concentrations of the principal malodorous species, the aromatic (unburned fuel-related) and the oxygenated (partially burned fuel) fractions, as determined chromatographically, correlated well with the intensity of the odor as determined by sniffing. Odor intensity increased as combustion efficiency decreased. Combustor modifications which increased combustion efficiency decreased odor intensity.

  8. Validation of dilution of plasma samples with phosphate buffered saline to eliminate the problem of small volumes associated with children infected with HIV-1 for viral load testing using Cobas AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan HIV-1 test, version 2.0 (CAP CTM HIV v2.0).

    PubMed

    Mine, Madisa; Nkoane, Tapologo; Sebetso, Gaseene; Sakyi, Bright; Makhaola, Kgomotso; Gaolathe, Tendani

    2013-12-01

    The sample requirement of 1 mL for the Roche COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan HIV-1 test, version 2.0 (CAP CTM HIV v2.0) limits its utility in measuring plasma HIV-1 RNA levels for small volume samples from children infected with HIV-1. Viral load monitoring is the standard of care for HIV-1-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy in Botswana. The study aimed to validate the dilution of small volume samples with phosphate buffered saline (1× PBS) when quantifying HIV-1 RNA in patient plasma. HIV RNA concentrations were determined in undiluted and diluted pairs of samples comprising panels of quality assessment standards (n=52) as well as patient samples (n=325). There was strong correlation (R(2)) of 0.98 and 0.95 within the dynamic range of the CAP CTM HIV v2.0 test between undiluted and diluted samples from quality assessment standards and patients, respectively. The difference between viral load measurements of diluted and undiluted pairs of quality assessment standards and patient samples using the Altman-Bland test showed that the 95% limits of agreement were between -0.40 Log 10 and 0.49 Log 10. This difference was within the 0.5 Log 10 which is generally considered as normal assay variation of plasma RNA levels. Dilution of samples with 1× PBS produced comparable viral load measurements to undiluted samples. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Easy fix for clinical laboratories for the false-positive defect with the Abbott AxSym total beta-hCG test.

    PubMed

    Cole, Laurence A; Khanlian, Sarah A

    2004-05-01

    False-positive hCG results can lead to erroneous diagnoses and needless chemotherapy and surgery. In the last 2 years, eight publications described cases involving false-positive hCG tests; all eight involved the AxSym test. We investigated the source of this abundance of cases and a simple fix that may be used by clinical laboratories. False-positive hCG was primarily identified by absence of hCG in urine and varying or negative hCG results in alternative tests. Seventeen false-positive serum samples in the AxSym test were evaluated undiluted and at twofold dilution with diluent containing excess goat serum or immunoglobulin. We identified 58 patients with false-positive hCG, 47 of 58 due to the Abbott AxSym total hCGbeta test (81%). Sixteen of 17 of these "false-positive" results (mean 100 mIU/ml) became undetectable when tested again after twofold dilution. A simple twofold dilution with this diluent containing excess goat serum or immunoglobulin completely protected 16 of 17 samples from patients having false-positive results. It is recommended that laboratories using this test use twofold dilution as a minimum to prevent false-positive results.

  10. First-void urine: A potential biomarker source for triage of high-risk human papillomavirus infected women.

    PubMed

    Van Keer, Severien; Pattyn, Jade; Tjalma, Wiebren A A; Van Ostade, Xaveer; Ieven, Margareta; Van Damme, Pierre; Vorsters, Alex

    2017-09-01

    Great interest has been directed towards the use of first-void urine as a liquid biopsy for high-risk human papillomavirus DNA testing. Despite the high correlations established between urinary and cervical infections, human papillomavirus testing is unable to distinguish between productive and transforming high-risk infections that have the tendency to progress to cervical cancer. Thus far, investigations have been primarily confined to the identification of biomarkers for triage of high-risk human papillomavirus-positive women in cervicovaginal specimens and tissue biopsies. This paper reviews urinary biomarkers for cervical cancer and triage of high-risk human papillomavirus infections and elaborates on the opportunities and challenges that have emerged regarding the use of first-void urine as a liquid biopsy for the analysis of both morphological- (conventional cytology and novel immunohistochemical techniques) and molecular-based (HPV16/18 genotyping, host/viral gene methylation, RNA, and proteins) biomarkers. A literature search was performed in PubMed and Web of Science for studies investigating the use of urine as a biomarker source for cervical cancer screening. Five studies were identified reporting on biomarkers that are still in preclinical exploratory or clinical assay development phases and on assessments of non-invasive (urine) samples. Although large-scale validation studies are still needed, we conclude that methylation of both host and viral genes in urine has been proven feasible for use as a molecular cervical cancer triage and screening biomarker in phase two studies. This is especially promising and underscores our hypothesis that human papillomavirus DNA and candidate human and viral biomarkers are washed away with the initial, first-void urine, together with exfoliated cells, debris and impurities that line the urethra opening. Similar to the limitations of self-collected cervicovaginal samples, first-void urine will likely not fulfil the high-quality cellularity standards required for morphological biomarkers. Molecular biomarkers will likely overcome this issue to yield high-throughput, objective, and reproducible results. When using proper sampling, transport, storage, preanalytical biomarker concentration techniques, and clinically validated assays, first-void urine is expected to be a valuable source of molecular biomarkers for cervical cancer screening. Furthermore, as first-void urine can be easily and non-invasively collected, it is a highly preferred technique among women and offers the ability to test both primary high-risk human papillomavirus and biomarkers in the same sample. In addition, the use of first-void urine confers opportunities to reduce loss-to follow-up and non-adherence to screening subjects. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Pulmonary and percutaneous absorption of 2-propoxyethyl acetate and 2-ethoxyethyl acetate in beagle dogs.

    PubMed Central

    Guest, D; Hamilton, M L; Deisinger, P J; DiVincenzo, G D

    1984-01-01

    A comparison was made of the absorption and elimination rates of 2-propoxyethyl acetate (PEA) and 2-ethoxyethyl acetate (EEA) following inhalation, dermal application or IV administration. Male beagle dogs were exposed to 50 ppm PEA or EEA for 5 hr, and breath samples were collected during the exposure and a 3-hr recovery period. Both compounds were rapidly absorbed through the lungs. After 10 min of exposure, the concentrations of the parent compounds in the expired breath were 5 to 10 ppm (80-90% absorption) and reached plateau values at about 3 hr of 13 ppm for PEA (74% absorption) and 16 ppm for EEA (68% absorption). Post-exposure breath samples declined exponentially to 0.5 ppm and 2 ppm after 3 hr for PEA and EEA, respectively. Expired concentrations of PEA were slightly, but significantly (p less than 0.025), lower than those of EEA at corresponding times during the exposure. After IV dosing with 1 mg/kg [ethyl-1,2-14C]PEA, the urine contained 61% and 88% of the dose in 4 and 24 hr, respectively. [14C]EEA was eliminated more slowly, with 20% and 61% of the dose appearing in the urine in 4 and 24 hr, respectively. Blood elimination half-lives were 1.6 hr for [14C]PEA and 7.9 hr for [14C]EEA. Only trace amounts of 14CO2 (less than 1%) or volatile materials (less than 0.1%) were detected in the expired air with either compound. For studies of percutaneous absorption, [14C]PEA or [14C]EEA was added to undiluted compound and applied in a glass cell to a shaved area on a dog's thorax for 30 or 60 min.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) PMID:6499802

  12. [Development of the certified reference material of mercury in lyophilized human urine].

    PubMed

    Zhao, Wei; Zhang, Fu-gang; DU, Hui-fang; Pan, Ya-juan; Yan, Hui-fang

    2011-02-01

    To develop the certified reference material of mercury in lyophilized human urine. Human urine samples from normal level mercury districts were filtered, homogenized, dispensed, lyophilized and radio-sterilized. Homogeneity test, stability inspection and certification were conducted using a atom fluorescence spectrophotometric method. The physical and chemical stability of the certified reference material were assessed for 18 months. The certified values are based on analysis made by three independent laboratories. The certified values are as follows: low level was (35.6 ± 2.1) µg/L, high level was (50.5 ± 3.0) µg/L. The certified reference material of mercury in lyophilized human urine in this research reached the national certified reference material requirements and could be used for the quality control.

  13. Metabolism and bioactivation of the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline in human liver microsomes and human urine.

    PubMed

    Zhou, Xin; Chen, Chang; Zhang, Fangrong; Zhang, Yang; Feng, Yuling; Ouyang, Hui; Xu, Yong; Jiang, Hongliang

    2016-07-01

    Amitriptyline is a widely used tricyclic antidepressant, but the metabolic studies were conducted almost 20 years ago using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultraviolet detector or radiolabeled methods. First, multiple ion monitoring (MIM)- enhanced product ion (EPI) scan was used to obtain the diagnostic ions or neutral losses in human liver microsome incubations with amitriptyline. Subsequently, predicted multiple reaction monitoring (MRM)-EPI scan was used to identify the metabolites in human urine with the diagnostic ions or neutral losses. Finally, product ion filtering and neutral loss filtering were used as the data mining tools to screen metabolites. Consequently, a total of 28 metabolites were identified in human urine after an oral administration using LC-MS/MS. An integrated workflow using LC-MS/MS was developed to comprehensively profile the metabolites of amitriptyline in human urine, in which five N-acetyl-l-cysteine conjugates were characterized as tentative biomarkers for idiosyncratic toxicity.

  14. Energy efficient reconcentration of diluted human urine using ion exchange membranes in bioelectrochemical systems.

    PubMed

    Tice, Ryan C; Kim, Younggy

    2014-11-01

    Nutrients can be recovered from source separated human urine; however, nutrient reconcentration (i.e., volume reduction of collected urine) requires energy-intensive treatment processes, making it practically difficult to utilize human urine. In this study, energy-efficient nutrient reconcentration was demonstrated using ion exchange membranes (IEMs) in a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) where substrate oxidation at the MEC anode provides energy for the separation of nutrient ions (e.g., NH4(+), HPO4(2-)). The rate of nutrient separation was magnified with increasing number of IEM pairs and electric voltage application (Eap). Ammonia and phosphate were reconcentrated from diluted human urine by a factor of up to 4.5 and 3.0, respectively (Eap = 1.2 V; 3-IEM pairs). The concentrating factor increased with increasing degrees of volume reduction, but it remained stationary when the volume ratio between the diluate (urine solution that is diluted in the IEM stack) and concentrate (urine solution that is reconcentrated) was 6 or greater. The energy requirement normalized by the mass of nutrient reconcentrated was 6.48 MJ/kg-N (1.80 kWh/kg-N) and 117.6 MJ/kg-P (32.7 kWh/kg-P). In addition to nutrient separation, the examined MEC reactor with three IEM pairs showed 54% removal of COD (chemical oxygen demand) in 47-hr batch operation. The high sulfate concentration in human urine resulted in substantial growth of both of acetate-oxidizing and H2-oxidizing sulfate reducing bacteria, greatly diminishing the energy recovery and Coulombic efficiency. However, the high microbial activity of sulfate reducing bacteria hardly affected the rate of nutrient reconcentration. With the capability to reconcentrate nutrients at a minimal energy consumption and simultaneous COD removal, the examined bioelectrochemical treatment method with an IEM application has a potential for practical nutrient recovery and sustainable treatment of source-separated human urine. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Trace Chemical Analysis Methodology

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1980-04-01

    oxidation of nitrite-containing species. Calibration studies were then made in preparation for the analysis of unknown samples of nitrate in urine and...the procedure for nitrate determination was made on two types of samples : human urine , and drinking water from a city water supply. Five samples of...AND URINE Concentration Standard Sample type of NO3, ppm deviation Drinking water 1.29 ±0 04 1.20 ±0.09 1.29 ±0.14 1.15 ±0.08 0.88 ±0.07 Human urine

  16. Competitive and blocking enzyme-linked immunoassay for detection of fetal bovine serum antibodies to bovine viral diarrhea virus.

    PubMed

    Katz, J B; Hanson, S K

    1987-02-01

    A competitive blocking enzyme-linked immunoassay (CELIA) was developed to detect bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) antibodies in undiluted fetal bovine serum (FBS). The CELIA was based on competition of serum BVDV antibodies with biotin-labelled anti-BVDV immunoglobulins (Ig) for a limited quantity of solid-phase BVDV antigen. Antigen preparation was simple, FBS could be tested undiluted, and detergent-containing washes were unnecessary. A series of dilutions of postnatal bovine BVDV antiserum prepared in FBS and a set of 147 undiluted abbatoir FBS samples were tested by both CELIA and serum neutralization tests (SNT). CELIA results on both sets of specimens correlated positively with SNT titers (r = 0.99 and r = 0.85). Relative to the SNT, CELIA sensitivity was 100%; specificity was 76%. CELIA detected a level of BVDV antibody below the 1:2-titer threshold detectable with the SNT. Advantages, limitations, and theoretical differences between the CELIA and SNT are discussed. A similar comparison of CELIA with non-competitive enzyme-linked immunoassay approaches to BVDV serodiagnosis is made. It is concluded that the CELIA is valuable in selecting only BVDV-seronegative FBS for use in virologic cell culture media.

  17. Acute toxicity of runoff from sealcoated pavement to Ceriodaphnia dubia and Pimephales promelas

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Mahler, Barbara J.; Ingersoll, Christopher G.; Van Metre, Peter C.; Kunz, James L.; Little, Edward E.

    2015-01-01

    Runoff from coal-tar-based (CT) sealcoated pavement is a source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and N-heterocycles to surface waters. We investigated acute toxicity of simulated runoff collected from 5 h to 111 days after application of CT sealcoat and from 4 h to 36 days after application of asphalt-based sealcoat containing about 7% CT sealcoat (AS/CT-blend). Ceriodaphnia dubia (cladocerans) and Pimephales promelas (fathead minnows) were exposed in the laboratory to undiluted and 1:10 diluted runoff for 48 h, then transferred to control water and exposed to 4 h of ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Mortality following exposure to undiluted runoff from unsealed asphalt pavement and UVR was ≤10% in all treatments. Test organisms exposed to undiluted CT runoff samples collected during the 3 days (C. dubia) or 36 days (P. promelas) following sealcoat application experienced 100% mortality prior to UVR exposure; with UVR exposure, mortality was 100% for runoff collected across the entire sampling period. Phototoxic-equivalent PAH concentrations and mortality demonstrated an exposure-response relation. The results indicate that runoff remains acutely toxic for weeks to months after CT sealcoat application.

  18. Acute toxicity of runoff from sealcoated pavement to Ceriodaphnia dubia and Pimephales promelas.

    PubMed

    Mahler, Barbara J; Ingersoll, Christopher G; Van Metre, Peter C; Kunz, James L; Little, Edward E

    2015-04-21

    Runoff from coal-tar-based (CT) sealcoated pavement is a source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and N-heterocycles to surface waters. We investigated acute toxicity of simulated runoff collected from 5 h to 111 days after application of CT sealcoat and from 4 h to 36 days after application of asphalt-based sealcoat containing about 7% CT sealcoat (AS/CT-blend). Ceriodaphnia dubia (cladocerans) and Pimephales promelas (fathead minnows) were exposed in the laboratory to undiluted and 1:10 diluted runoff for 48 h, then transferred to control water and exposed to 4 h of ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Mortality following exposure to undiluted runoff from unsealed asphalt pavement and UVR was ≤10% in all treatments. Test organisms exposed to undiluted CT runoff samples collected during the 3 days (C. dubia) or 36 days (P. promelas) following sealcoat application experienced 100% mortality prior to UVR exposure; with UVR exposure, mortality was 100% for runoff collected across the entire sampling period. Phototoxic-equivalent PAH concentrations and mortality demonstrated an exposure-response relation. The results indicate that runoff remains acutely toxic for weeks to months after CT sealcoat application.

  19. Variations in Urine Calcium Isotope: Composition Reflect Changes in Bone Mineral Balance in Humans

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Skulan, Joseph; Anbar, Ariel; Bullen, Thomas; Puzas, J. Edward; Shackelford, Linda; Smith, Scott M.

    2004-01-01

    Changes in bone mineral balance cause rapid and systematic changes in the calcium isotope composition of human urine. Urine from subjects in a 17 week bed rest study was analyzed for calcium isotopic composition. Comparison of isotopic data with measurements of bone mineral density and metabolic markers of bone metabolism indicates the calcium isotope composition of urine reflects changes in bone mineral balance. Urine calcium isotope composition probably is affected by both bone metabolism and renal processes. Calcium isotope. analysis of urine and other tissues may provide information on bone mineral balance that is in important respects better than that available from other techniques, and illustrates the usefulness of applying geochemical techniques to biomedical problems.

  20. Determination of urine-derived odorous compounds in a source separation sanitation system.

    PubMed

    Liu, Bianxia; Giannis, Apostolos; Chen, Ailu; Zhang, Jiefeng; Chang, Victor W C; Wang, Jing-Yuan

    2017-02-01

    Source separation sanitation systems have attracted more and more attention recently. However, separate urine collection and treatment could induce odor issues, especially in large scale application. In order to avoid such issues, it is necessary to monitor the odor related compounds that might be generated during urine storage. This study investigated the odorous compounds that emitted from source-separated human urine under different hydrolysis conditions. Batch experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of temperature, stale/fresh urine ratio and urine dilution on odor emissions. It was found that ammonia, dimethyl disulfide, allyl methyl sulfide and 4-heptanone were the main odorous compounds generated from human urine, with headspace concentrations hundreds of times higher than their respective odor thresholds. Furthermore, the high temperature accelerated urine hydrolysis and liquid-gas mass transfer, resulting a remarkable increase of odor emissions from the urine solution. The addition of stale urine enhanced urine hydrolysis and expedited odor emissions. On the contrary, diluted urine emitted less odorous compounds ascribed to reduced concentrations of odorant precursors. In addition, this study quantified the odor emissions and revealed the constraints of urine source separation in real-world applications. To address the odor issue, several control strategies are recommended for odor mitigation or elimination from an engineering perspective. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  1. Degradation of bradykinin in human urine by carboxypeptidase Y-like exopeptidase and neutral endopeptidase and their inhibition by ebelactone B and phosphoramidon.

    PubMed

    Saito, M; Majima, M; Katori, M; Sanjou, Y; Suyama, I; Shiokawa, H; Koshiba, K; Aoyagi, T

    1995-01-01

    Incubation of bradykinin with human urine resulted in a successive degradation of bradykinin-(1-8), bradykinin-(1-7), bradykinin-(1-6), and bradykinin-(1-5). Although D,L-2-mercaptomethyl-3-guanidinoethylthiopropanoic acid (100 microM) and captopril (100 microM) did not have any significant effect on bradykinin degradation in human urine, the neutral endopeptidase inhibitor phosphoramidon (100 microM), a carboxypeptidase Y-like exopeptidase inhibitor ebelactone B (100 microM), and o-phenanthroline (100 microM) significantly inhibited bradykinin degradation by 36%, 38% and 48% respectively. The combination of phosphoramidon and ebelactone B completely (by 95%) inhibited bradykinin degradation in human urine. At pH 5, bradykinin degradation was performed by carboxypeptidase Y-like exopeptidase; at pH 7, this degradation was performed by neutral endopeptidase in addition to carboxypeptidase Y-like exopeptidase. From these results, it can be concluded that carboxypeptidase Y-like exopeptidase and/or neutral endopeptidase certainly have a role in kinin degradation in human urine under neutral and acid pH conditions.

  2. Isolation of glycine betaine and proline betaine from human urine. Assessment of their role as osmoprotective agents for bacteria and the kidney.

    PubMed Central

    Chambers, S T; Kunin, C M

    1987-01-01

    Human urine is osmoprotective for enteric bacteria, permitting E. coli to grow with high concentrations of NaCl and other salts and even higher concentrations of sucrose and mannitol but not urea. The active material in urine is soluble in methanol and is precipitated by ammonium reineckate at acid pH. Using gel filtration and high-pressure liquid chromatography, we have identified two major osmoprotective compounds in urine. One is glycine betaine; the other is proline betaine as demonstrated by nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrum scanning, and chemical synthesis. Proline betaine has not been described previously to our knowledge in vertebrate tissues. It is known to be a cell volume-regulating agent for marine red algae and the euryhaline mollusk Elysia chloritica. We suggest that the presence of glycine and proline betaines in human urine may reflect an osmoprotective role for the kidney and that they protect bacteria in the urine only fortuitously. PMID:3546377

  3. Varicocele is the root cause of BPH: Destruction of the valves in the spermatic veins produces elevated pressure which diverts undiluted testosterone directly from the testes to the prostate.

    PubMed

    Goren, M; Gat, Y

    2018-03-22

    In varicocele, there is venous flow of free testosterone (FT) directly from the testes into the prostate. Intraprostatic FT accelerates prostate cell production and prolongs cell lifespan, leading to the development of BPH. We show that in a large group of patients presenting with BPH, bilateral varicocele is found in all patients. A total of 901 patients being treated for BPH were evaluated for varicocele. Three diagnostic methods were used as follows: physical examination, colour flow Doppler ultrasound and contact liquid crystal thermography. Bilateral varicocele was found in all 901 patients by at least one of three diagnostic methods. Of those subsequently treated by sclerotherapy, prostate volume was reduced in more than 80%, with prostate symptoms improved. A straightforward pathophysiologic connection exists between bilateral varicocele and BPH. The failure of the one-way valves in the internal spermatic veins leads to a cascade of phenomena that are unique to humans, a result of upright posture. The prostate is subjected to an anomalous venous supply of undiluted, bioactive free testosterone. FT, the obligate control hormone of prostate cells, reaches the prostate directly via the venous drainage system in high concentrations, accelerating the rate of cell production and lengthening cell lifespan, resulting in BPH. © 2018 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  4. In Vitro Quantified Determination of β-Amyloid 42 Peptides, a Biomarker of Neuro-Degenerative Disorders, in PBS and Human Serum Using a Simple, Cost-Effective Thin Gold Film Biosensor.

    PubMed

    Dai, Yifan; Molazemhosseini, Alireza; Liu, Chung Chiun

    2017-07-20

    A simple in vitro biosensor for the detection of β-amyloid 42 in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and undiluted human serum was fabricated and tested based on our platform sensor technology. The bio-recognition mechanism of this biosensor was based on the effect of the interaction between antibody and antigen of β-amyloid 42 to the redox couple probe of K₄Fe(CN)₆ and K₃Fe(CN)₆. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) served as the transduction mechanism measuring the current output derived from the redox coupling reaction. The biosensor was a three-electrode electrochemical system, and the working and counter electrodes were 50 nm thin gold film deposited by a sputtering technique. The reference electrode was a thick-film printed Ag/AgCl electrode. Laser ablation technique was used to define the size and structure of the biosensor. Cost-effective roll-to-roll manufacturing process was employed in the fabrication of the biosensor, making it simple and relatively inexpensive. Self-assembled monolayers (SAM) of 3-Mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) was employed to covalently immobilize the thiol group on the gold working electrode. A carbodiimide conjugation approach using N -(3-dimethylaminopropyl)- N '-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) and N -hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) was undertaken for cross-linking antibody of β-amyloid 42 to the carboxylic groups on one end of the MPA. The antibody concentration of β-amyloid 42 used was 18.75 µg/mL. The concentration range of β-amyloid 42 in this study was from 0.0675 µg/mL to 0.5 µg/mL for both PBS and undiluted human serum. DPV measurements showed excellent response in this antigen concentration range. Interference study of this biosensor was carried out in the presence of Tau protein antigen. Excellent specificity of this β-amyloid 42 biosensor was demonstrated without interference from other species, such as T-tau protein.

  5. Evaluation of the effects of PM101, a cyclodextrin-based formulation of intravenous amiodarone, on blood pressure in healthy humans.

    PubMed

    Cushing, Daniel J; Adams, Michael P; Cooper, Warren D; Zhang, Bing; Lipicky, Raymond J; Kowey, Peter R

    2009-10-15

    Intravenous amiodarone (AIV) is used to treat cardiac arrhythmias. Hypotension is the dose-limiting adverse event of AIV and is considered to be due to the cosolvents (polysorbate 80 and benzyl alcohol) in the formulation. To minimize hypotension, the initial loading dose of AIV (150 mg) is diluted to 1.5 mg/ml and slowly infused over 10 minutes. PM101 is a cosolvent-free intravenous formulation of amiodarone. The present study was designed to assess any potential hypotensive effect of PM101 (50 mg/ml) on the administration of the loading dose (150 mg) as an undiluted bolus push. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo- and active-controlled study in healthy human subjects receiving placebo (5% dextrose in water, n = 112) or PM101 (bolus push, n = 112). The primary end point was the noninferiority assessment of placebo versus PM101 for change in systolic blood pressure. For comparison, the standard loading dose of AIV (150 mg) was infused at 1.5 mg/ml over 10 minutes, and a rapid loading dose of AIV (150 mg) was infused undiluted (50 mg/ml) over 15 seconds. PM101 was noninferior to placebo, with changes from baseline systolic blood pressure for placebo and PM101 of -4.25 +/- 4.2 and -4.83 +/- 5.0 mm Hg, respectively. Neither regimen of AIV altered systolic blood pressure compared to placebo. Transient and significant increases in heart rate were observed in both AIV groups and with PM101 but not placebo. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrate that PM101 is devoid of hypotension in healthy human subjects. The absence of a hypotensive effect of AIV in this population suggests that further evaluation is needed in a patient population with cardiac disease.

  6. Highly sensitive radioimmunoassay for chorionic gonadotropin in human urine. [/sup 125/I tracer technique

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ayala, A.R.; Nisula, B.C.; Chen, H.C.

    1978-10-01

    The value of RIAs that measure hCG levels in human urine has been limited principally because of cross-reactivity with human LH. Recently, antisera generated to antigenic determinants on the intact hCG..beta.. subunit and its carboxyl-terminal peptide have been shown to exhibit substantially reduced human LH cross-reactivity. To take maximal advantage of these antisera and to minimize interference by nonspecific substances in urine, a procedure for extracting and concentrating hCG from 24-h urine samples was developed. The procedure involves preparation of a standard kaolin-acetone urine concentrate and adsorption of the hCG in the concentrate to Concanavalin A covalently linked to agarosemore » for purification and subsequent RIA. In urine samples obtained from patients with gestational trophoblastic disease, there was a direct correlation between hCG levels measured by RIA and those estimated by mouse uterine weight bioassy. In individual subjects, hCG levels were determined in serum and urine obtained the same day. When hCG was clearly detectable in the serum at levels greater than 1 ng/ml, the quantity of hCG measured in the urine concentrate exceeded 500 ng/24 h. The concentrates prepared from the urine of normal persons contained an hCG-like glycoprotein substance with antigenic determinants similar to those of the carboxyl-terminal peptide of hCG..beta... As the range of hCG immunoreactivity measured in the urine concentrates of normal subjects was 6 to 52 ng/24 h, specific and sensitive detection of urinary hCG could be accomplished in patients whose sera contained hCG undetectable by conventional RIA. Partial purification and concentration of urinary hCG by this procedure with subsequent RIA provides a sensitive and reliable method for detecting hCG in urine.« less

  7. 18, 19-Dihydroxycorticosterone: a new metabolite in human urine.

    PubMed

    Godzsa, J; Vecsei, P; Iwuanyanwu, T; Harnik, M

    1989-01-01

    Urines of patients with primary aldosteronism were extracted, the extract repeatedly chromatographed with reversed phase HPLC. The fractions immunoactive against 18-hydroxycorticosterone antiserum and being more polar than the 18-hydroxycorticosterone were further purified, derivatized and investigated by GC/MS. In this manner the natural occurrence of the 18, 19-dihydroxycorticosterone, which was lately synthetized, in human urine was confirmed.

  8. Human Excretion of Bisphenol A: Blood, Urine, and Sweat (BUS) Study

    PubMed Central

    Genuis, Stephen J.; Beesoon, Sanjay; Birkholz, Detlef; Lobo, Rebecca A.

    2012-01-01

    Background. Bisphenol A (BPA) is an ubiquitous chemical contaminant that has recently been associated with adverse effects on human health. There is incomplete understanding of BPA toxicokinetics, and there are no established interventions to eliminate this compound from the human body. Using 20 study participants, this study was designed to assess the relative concentration of BPA in three body fluids—blood, urine, and sweat—and to determine whether induced sweating may be a therapeutic intervention with potential to facilitate elimination of this compound. Methods. Blood, urine, and sweat were collected from 20 individuals (10 healthy participants and 10 participants with assorted health problems) and analyzed for various environmental toxicants including BPA. Results. BPA was found to differing degrees in each of blood, urine, and sweat. In 16 of 20 participants, BPA was identified in sweat, even in some individuals with no BPA detected in their serum or urine samples. Conclusions. Biomonitoring of BPA through blood and/or urine testing may underestimate the total body burden of this potential toxicant. Sweat analysis should be considered as an additional method for monitoring bioaccumulation of BPA in humans. Induced sweating appears to be a potential method for elimination of BPA. PMID:22253637

  9. Determination of γ-hydroxybutyrate in human urine samples by ion exclusion and ion exchange two-dimensional chromatography system.

    PubMed

    Liu, Junwei; Deng, Zhifen; Zhu, Zuoyi; Wang, Yong; Wang, Guoqing; Sun, Yu-An; Zhu, Yan

    2017-12-15

    A two-dimensional ion chromatography system was developed for the determination of γ-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) in human urine samples. Ion exclusion chromatography was used in the first dimensional separation for elimination of urine matrices and detection of GHB above 10mgL -1 , ion exchange chromatography was used in the second dimensional separation via column-switching technique for detection of GHB above 0.08mgL -1 . Under the optimized chromatographic conditions, the ion exclusion and ion exchange chromatography separation system exhibited satisfactory repeatability (RSD<3.1%, n=6) and good linearity in the range of 50-1000mgL -1 and 0.5-100mgL -1 , respectively. By this method, concentrations of GHB in the selected human urine samples were detected in the range of 0-1.57mgL -1 . The urine sample containing 0.89mgL -1 GHB was selected to evaluate the accuracy; the spiked recoveries of GHB were 95.9-102.8%. The results showed that the two-dimensional ion chromatography system was convenient and practical for the determination of GHB in human urine samples. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Biological monitoring of iodine, a water disinfectant for long-term space missions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zareba, G.; Cernichiari, E.; Goldsmith, L. A.; Clarkson, T. W.

    1995-01-01

    In order to establish guidelines for exposure of astronauts to iodine, used as a water disinfectant in space, we studied the usefulness of hair, saliva, and urine for biological monitoring in humans and in the human hair/nude mouse model. The monitoring of iodine in patients that received 150 mCi of Na131I (carrier-free) showed similar patterns of elimination for blood, saliva, and urine. The mean correlation coefficient (r) between iodine elimination for blood/saliva was 0.99, for blood/urine, 0.95, and for saliva/urine, 0.97. The absolute value of iodine concentrations in urine revealed marked variability, which was corrected by adjusting for creatinine levels. The autoradiographic studies of human hair demonstrated that iodine is rapidly incorporated into external layers of the hair root and can be removed easily during washing. These data were confirmed after iodine exposure using the human hair/nude mouse model. Hair does not provide satisfactory information about exposure due to unstable incorporation of iodine. The most useful medium for biological monitoring of astronauts exposed to high doses of iodine in drinking water is urine, when adjusted for creatinine, and saliva, if quantitative evaluation of flow rate is provided.

  11. Toilet compost and human urine used in agriculture: fertilizer value assessment and effect on cultivated soil properties.

    PubMed

    Sangare, D; Sou Dakoure, M; Hijikata, N; Lahmar, R; Yacouba, H; Coulibaly, L; Funamizu, N

    2015-01-01

    Toilet compost (TC) and human urine are among natural fertilizers, which raise interest due to their double advantages to combine sanitation and nutrient recovery. However, combination of urine and TC is not so spread probably because the best ratio (urine/TC) is still an issue and urine effect on soil chemical properties remains poorly documented. This study aims to determine the best ratio of urine and TC in okra cultivation, by targeting higher fertilization effect combined with lower impact on soil chemical properties. Based on Nitrogen requirement of okra, seven treatments were compared: (T0) no fertilizer, (T1) chemical fertilizer (NPK: 14-23-14), (T2) 100% urine, (T3) 100% TC, (T4) ratio of 75% urine+25% TC, (T5) 50% urine+50% TC and (T6) 25% urine+75% TC. Results indicated that T4 (75% urine+25% TC) gave the highest plant height and yield. In contrast, T2 (100% urine) gave the lowest results among all treatments, indicating toxicity effects on plant growth and associated final yield. Such toxicity is confirmed by soil chemical properties at T2 with soil acidification and significant increase in soil salinity. In contrast, application of urine together with TC mitigates soil acidification and salinity, highlighting the efficiency of urine and TC combination on soil chemical properties. However, further investigation is necessary to refine better urine/TC ratio for okra production.

  12. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of urine by an ingenious near-infrared Raman spectrometer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Feng, Shangyuan; Chen, Weiwei; Li, Yongzeng; Chen, Guannan; Huang, Zufang; Liao, Xiaohua; Xie, Zhiming; Chen, Rong

    2007-11-01

    This paper demonstrates the potential of an elaborately devised near-infrared Raman system in analysis of urine. The broad band in the long-wavelength region of the electronic absorption spectra of the sol with added adsorbent at certain concentrations has been explained in terms of the aggregation of the colloidal silver particles. We have reported the surface-enhanced Raman (SERS) spectra of urine, and studied the silver solution enhanced effects on the urine Raman scattering. The Raman bands of human's urine was assigned to certain molecule vibrations. We have found that different donators have dissimilar SERS of urine in different physiological condition. Comparatively few studies have explored the ability of Raman spectroscopy for the analysis of urine acid. In the present report, we investigated the ability of surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy to measure uric acid in the human urine. The results suggested that the present Raman system holds considerable promise for practical use. Practical applications such as the quantitative medical examination of urine metabolites may also be feasible in the near future.

  13. Using human urine as food for cyanobacteria in LSS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kalacheva, Galina; Gribovskaya, Iliada; Kolmakova, Angela

    In biological LSS: human, higher plants, algae, united by common cycle of matter, native human urine is the most problematic substance for using in inter-link exchange. It contains urea, ammonium compounds and up to 10 g/l of NaCl. Each of the mentioned components is toxic for growing higher plants. As for inferior plants, experiments showed that cyanobacteria of genus Spirulina platensis and similar genus Oscillatoria deflexa can grow at NaCl concentrations up to 20 g/l and NH4Cl concentrations up to 800 mg/l. These cyanobacteria can be used in LSS as a photosynthesizing link. Besides, S. platensis is edible for humans and fish. To use urine as food for algae, it is necessary to remove urea and organics. All previously used methods for urine treatment aimed at urea destruction: heating to 300oC, ultraviolet exposure, freezing, oxidation on reactor with hydrogen peroxide, had no effect. We used the following method of urine treatment: urine evaporation till dry residue, subsequent combustion in muffle furnace at 450-500oC and creation of ash water extract of the same volume as the initial urine. Comparison of standard Zarrouk's solution for S. platensis and O. deflexa with the water extract of urine ash showed that the concentrations of K, Ca, Mg, P, S were similar. Successful experiments were made with O. deflexa that were grown on nutrient solution made of the water extract of urine ash with 10 g/l of NaHCO3 and 2 g/l of NaNO3. The sources of intersystem production of HCO3 and NO3 were shown, and the biochemical composition of the investigated algae species, including mineral composition, protein, carbohydrate, amino acid, lipid and vitamin content were studied.

  14. One-year enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay follow-up of human interleukin for Da cells/leukemia inhibitory factor in blood and urine of 22 kidney transplant recipients.

    PubMed

    Morel, D; Taupin, J L; Combe, C; Potaux, L; Gualde, N; Moreau, J F

    1994-12-15

    The cytokine human interleukin for Da cells/leukemia inhibitory factor (HILDA/LIF) exerts multiple biological effects in vitro. In mice, high circulating levels of HILDA/LIF induce a wide range of pathophysiological events, some of them closely involved with immunological and inflammatory responses. Using a sandwich ELISA recognizing the natural human HILDA/LIF molecule with a threshold of 50 pg/ml in urine and 150 pg/ml in plasma, we monitored the urine and plasma HILDA/LIF levels of 22 patients in their first year after a kidney transplant. HILDA/LIF urine excretion is increased during acute rejection, and infections also trigger heavy HILDA/LIF plasma concentrations or urine excretion. In addition, this study raises the question of HILDA/LIF involvement in post-kidney-transplant phenomena such as hypercalcemia, osteoporosis, or the reversal of anemia.

  15. The asymptomatic bacteriuria Escherichia coli strain 83972 outcompetes uropathogenic E. coli strains in human urine.

    PubMed

    Roos, Viktoria; Ulett, Glen C; Schembri, Mark A; Klemm, Per

    2006-01-01

    Escherichia coli is the most common organism associated with asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU). In contrast to uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), which causes symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTI), very little is known about the mechanisms by which these strains colonize the human urinary tract. The prototype ABU E. coli strain 83972 was originally isolated from a girl who had carried it asymptomatically for 3 years. Deliberate colonization of UTI-susceptible individuals with E. coli 83972 has been used successfully as an alternative approach for the treatment of patients who are refractory to conventional therapy. Colonization with strain 83972 appears to prevent infection with UPEC strains in such patients despite the fact that this strain is unable to express the primary adhesins involved in UTI, viz. P and type 1 fimbriae. Here we investigated the growth characteristics of E. coli 83972 in human urine and show that it can outcompete a representative spectrum of UPEC strains for growth in urine. The unique ability of ABU E. coli 83972 to outcompete UPEC in urine was also demonstrated in a murine model of human UTI, confirming the selective advantage over UPEC in vivo. Comparison of global gene expression profiles of E. coli 83972 grown in lab medium and human urine revealed significant differences in expression levels in the two media; significant down-regulation of genes encoding virulence factors such as hemolysin, lipid A, and capsular polysaccharides was observed in cells grown in urine. Clearly, divergent abilities of ABU E. coli and UPEC to exploit human urine as a niche for persistence and survival suggest that these key differences may be exploited for preventative and/or therapeutic approaches.

  16. Determination of glucose in human urine by cyclic voltammetry method using gold electrode

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Riyanto; Supwatul Hakim, Muh.

    2018-01-01

    This study has been the determination of glucose in human urine by cyclic voltammetry method using gold electrode. The gold electrode was prepared using gold wire with purity 99.99%, size 1.0 mm by length and wide respectively, connected with silver wire using silver conductive paint. The effect of electrolyte, pH and glucose concentration has been determined to produce the optimum method. The research showed the KNO3 is a good electrolyte for determination of glucose in human urine using gold electrode. The effect of glucose concentration have the coefficient correlation is R2 = 0.994. The results of the recovery using addition method showed at range95-105%. As a conclusion isa gold electrode is a good electrode for electrochemical sensors to the determination of glucose in human urine.

  17. Hollow-fiber-supported liquid phase microextraction with in situ derivatization and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for determination of chlorophenols in human urine samples.

    PubMed

    Ito, Rie; Kawaguchi, Migaku; Honda, Hidehiro; Koganei, Youji; Okanouchi, Noriya; Sakui, Norihiro; Saito, Koichi; Nakazawa, Hiroyuki

    2008-09-01

    A simple and highly sensitive method that involves hollow-fiber-supported liquid phase microextraction (HF-LPME) with in situ derivatization and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed for the determination of chlorophenols (CPs) such as 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP), 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TrCP), 2,3,4,6-tetrachlorophenol (TeCP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP) in human urine samples. Human urine samples were enzymatically de-conjugated with beta-glucuronidase and sulfatase. After de-conjugation, HF-LPME with in situ derivatization was performed. After extraction, 2 microl of extract was carefully withdrawn into a syringe and injected into the GC-MS system. The limits of detection (S/N=3) and quantification (S/N>10) of CPs in the human urine samples are 0.1-0.2 ng ml(-1) and 0.5-1 ng ml(-1), respectively. The calibration curve for CPs is linear with a correlation coefficient of >0.99 in the range of 0.5-500 ng ml(-1) for DCP and TrCP, and of 1-500 ng ml(-1) for TeCP and PCP, respectively. The average recoveries of CPs (n=6) in human urine samples are 81.0-104.0% (R.S.D.: 1.9-6.6%) with correction using added surrogate standards. When the proposed method was applied to human urine samples, CPs were detected at sub-ng ml(-1) level.

  18. Integrated forward osmosis-membrane distillation process for human urine treatment.

    PubMed

    Liu, Qianliang; Liu, Caihong; Zhao, Lei; Ma, Weichao; Liu, Huiling; Ma, Jun

    2016-03-15

    This study demonstrated a forward osmosis-membrane distillation (FO-MD) hybrid system for real human urine treatment. A series of NaCl solutions at different concentrations were adopted for draw solutions in FO process, which were also the feed solutions of MD process. To establish a stable and continuous integrated FO-MD system, individual FO process with different NaCl concentrations and individual direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process with different feed temperatures were firstly investigated separately. Four stable equilibrium conditions were obtained from matching the water transfer rates of individual FO and MD processes. It was found that the integrated system is stable and sustainable when the water transfer rate of FO subsystem is equal to that of MD subsystem. The rejections to main contaminants in human urine were also investigated. Although individual FO process had relatively high rejection to Total Organic Carbon (TOC), Total Nitrogen (TN) and Ammonium Nitrogen (NH4(+)-N) in human urine, these contaminants could also accumulate in draw solution after long term performance. The MD process provided an effective rejection to contaminants in draw solution after FO process and the integrated system revealed nearly complete rejection to TOC, TN and NH4(+)-N. This work provided a potential treatment process for human urine in some fields such as water regeneration in space station and water or nutrient recovery from source-separated urine. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Quartz crystal microbalance for the cardiac markers/antibodies binding kinetic measurements in the plasma samples

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Agafonova, L. E.; Shumyantseva, V. V.; Archakov, A. I.

    2014-06-01

    The quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) was exploited for cardiac markers detection and kinetic studies of immunochemical reaction of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and human heart fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) with the corresponding monoclonal antibodies in undiluted plasma (serum) and standard solutions. The QCM technique allowed to dynamically monitor the kinetic differences in specific interactions and nonspecific sorption, without multiple labeling procedures and separation steps. The affinity binding process was characterized by the association (ka) and the dissociation (kd) kinetic constants and the equilibrium association (K) constant, all of which were obtained from experimental data.

  20. Availability of arsenic in human milk in women and its correlation with arsenic in urine of breastfed children living in arsenic contaminated areas in Bangladesh.

    PubMed

    Islam, Md Rafiqul; Attia, John; Alauddin, Mohammad; McEvoy, Mark; McElduff, Patrick; Slater, Christine; Islam, Md Monirul; Akhter, Ayesha; d'Este, Catherine; Peel, Roseanne; Akter, Shahnaz; Smith, Wayne; Begg, Stephen; Milton, Abul Hasnat

    2014-12-04

    Early life exposure to inorganic arsenic may be related to adverse health effects in later life. However, there are few data on postnatal arsenic exposure via human milk. In this study, we aimed to determine arsenic levels in human milk and the correlation between arsenic in human milk and arsenic in mothers and infants urine. Between March 2011 and March 2012, this prospective study identified a total of 120 new mother-baby pairs from Kashiani (subdistrict), Bangladesh. Of these, 30 mothers were randomly selected for human milk samples at 1, 6 and 9 months post-natally; the same mother baby pairs were selected for urine sampling at 1 and 6 months. Twelve urine samples from these 30 mother baby pairs were randomly selected for arsenic speciation. Arsenic concentration in human milk was low and non-normally distributed. The median arsenic concentration in human milk at all three time points remained at 0.5 μg/L. In the mixed model estimates, arsenic concentration in human milk was non-significantly reduced by -0.035 μg/L (95% CI: -0.09 to 0.02) between 1 and 6 months and between 6 and 9 months. With the progression of time, arsenic concentration in infant's urine increased non-significantly by 0.13 μg/L (95% CI: -1.27 to 1.53). Arsenic in human milk at 1 and 6 months was not correlated with arsenic in the infant's urine at the same time points (r = -0.13 at 1 month and r = -0.09 at 6 month). Arsenite (AsIII), arsenate (AsV), monomethyl arsonic acid (MMA), dimethyl arsinic acid (DMA) and arsenobetaine (AsB) were the constituents of total urinary arsenic; DMA was the predominant arsenic metabolite in infant urine. We observed a low arsenic concentration in human milk. The concentration was lower than the World Health Organization's maximum permissible limit (WHO Permissible Limit 15 μg/kg-bw/week). Our findings support the safety of breastfeeding even in arsenic contaminated areas.

  1. Characterization of the canine urinary proteome.

    PubMed

    Brandt, Laura E; Ehrhart, E J; Scherman, Hataichanok; Olver, Christine S; Bohn, Andrea A; Prenni, Jessica E

    2014-06-01

    Urine is an attractive biofluid for biomarker discovery as it is easy and minimally invasive to obtain. While numerous studies have focused on the characterization of human urine, much less research has focused on canine urine. The objectives of this study were to characterize the universal canine urinary proteome (both soluble and exosomal), to determine the overlap between the canine proteome and a representative human urinary proteome study, to generate a resource for future canine studies, and to determine the suitability of the dog as a large animal model for human diseases. The soluble and exosomal fractions of normal canine urine were characterized using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Biological Networks Gene Ontology (BiNGO) software was utilized to assign the canine urinary proteome to respective Gene Ontology categories, such as Cellular Component, Molecular Function, and Biological Process. Over 500 proteins were confidently identified in normal canine urine. Gene Ontology analysis revealed that exosomal proteins were largely derived from an intracellular location, while soluble proteins included both extracellular and membrane proteins. Exosome proteins were assigned to metabolic processes and localization, while soluble proteins were primarily annotated to specific localization processes. Several proteins identified in normal canine urine have previously been identified in human urine where these proteins are related to various extrarenal and renal diseases. The results of this study illustrate the potential of the dog as an animal model for human disease states and provide the framework for future studies of canine renal diseases. © 2014 American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology and European Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology.

  2. Metabolite profiling of bendamustine in urine of cancer patients after administration of [14C]bendamustine.

    PubMed

    Dubbelman, Anne-Charlotte; Jansen, Robert S; Rosing, Hilde; Darwish, Mona; Hellriegel, Edward; Robertson, Philmore; Schellens, Jan H M; Beijnen, Jos H

    2012-07-01

    Bendamustine is an alkylating agent consisting of a mechlorethamine derivative, a benzimidazole group, and a butyric acid substituent. A human mass balance study showed that bendamustine is extensively metabolized and subsequently excreted in urine. However, limited information is available on the metabolite profile of bendamustine in human urine. The objective of this study was to elucidate the metabolic pathways of bendamustine in humans by identification of its metabolites excreted in urine. Human urine samples were collected up to 168 h after an intravenous infusion of 120 mg/m(2) (80-95 μCi) [(14)C]bendamustine. Metabolites of [(14)C]bendamustine were identified using liquid chromatography (high-resolution)-tandem mass spectrometry with off-line radioactivity detection. Bendamustine and a total of 25 bendamustine-related compounds were detected. Observed metabolic conversions at the benzimidazole and butyric acid moiety were N-demethylation and γ-hydroxylation. In addition, various other combinations of these conversions with modifications at the mechlorethamine moiety were observed, including hydrolysis (the primary metabolic pathway), cysteine conjugation, and subsequent biotransformation to mercapturic acid and thiol derivatives, N-dealkylation, oxidation, and conjugation with phosphate, creatinine, and uric acid. Bendamustine-derived products containing phosphate, creatinine, and uric acid conjugates were also detected in control urine incubated with bendamustine. Metabolites that were excreted up to 168 h after the infusion included products of dihydrolysis and cysteine conjugation of bendamustine and γ-hydroxybendamustine. The range of metabolic reactions is generally consistent with those reported for rat urine and bile, suggesting that the overall processes involved in metabolic elimination are qualitatively the same in rats and humans.

  3. Simple Quantification of Pentosidine in Human Urine and Plasma by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Ji Sang; Chung, Yoon-Sok; Chang, Sun Young

    2017-01-01

    Pentosidine is an advanced glycation end-product (AGE) and fluorescent cross-link compound. A simple high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for the detection and quantification of pentosidine in human urine and plasma. The mobile phase used a gradient system to improve separation of pentosidine from endogenous peaks, and chromatograms were monitored by fluorescent detector set at excitation and emission wavelengths of 328 and 378 nm, respectively. The retention time for pentosidine was 24.3 min and the lower limits of quantification (LLOQ) in human urine and plasma were 1 nM. The intraday assay precisions (coefficients of variation) were generally low and found to be in the range of 5.19–7.49% and 4.96–8.78% for human urine and plasma, respectively. The corresponding values of the interday assay precisions were 9.45% and 4.27%. Accuracies (relative errors) ranged from 87.9% to 115%. Pentosidine was stable in a range of pH solutions, human urine, and plasma. In summary, this HPLC method can be applied in future preclinical and clinical evaluation of pentosidine in the diabetic patients. PMID:29181026

  4. Micro-bead injection spectroscopy for label-free automated determination of immunoglobulin G in human serum.

    PubMed

    Ramos, Inês I; Magalhães, Luís M; Barreiros, Luisa; Reis, Salette; Lima, José L F C; Segundo, Marcela A

    2018-01-01

    Immunoglobulin G (IgG) represents the major fraction of antibodies in healthy adult human serum, and deviations from physiological levels are a generic marker of disease corresponding to different pathologies. Therefore, screening methods for IgG evaluation are a valuable aid to diagnostics. The present work proposes a rapid, automatic, and miniaturized method based on UV-vis micro-bead injection spectroscopy (μ-BIS) for the real-time determination of human serum IgG with label-free detection. Relying on attachment of IgG in rec-protein G immobilized in Sepharose 4B, a bioaffinity column is automatically assembled, where IgG is selectively retained and determined by on-column optical density measurement. A "dilution-and-shoot" approach (50 to 200 times) was implemented without further sample treatment because interferences were flushed out of the column upon sample loading, with minimization of carryover and cross-contamination by automatically discarding the sorbent (0.2 mg) after each determination. No interference from human serum albumin at 60 mg mL -1 in undiluted sample was found. The method allowed IgG determination in the range 100-300 μg mL -1 (corresponding to 5.0-60 mg mL -1 in undiluted samples), with a detection limit of 33 μg mL -1 (1.7 mg mL -1 for samples, dilution factor of 50). RSD values were < 9.4 and < 11.7%, for intra and inter-assay precision, respectively, while recovery values for human serum spiked with IgG at high pathological levels were 97.8-101.4%. Comparison to commercial ELISA kit showed no significant difference for tested samples (n = 8). Moreover, time-to-result decreased from several hours to < 5 min and analysis cost decreased 10 times, showing the potential of the proposed approach as a point-of-care method. Graphical abstract Micro-Bead Injection Spectroscopy method for real time, automated and label-free determination of total serum human Immunoglobulin G (IgG). The method was designed for Lab-on-Valve (LOV) platforms using a miniaturised protein G bioaffinity separative approach. IgG are separated from serum matrix components upon quantification with low non-specific binding in less than 5 min.

  5. Impedimetric method for measuring ultra-low E. coli concentrations in human urine.

    PubMed

    Settu, Kalpana; Chen, Ching-Jung; Liu, Jen-Tsai; Chen, Chien-Lung; Tsai, Jang-Zern

    2015-04-15

    In this study, we developed an interdigitated gold microelectrode-based impedance sensor to detect Escherichia coli (E. coli) in human urine samples for urinary tract infection (UTI) diagnosis. E. coli growth in human urine samples was successfully monitored during a 12-h culture, and the results showed that the maximum relative changes could be measured at 10Hz. An equivalent electrical circuit model was used for evaluating the variations in impedance characteristics of bacterial growth. The equivalent circuit analysis indicated that the change in impedance values at low frequencies was caused by double layer capacitance due to bacterial attachment and formation of biofilm on electrode surface in urine. A linear relationship between the impedance change and initial E. coli concentration was obtained with the coefficient of determination R(2)>0.90 at various growth times of 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 12h in urine. Thus our sensor is capable of detecting a wide range of E. coli concentration, 7×10(0) to 7×10(8) cells/ml, in urine samples with high sensitivity. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Determination of N-methylsuccinimide and 2-hydroxy-N-methylsuccinimide in human urine and plasma.

    PubMed

    Jönsson, B A; Akesson, B

    1997-12-19

    A method for determination of N-methylsuccinimide (MSI) and 2-hydroxy-N-methylsuccinimide (2-HMSI) in human urine and of MSI in human plasma was developed. MSI and 2-HMSI are metabolites of the widely used organic solvent N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP). MSI and 2-HMSI were purified from urine and plasma by C8 solid-phase extraction and analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in the negative-ion chemical ionisation mode. The intra-day precisions in urine were 2-6% for MSI (50 and 400 ng/ml) and 3-5% for 2-HMSI (1000 and 8000 ng/ml). For MSI in plasma it was 2% (60 and 1200 ng/ml). The between-day precisions in urine were 3-4% for MSI (100 and 1000 ng/ml) and 2-4% for 2-HMSI (10,000 and 18,000 ng/ml) and 3-4% for MSI in plasma (100 and 900 ng/ml). The recoveries from urine were 109-117% for MSI (50 and 400 ng/ml) and 81-89% for 2-HMSI (1000 and 8000 ng/ml). The recovery of MSI from plasma was 91-101% (50 and 500 ng/ml). The detection limits for MSI were 3 ng/ml in urine and 1 ng/ml in plasma and that of 2-HMSI in urine was 200 ng/ml. The method is applicable for analysis of urine and plasma samples from workers exposed to NMP.

  7. Speciation analysis of organotin compounds in human urine by headspace solid-phase micro-extraction and gas chromatography with pulsed flame photometric detection.

    PubMed

    Valenzuela, Aníbal; Lespes, Gaëtane; Quiroz, Waldo; Aguilar, Luis F; Bravo, Manuel A

    2014-07-01

    A new headspace solid-phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) method followed by gas chromatography with pulsed flame photometric detection (GC-PFPD) analysis has been developed for the simultaneous determination of 11 organotin compounds, including methyl-, butyl-, phenyl- and octyltin derivates, in human urine. The methodology has been validated by the analysis of urine samples fortified with all analytes at different concentration levels, and recovery rates above 87% and relative precisions between 2% and 7% were obtained. Additionally, an experimental-design approach has been used to model the storage stability of organotin compounds in human urine, demonstrating that organotins are highly degraded in this medium, although their stability is satisfactory during the first 4 days of storage at 4 °C and pH=4. Finally, this methodology was applied to urine samples collected from harbor workers exposed to antifouling paints; methyl- and butyltins were detected, confirming human exposure in this type of work environment. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. cis-3,4-Methylene-heptanoylcarnitine: characterization and verification of the C8:1 acylcarnitine in human urine.

    PubMed

    Yang, Shuming; Minkler, Paul; Hoppel, Charles

    2007-10-01

    Acylcarnitine profiles have been used to diagnose specific inherited metabolic diseases. For some acylcarnitines, however, the detailed structure of their acyl group remains a question. One such incompletely characterized acylcarnitine is cis-3,4-methylene-heptanoylcarnitine. To investigate this problem, we isolated the "C8:1" acylcarnitine from human urine, transesterified it to form its acyl picolinyl ester, and characterized it by GC/EI-MS. These results were compared to GC/EI-MS results from authentic standards we synthesized (cis-3,4-methylene-heptanoylcarnitine, trans-2-octenoylcarnitine, 3-octenoylcarnitine, cis-4-octenoylcarnitine, and trans-4-octenoylcarnitine). Only cis-3,4-methylene-heptanoylcarnitine matched the urinary "C8:1" acylcarnitine. The standards were then spiked in human urine, converted to pentafluorophenacyl esters, and detected by HPLC/MS. cis-3,4-Methylene-heptanoylcarnitine exactly matched the "C8:1" acylcarnitine in urine, whereas none of the other C8:1 acylcarnitine standards matched. Based on the data from GC/EI-MS and HPLC/MS, the "C8:1" acylcarnitine in human urine is shown to be cis-3,4-methylene-heptanoylcarnitine.

  9. Can nail, hair and urine be used for biomonitoring of human exposure to perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid?

    PubMed

    Li, Jingguang; Guo, Feifei; Wang, Yuxin; Zhang, Jialing; Zhong, Yuxin; Zhao, Yunfeng; Wu, Yongning

    2013-03-01

    Because of the disadvantages of invasive sampling, it is desirable to explore non-invasive matrices for human biomonitoring of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the application of nail, hair and urine for human biomonitoring of PFOS and PFOA. The concentrations of PFOS and PFOA in matched nail, hair, urine and serum samples collected from 64 donors were measured. The chemicals of interest were detected with high detection frequency in these matrices (90%-100%) except for PFOA in urine samples (56%). Generally, the gender influences on the levels of PFOS and PFOA in these non-invasive matrices were in agreement with that in serum. For PFOS, the coefficients of Spearman correlation between serum samples and nail, hair and urine samples were 0.786 (p<0.001), 0.545 (p<0.001) and 0.302 (p<0.05), respectively. For PFOA, the correlation was only observed between nail samples and serum samples with a correlation coefficient of 0.299 (p<0.05). The results suggested that nail has more potential than hair and urine to be applied in human biomonitoring for PFOS and PFOA in general populations. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Fully automated methods for the determination of hydrochlorothiazide in human plasma and urine.

    PubMed

    Hsieh, J Y; Lin, C; Matuszewski, B K; Dobrinska, M R

    1994-12-01

    LC assays utilizing fully automated sample preparation procedures on Zymark PyTechnology Robot and BenchMate Workstation for the quantification of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) in human plasma and urine have been developed. After aliquoting plasma and urine samples, and adding internal standard (IS) manually, the robot executed buffer and organic solvent addition, liquid-liquid extraction, solvent evaporation and on-line LC injection steps for plasma samples, whereas, BenchMate performed buffer and organic solvent addition, liquid-liquid and solid-phase extractions, and on-line LC injection steps for urine samples. Chromatographic separations were carried out on Beckman Octyl Ultrasphere column using the mobile phase composed of 12% (v/v) acetonitrile and 88% of either an ion-pairing reagent (plasma) or 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid (urine). The eluent from the column was monitored with UV detector (271 nm). Peak heights for HCTZ and IS were automatically processed using a PE-Nelson ACCESS*CHROM laboratory automation system. The assays have been validated in the concentration range of 2-100 ng ml-1 in plasma and 0.1-20 micrograms ml-1 in urine. Both plasma and urine assays have the sensitivity and specificity necessary to determine plasma and urine concentrations of HCTZ from low dose (6.25/12.5 mg) administration of HCTZ to human subjects in the presence or absence of losartan.

  11. Solid phase extraction of 2,4-D from human urine.

    PubMed

    Thompson, T S; Treble, R G

    1996-10-01

    A method for determining urinary concentrations of 2,4-D in samples collected from non-occupationally, environmentally exposed individuals was developed. The 2,4-D was extracted from fortified human urine samples using octadecylsilane solid phase extraction cartridges. The average percent recovery for urine samples spiked at 2 and 20 ng/mL was 100% and 93%, respectively. The method detection limit was estimated to be 0.75 ng of 2,4-D per mL of urine based on a 10 mL sample size. The potential use of 2,4-dichlorophenylacetic acid as a surrogate standard was also investigated.

  12. Utilizing two detectors in the measurement of trichloroacetic acid in human urine by reaction headspace gas chromatography.

    PubMed

    Xie, Wei-Qi; Gong, Yi-Xian; Yu, Kong-Xian

    2018-05-16

    A reaction headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC) technique was investigated for quantitatively analyzing trichloroacetic acid in human urine. This method is based on the decomposition reaction of trichloroacetic acid under high-temperature conditions. The carbon dioxide and chloroform formed from the decomposition reaction can be respectively detected by the thermal conductivity detection HS-GC and flame ionization detection HS-GC. The reaction can be completed in 60 min at 90°C. This method was used to quantify 25 different human urine samples, which had a range of trichloroacetic acid from 0.52 to 3.47 mg/L. It also utilized two different detectors, the thermal conductivity detector and the flame ionization detector. The present reaction HS-GC method is accurate, reliable and well suitable for batch detection of trichloroacetic acid in human urine. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  13. Comparative in vitro encrustation studies of biomaterials in human urine.

    PubMed

    Gleeson, M J; Glueck, J A; Feldman, L; Griffith, D P; Noon, G P

    1989-01-01

    A new dynamic in vitro human urine model was developed to compare biomaterial encrustation. The model incorporates a capacity to study seven biomaterials, a daily urine inflow of 500 ml, a reservoir capacity of 700 ml, and a turnover rate of four days. Encrustation studies performed for 2 weeks in sterile and infected (Proteus Vulgaris) urine on segmented polyether polyurethane, polyester polyurethane, silicone (Mitsui), silicone (Dow Corning), biothane, biolor 1 and biolor 11 demonstrated that biolor 11 (silicone-carbon composite) caused the least encrustation. Encrustation analysis showed brushite in the sterile model and struvite and ammonium acid urate in the infected mode I. Biolor II should have beneficial applications in catheters, stents and prosthetics which come in contact with urine.

  14. Pure human urine is a good fertiliser for cucumbers.

    PubMed

    Heinonen-Tanski, Helvi; Sjöblom, Annalena; Fabritius, Helena; Karinen, Päivi

    2007-01-01

    Human urine obtained from separating toilets was tested as a fertiliser for cultivation of outdoor cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) in a Nordic climate. The urine used contained high amounts of nitrogen with some phosphorus and potassium, but numbers of enteric microorganisms were low even though urine had not been preserved before sampling. The cucumber yield after urine fertilisation was similar or slightly better than the yield obtained from control rows fertilised with commercial mineral fertiliser. None of the cucumbers contained any enteric microorganisms (coliforms, enterococci, coliphages and clostridia). In the taste assessment, 11 out of 20 persons could recognise which cucumber of three cucumbers was different but they did not prefer one over the other cucumber samples, since all of them were assessed as equally good.

  15. Convenient radioimmunoassay for urinary human choriogonadotropin without interference by urinary human lutropin

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wehmann, R.E.; Harman, S.M.; Birken, S.

    1981-12-01

    We have devised a radioimmunoassay (RIA) for human choriogonadotropin (hCG) in first morning-voided urine specimens. Concanavalin A, a lectin, is used to extract and concentrate the hCG from urine. A high-affinity antiserum is used, directed to the hCG..beta.. carboxy-terminal peptide, a unique immunological determinant not shared by the beta subunit of human lutropin. This ensures that urinary human lutropin-related molecules, which interfere with RIAs involving antisera to the intact hCG..beta.. subunit, will not cross react in this assay. A concentration of hCG as low as 0.4 ..mu..g/L can be detected in the first morning-voided urine. The effective sensitivity of thismore » assay for the unequivocal detection of hCG production is somewhat better than that achieved with the serum hCG RIA involving antisera to the hCG..beta.. subunit. The improved specificity and sensitivity of this assay, and the greater convenience of collecting samples of urine rather than blood, are clinically useful advantages of this approach to assessing hCG production in humans.« less

  16. Comparative Study of Seven Commercial Kits for Human DNA Extraction from Urine Samples Suitable for DNA Biomarker-Based Public Health Studies

    PubMed Central

    El Bali, Latifa; Diman, Aurélie; Bernard, Alfred; Roosens, Nancy H. C.; De Keersmaecker, Sigrid C. J.

    2014-01-01

    Human genomic DNA extracted from urine could be an interesting tool for large-scale public health studies involving characterization of genetic variations or DNA biomarkers as a result of the simple and noninvasive collection method. These studies, involving many samples, require a rapid, easy, and standardized extraction protocol. Moreover, for practicability, there is a necessity to collect urine at a moment different from the first void and to store it appropriately until analysis. The present study compared seven commercial kits to select the most appropriate urinary human DNA extraction procedure for epidemiological studies. DNA yield has been determined using different quantification methods: two classical, i.e., NanoDrop and PicoGreen, and two species-specific real-time quantitative (q)PCR assays, as DNA extracted from urine contains, besides human, microbial DNA also, which largely contributes to the total DNA yield. In addition, the kits giving a good yield were also tested for the presence of PCR inhibitors. Further comparisons were performed regarding the sampling time and the storage conditions. Finally, as a proof-of-concept, an important gene related to smoking has been genotyped using the developed tools. We could select one well-performing kit for the human DNA extraction from urine suitable for molecular diagnostic real-time qPCR-based assays targeting genetic variations, applicable to large-scale studies. In addition, successful genotyping was possible using DNA extracted from urine stored at −20°C for several months, and an acceptable yield could also be obtained from urine collected at different moments during the day, which is particularly important for public health studies. PMID:25365790

  17. Detection of human papillomavirus DNA in urine. A review of the literature.

    PubMed

    Vorsters, A; Micalessi, I; Bilcke, J; Ieven, M; Bogers, J; Van Damme, P

    2012-05-01

    The detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in urine, a specimen easily obtained by a non-invasive self-sampling method, has been the subject of a considerable number of studies. This review provides an overview of 41 published studies; assesses how different methods and settings may contribute to the sometimes contradictory outcomes; and discusses the potential relevance of using urine samples in vaccine trials, disease surveillance, epidemiological studies, and specific settings of cervical cancer screening. Urine sampling, storage conditions, sample preparation, DNA extraction, and DNA amplification may all have an important impact on HPV DNA detection and the form of viral DNA that is detected. Possible trends in HPV DNA prevalence in urine could be inferred from the presence of risk factors or the diagnosis of cervical lesions. HPV DNA detection in urine is feasible and may become a useful tool but necessitates further improvement and standardization.

  18. Urea and urine are a viable and cost-effective nitrogen source for Yarrowia lipolytica biomass and lipid accumulation.

    PubMed

    Brabender, Matthew; Hussain, Murtaza Shabbir; Rodriguez, Gabriel; Blenner, Mark A

    2018-03-01

    Yarrowia lipolytica is an industrial yeast that has been used in the sustainable production of fatty acid-derived and lipid compounds due to its high growth capacity, genetic tractability, and oleaginous properties. This investigation examines the possibility of utilizing urea or urine as an alternative to ammonium sulfate as a nitrogen source to culture Y. lipolytica. The use of a stoichiometrically equivalent concentration of urea in lieu of ammonium sulfate significantly increased cell growth when glucose was used as the carbon source. Furthermore, Y. lipolytica growth was equally improved when grown with synthetic urine and real human urine. Equivalent or better lipid production was achieved when cells are grown on urea or urine. The successful use of urea and urine as nitrogen sources for Y. lipolytica growth highlights the potential of using cheaper media components as well as exploiting and recycling non-treated human waste streams for biotechnology processes.

  19. Calcium Stone Growth in Urine from Cystic Fibrosis Patients and Healthy Controls

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McSorley, Anita; Jones, Andrew M.; Webb, A. Kevin; Rao, P. Nagaraj; Kavanagh, John P.

    2007-04-01

    Cystic fibrosis patients have an increased risk of renal stone disease. There is some evidence that this may be related to a different excretory pattern of stone risk factors, but an alternative hypothesis, that the urine of cystic fibrosis patients is deficient in urinary inhibitors of crystallization and stone formation has not been tested. Here we have grown calcium stones, in vitro, in the presence of urine from healthy controls and compared this with growth in the presence of urine from cystic fibrosis patients. A stone farm was used to grow twelve calcium stones simultaneously, firstly in artificial urine for about 200 hours and then in 90% whole human urine for another 500 hours. Six of the stones received urine from healthy controls and six received urine from adult cystic fibrosis patients. There were no significant differences in stone mass at any of the key time points or in the overall growth pattern (p>0.05) between stones destined for, or treated with, urine from CF patients and the controls. Human urine greatly inhibited stone growth in vitro but there was no difference in the growth rate in urine from healthy controls and CF patients. This refutes the hypothesis that a tendency for a higher prevalence of urinary stones in CF patients is related to a deficiency in inhibitory activity.

  20. Determination of hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls (OH-PCBs) in human urine in a highly occupationally exposed German cohort: New prospects for urinary biomarkers of PCB exposure.

    PubMed

    Quinete, Natalia; Esser, André; Kraus, Thomas; Schettgen, Thomas

    2016-12-01

    The present study evaluates for the first time the determination of 20 hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyl (OH-PCB) congeners and their glucuronide and sulfate conjugates in urine as a biomarker of exposure to PCBs in humans. Thereby, a fast, sensitive and selective online solid phase extraction (SPE) method coupled to LC-MS/MS was validated for the determination of OH-PCBs in human urine, being previously successfully developed and applied for the separation and quantitation of OH-PCBs in human plasma. The lowest limit of quantification (LLOQ) ranged from 0.01 to 0.19ngmL -1 and average extraction recoveries from 79 to 125% for all hydroxylated congeners. Within-run precision and between-run precision were between 2 and 17%. Extraction recovery tests were also performed in urine with different creatinine contents (0.52-3.92gL -1 ) for an estimation of matrix influences and ranged between 69 and 125%. In order to evaluate the applicability of the method, the study was conducted in three different groups, which were distinctly separated as non-exposed to known sources of PCBs (N=21), low-to-moderate PCB-exposed individuals (N=25) and highly occupationally PCB-exposed individuals (N=25), which included workers of a transformer recycling plant, their relatives and workers of surrounding companies from a German cohort. As part of the biomonitoring program HELPcB (Health Effects in High-Level Exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls), urine and blood samples were collected annually from 2010 to 2014. In this way, OH-PCB elimination profile in urine over time, correlations between OH-PCB levels in human plasma and urine, and associations with their parent compounds in plasma of the studied PCB cohort could be also assessed. Tri-chlorinated OH-PCBs were the predominant congeners in urine with concentrations up to 174ngmL -1 . High chlorinated OH-PCBs (penta- through hepta-chlorinated OH-PCBs) were also frequently detected in urine samples from non-exposed and occupationally exposed individuals, although levels were in general very low or lower than LLOQ. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Detection and sequencing of West Nile virus RNA from human urine and serum samples during the 2014 seasonal period.

    PubMed

    Nagy, Anna; Bán, Enikő; Nagy, Orsolya; Ferenczi, Emőke; Farkas, Ágnes; Bányai, Krisztián; Farkas, Szilvia; Takács, Mária

    2016-07-01

    West Nile virus, a widely distributed mosquito-borne flavivirus, is responsible for numerous animal and human infections in Europe, Africa and the Americas. In Hungary, the average number of human infections falls between 10 and 20 cases each year. The severity of clinically manifesting infections varies widely from the milder form of West Nile fever to West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND). In routine laboratory diagnosis of human West Nile virus infections, serological methods are mainly applied due to the limited duration of viremia. However, recent studies suggest that detection of West Nile virus RNA in urine samples may be useful as a molecular diagnostic test for these infections. The Hungarian National Reference Laboratory for Viral Zoonoses serologically confirmed eleven acute human infections during the 2014 seasonal period. In three patients with neurological symptoms, viral RNA was detected from both urine and serum specimens, albeit for a longer period and in higher copy numbers with urine. Phylogenetic analysis of the NS3 genomic region of three strains and the complete genome of one selected strain demonstrated that all three patients had lineage-2 West Nile virus infections. Our findings reaffirm the utility of viral RNA detection in urine as a molecular diagnostic procedure for diagnosis of West Nile virus infections.

  2. Fluorinated tripodal receptors for potentiometric chloride detection in biological fluids.

    PubMed

    Pankratova, Nadezda; Cuartero, Maria; Jowett, Laura A; Howe, Ethan N W; Gale, Philip A; Bakker, Eric; Crespo, Gastón A

    2018-01-15

    Fluorinated tripodal compounds were recently reported to be efficient transmembrane transporters for a series of inorganic anions. In particular, this class of receptors has been shown to be suitable for the effective complexation of chloride, nitrate, bicarbonate and sulfate anions via hydrogen bonding. The potentiometric properties of urea and thiourea-based fluorinated tripodal receptors are explored here for the first time, in light of the need for reliable sensors for chloride monitoring in undiluted biological fluids. The ion selective electrode (ISE) membranes with tren-based tris-urea bis(CF 3 ) tripodal compound (ionophore I) were found to exhibit the best selectivity for chloride over major lipophilic anions such as salicylate ( [Formula: see text] ) and thiocyanate ( [Formula: see text] ). Ionophore I-based ISEs were successfully applied for chloride determination in undiluted human serum as well as artificial serum sample, the slope of the linear calibration at the relevant background of interfering ions being close to Nernstian (49.8±1.7mV). The results of potentiometric measurements were confirmed by argentometric titration. Moreover, the ionophore I-based ISE membrane was shown to exhibit a very good long-term stability of potentiometric performance over the period of 10 weeks. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) titrations, potentiometric sandwich membrane experiments and density functional theory (DFT) computational studies were performed to determine the binding constants and suggest 1:1 complexation stoichiometry for the ionophore I with chloride as well as salicylate. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Presence of human polyomavirus DNA in the peripheral circulation of bone marrow transplant patients with and without hemorrhagic cystitis.

    PubMed

    Bogdanovic, G; Ljungman, P; Wang, F; Dalianis, T

    1996-04-01

    In BMT patients, shedding of BK virus (BKV) in the urine has been strongly but not absolutely correlated to hemorrhagic cystitis (HC). The possible presence of human polyomaviruses in peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs), plasma, serum and urine in BMT patients and an association with HC was investigated by a nested PCR assay. Samples from allogeneic BMT patients with and without HC as well as from autologous BMT patients were analyzed. Human polyomaviruses were detected in urine and blood samples of both allogeneic and autologous BMT patients with and without HC. An association between the presence of a specific human polyomavirus in blood and HC was thus not observed.

  4. The Human Urine Metabolome

    PubMed Central

    Bouatra, Souhaila; Aziat, Farid; Mandal, Rupasri; Guo, An Chi; Wilson, Michael R.; Knox, Craig; Bjorndahl, Trent C.; Krishnamurthy, Ramanarayan; Saleem, Fozia; Liu, Philip; Dame, Zerihun T.; Poelzer, Jenna; Huynh, Jessica; Yallou, Faizath S.; Psychogios, Nick; Dong, Edison; Bogumil, Ralf; Roehring, Cornelia; Wishart, David S.

    2013-01-01

    Urine has long been a “favored” biofluid among metabolomics researchers. It is sterile, easy-to-obtain in large volumes, largely free from interfering proteins or lipids and chemically complex. However, this chemical complexity has also made urine a particularly difficult substrate to fully understand. As a biological waste material, urine typically contains metabolic breakdown products from a wide range of foods, drinks, drugs, environmental contaminants, endogenous waste metabolites and bacterial by-products. Many of these compounds are poorly characterized and poorly understood. In an effort to improve our understanding of this biofluid we have undertaken a comprehensive, quantitative, metabolome-wide characterization of human urine. This involved both computer-aided literature mining and comprehensive, quantitative experimental assessment/validation. The experimental portion employed NMR spectroscopy, gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS), direct flow injection mass spectrometry (DFI/LC-MS/MS), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) experiments performed on multiple human urine samples. This multi-platform metabolomic analysis allowed us to identify 445 and quantify 378 unique urine metabolites or metabolite species. The different analytical platforms were able to identify (quantify) a total of: 209 (209) by NMR, 179 (85) by GC-MS, 127 (127) by DFI/LC-MS/MS, 40 (40) by ICP-MS and 10 (10) by HPLC. Our use of multiple metabolomics platforms and technologies allowed us to identify several previously unknown urine metabolites and to substantially enhance the level of metabolome coverage. It also allowed us to critically assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of different platforms or technologies. The literature review led to the identification and annotation of another 2206 urinary compounds and was used to help guide the subsequent experimental studies. An online database containing the complete set of 2651 confirmed human urine metabolite species, their structures (3079 in total), concentrations, related literature references and links to their known disease associations are freely available at http://www.urinemetabolome.ca. PMID:24023812

  5. A label-free aptamer-fluorophore assembly for rapid and specific detection of cocaine in biofluids.

    PubMed

    Roncancio, Daniel; Yu, Haixiang; Xu, Xiaowen; Wu, Shuo; Liu, Ran; Debord, Joshua; Lou, Xinhui; Xiao, Yi

    2014-11-18

    We report a rapid and specific aptamer-based method for one-step cocaine detection with minimal reagent requirements. The feasibility of aptamer-based detection has been demonstrated with sensors that operate via target-induced conformational change mechanisms, but these have generally exhibited limited target sensitivity. We have discovered that the cocaine-binding aptamer MNS-4.1 can also bind the fluorescent molecule 2-amino-5,6,7-trimethyl-1,8-naphthyridine (ATMND) and thereby quench its fluorescence. We subsequently introduced sequence changes into MNS-4.1 to engineer a new cocaine-binding aptamer (38-GC) that exhibits higher affinity to both ligands, with reduced background signal and increased signal gain. Using this aptamer, we have developed a new sensor platform that relies on the cocaine-mediated displacement of ATMND from 38-GC as a result of competitive binding. We demonstrate that our sensor can detect cocaine within seconds at concentrations as low as 200 nM, which is 50-fold lower than existing assays based on target-induced conformational change. More importantly, our assay achieves successful cocaine detection in body fluids, with a limit of detection of 10.4, 18.4, and 36 μM in undiluted saliva, urine, and serum samples, respectively.

  6. Sensitive and fast detection of fructose in complex media via symmetry breaking and signal amplification using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

    PubMed

    Sun, Fang; Bai, Tao; Zhang, Lei; Ella-Menye, Jean-Rene; Liu, Sijun; Nowinski, Ann K; Jiang, Shaoyi; Yu, Qiuming

    2014-03-04

    A new strategy is proposed to sensitively and rapidly detect analytes with weak Raman signals in complex media using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) via detecting the SERS signal changes of the immobilized probe molecules on SERS-active substrates upon binding of the analytes. In this work, 4-mercaptophenylboronic acid (4-MPBA) was selected as the probe molecule which was immobilized on the gold surface of a quasi-three-dimensional plasmonic nanostructure array (Q3D-PNA) SERS substrate to detect fructose. The molecule of 4-MPBA possesses three key functions: molecule recognition and reversible binding of the analyte via the boronic acid group, amplification of SERS signals by the phenyl group and thus shielding of the background noise of complex media, and immobilization on the surface of SERS-active substrates via the thiol group. Most importantly, the symmetry breaking of the 4-MPBA molecule upon fructose binding leads to the change of area ratio between totally symmetric 8a ring mode and nontotally symmetric 8b ring mode, which enables the detection. The detection curves were obtained in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and in undiluted artificial urine at clinically relevant concentrations, and the limit of detection of 0.05 mM was achieved.

  7. Meta-analysis to estimate the load of Leptospira excreted in urine: beyond rats as important sources of transmission in low-income rural communities.

    PubMed

    Barragan, Veronica; Nieto, Nathan; Keim, Paul; Pearson, Talima

    2017-01-28

    Leptospirosis is a major zoonotic disease with widespread distribution and a large impact on human health. Carrier animals excrete pathogenic Leptospira primarily in their urine. Infection occurs when the pathogen enters a host through mucosa or small skin abrasions. Humans and other animals are exposed to the pathogen by direct contact with urine, contaminated soil or water. While many factors influence environmental cycling and the transmission of Leptospira to humans, the load of pathogenic Leptospira in the environment is likely to play a major role. Peridomestic rats are often implicated as a potential source of human disease; however exposure to other animals is a risk factor as well. The aim of this report is to highlight the importance of various carrier animals in terms of the quantity of Leptospira shed into the environment. For this, we performed a systematic literature review and a meta-analysis of the amount of pathogen that various animal species shed in their urine. The quantity of pathogen has been reported for cows, deer, dogs, humans, mice, and rats, in a total of 14 research articles. We estimated the average Leptospira per unit volume shed by each animal species, and the daily environmental contribution by considering the total volume of urine excreted by each carrier animal. Rats excrete the highest quantity of Leptospira per millilitre of urine (median = 5.7 × 10 6  cells), but large mammals excrete much more urine and thus shed significantly more Leptospira per day (5.1 × 10 8 to 1.3 × 10 9  cells). Here we illustrate how, in a low-income rural Ecuadorian community, host population demographics, and prevalence of Leptospira infection can be integrated with estimates of shed Leptospira to suggest that peridomestic cattle may be more important than rats in environmental cycling and ultimately, transmission to humans.

  8. A urine-fuelled soil-based bioregenerative life support system for long-term and long-distance manned space missions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maggi, Federico; Tang, Fiona H. M.; Pallud, Céline; Gu, Chuanhui

    2018-05-01

    A soil-based cropping unit fuelled with human urine for long-term manned space missions was investigated with the aim to analyze whether a closed-loop nutrient cycle from human liquid wastes was achievable. Its ecohydrology and biogeochemistry were analysed in microgravity with the use of an advanced computational tool. Urine from the crew was used to supply primary (N, P, and K) and secondary (S, Ca and Mg) nutrients to wheat and soybean plants in the controlled cropping unit. Breakdown of urine compounds into primary and secondary nutrients as well as byproduct gases, adsorbed, and uptake fractions were tracked over a period of 20 years. Results suggested that human urine could satisfy the demand of at least 3 to 4 out of 6 nutrients with an offset in pH and salinity tolerable by plants. It was therefore inferred that a urine-fuelled life support system can introduce a number of advantages including: (1) recycling of liquids wastes and production of food; (2) forgiveness of neglect as compared to engineered electro-mechanical systems that may fail under unexpected or unplanned conditions; and (3) reduction of supply and waste loads during space missions.

  9. Can sample treatments based on advanced oxidation processes assisted by high-intensity focused ultrasound be used for toxic arsenic determination in human urine by flow-injection hydride-generation atomic absorption spectrometry?

    PubMed

    Correia, A; Galesio, M; Santos, H; Rial-Otero, R; Lodeiro, C; Oehmen, A; Conceição, Antonio C L; Capelo, J L

    2007-05-15

    Two advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), based on high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), namely, KMnO(4)/HCl/HIFU and H(2)O(2)/HCl/HIFU are studied and compared for the determination of toxic arsenic in human urine [As(III)+As(V)+MMA+DMA] by flow-injection hydride-generation atomic absorption spectrometry (FI-HG-AAS). The KMnO(4)/HCl/HIFU procedure was found to be adequate for organic matter degradation in human urine. l-cysteine (letra minuscula) was used for As reduction to the trivalent state. The new procedure was assessed with seven urines certified in different As species. Results revealed that with KMnO(4)/HCl/HIFU plus l-cysteine the toxic arsenic can be accurately measured in human urine whilst the H(2)O(2)/HCl/HIFU procedure underestimates toxic As. DMA and MMA degradation in urine were observed, due to the effects of the ultrasonic field. Recoveries for As(III), As(V), MMA and DMA were within the certified ranges. Arsenobetaine was not degraded by the AOPs. The new procedure adheres well to the principles of analytical minimalism: (i) low reagent consumption, (ii) low reagent concentration, (iii) low waste production and (iv) low amount of time required for sample preparation and analysis.

  10. Metabolism study of boldenone in human urine by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Wu, Xinchen; Gao, Feng; Zhang, Wenxin; Ni, Jian

    2015-11-10

    Boldenone (BOLD), an anabolic steroid, is likely to be abused in livestock breeding and in sports. Although some of BOLD metabolites in human urine, such as 5β-adrost-1-en-17β-ol-3-one (BM1), have been detected, investigations on their excretion patterns for both genders are insufficient. Moreover, little research on 17α-BOLD glucuronide as a metabolite in human urine has been reported. The aim of this study is to make a contribution to the knowledge of 17β-BOLD metabolism in humans. Three male and three female volunteers were orally administrated with 30mg 17β-BOLD. Urine samples were collected and analyzed with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The data proved that 17β-BOLD, BM1, and 17α-BOLD were excreted in urine in both free and glucuronic conjugated forms after administration of 17β-BOLD. For most subjects, the urinary concentrations of BM1 were higher than that of 17β-BOLD. 17α-BOLD was excreted in small amounts. 17α-BOLD, 17β-BOLD, and BM1 were present naturally in urine with low concentrations. Administration of 30mg 17β-BOLD could not influence the excretion profiles of urinary androsterone, etiocholanolone, and testosterone/epitestosterone ratio. There were no differences in BOLD metabolic patterns between man and woman. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Monitoring of PAEMs and beta-agonists in urine for a small group of experimental subjects and PAEs and beta-agonists in drinking water consumed by the same subjects.

    PubMed

    Liou, Saou-Hsing; Yang, Gordon C C; Wang, Chih-Lung; Chiu, Yu-Han

    2014-07-30

    This 5-month study contains two parts: (1) to monitor the concentrations of 11 phthalate esters metabolites (PAEMs) and two beta-agonists in human urine samples collected from a small group of consented participants including 16 females and five males; and (2) to analyze the residues of phthalate esters (PAEs) and beta-agonists in various categories of drinking water consumed by the same group of subjects. Each category of human urine and drinking water had 183 samples of its own. The analytical results showed that nine PAEMs were detected in human urine and eight PAEs were detected in drinking water samples. It was found that average concentrations of PAEMs increased as the age increased, but no significant difference between sexes. Further, using the principal component analysis, the loadings of age effect were found to be two times greater than that of gender effect in terms of four DEHP metabolites. Regarding beta-agonists of concern (i.e., ractopamine and salbutamol), they were neither detected in human urine nor drinking water samples in this study. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. A magnetic bead-based method for concentrating DNA from human urine for downstream detection.

    PubMed

    Bordelon, Hali; Russ, Patricia K; Wright, David W; Haselton, Frederick R

    2013-01-01

    Due to the presence of PCR inhibitors, PCR cannot be used directly on most clinical samples, including human urine, without pre-treatment. A magnetic bead-based strategy is one potential method to collect biomarkers from urine samples and separate the biomarkers from PCR inhibitors. In this report, a 1 mL urine sample was mixed within the bulb of a transfer pipette containing lyophilized nucleic acid-silica adsorption buffer and silica-coated magnetic beads. After mixing, the sample was transferred from the pipette bulb to a small diameter tube, and captured biomarkers were concentrated using magnetic entrainment of beads through pre-arrayed wash solutions separated by small air gaps. Feasibility was tested using synthetic segments of the 140 bp tuberculosis IS6110 DNA sequence spiked into pooled human urine samples. DNA recovery was evaluated by qPCR. Despite the presence of spiked DNA, no DNA was detectable in unextracted urine samples, presumably due to the presence of PCR inhibitors. However, following extraction with the magnetic bead-based method, we found that ∼50% of spiked TB DNA was recovered from human urine containing roughly 5×10(3) to 5×10(8) copies of IS6110 DNA. In addition, the DNA was concentrated approximately ten-fold into water. The final concentration of DNA in the eluate was 5×10(6), 14×10(6), and 8×10(6) copies/µL for 1, 3, and 5 mL urine samples, respectively. Lyophilized and freshly prepared reagents within the transfer pipette produced similar results, suggesting that long-term storage without refrigeration is possible. DNA recovery increased with the length of the spiked DNA segments from 10±0.9% for a 75 bp DNA sequence to 42±4% for a 100 bp segment and 58±9% for a 140 bp segment. The estimated LOD was 77 copies of DNA/µL of urine. The strategy presented here provides a simple means to achieve high nucleic acid recovery from easily obtained urine samples, which does not contain inhibitors of PCR.

  13. A Magnetic Bead-Based Method for Concentrating DNA from Human Urine for Downstream Detection

    PubMed Central

    Bordelon, Hali; Russ, Patricia K.; Wright, David W.; Haselton, Frederick R.

    2013-01-01

    Due to the presence of PCR inhibitors, PCR cannot be used directly on most clinical samples, including human urine, without pre-treatment. A magnetic bead-based strategy is one potential method to collect biomarkers from urine samples and separate the biomarkers from PCR inhibitors. In this report, a 1 mL urine sample was mixed within the bulb of a transfer pipette containing lyophilized nucleic acid-silica adsorption buffer and silica-coated magnetic beads. After mixing, the sample was transferred from the pipette bulb to a small diameter tube, and captured biomarkers were concentrated using magnetic entrainment of beads through pre-arrayed wash solutions separated by small air gaps. Feasibility was tested using synthetic segments of the 140 bp tuberculosis IS6110 DNA sequence spiked into pooled human urine samples. DNA recovery was evaluated by qPCR. Despite the presence of spiked DNA, no DNA was detectable in unextracted urine samples, presumably due to the presence of PCR inhibitors. However, following extraction with the magnetic bead-based method, we found that ∼50% of spiked TB DNA was recovered from human urine containing roughly 5×103 to 5×108 copies of IS6110 DNA. In addition, the DNA was concentrated approximately ten-fold into water. The final concentration of DNA in the eluate was 5×106, 14×106, and 8×106 copies/µL for 1, 3, and 5 mL urine samples, respectively. Lyophilized and freshly prepared reagents within the transfer pipette produced similar results, suggesting that long-term storage without refrigeration is possible. DNA recovery increased with the length of the spiked DNA segments from 10±0.9% for a 75 bp DNA sequence to 42±4% for a 100 bp segment and 58±9% for a 140 bp segment. The estimated LOD was 77 copies of DNA/µL of urine. The strategy presented here provides a simple means to achieve high nucleic acid recovery from easily obtained urine samples, which does not contain inhibitors of PCR. PMID:23861895

  14. Immunoglobulins in Nasal Secretions of Healthy Humans: Structural Integrity of Secretory Immunoglobulin A1 (IgA1) and Occurrence of Neutralizing Antibodies to IgA1 Proteases of Nasal Bacteria

    PubMed Central

    Kirkeby, Line; Rasmussen, Trine Tang; Reinholdt, Jesper; Kilian, Mogens

    2000-01-01

    Certain bacteria, including overt pathogens as well as commensals, produce immunoglobulin A1 (IgA1) proteases. By cleaving IgA1, including secretory IgA1, in the hinge region, these enzymes may interfere with the barrier functions of mucosal IgA antibodies, as indicated by experiments in vitro. Previous studies have suggested that cleavage of IgA1 in nasal secretions may be associated with the development and perpetuation of atopic disease. To clarify the potential effect of IgA1 protease-producing bacteria in the nasal cavity, we have analyzed immunoglobulin isotypes in nasal secretions of 11 healthy humans, with a focus on IgA, and at the same time have characterized and quantified IgA1 protease-producing bacteria in the nasal flora of the subjects. Samples in the form of nasal wash were collected by using a washing liquid that contained lithium as an internal reference. Dilution factors and, subsequently, concentrations in undiluted secretions could thereby be calculated. IgA, mainly in the secretory form, was found by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to be the dominant isotype in all subjects, and the vast majority of IgA (median, 91%) was of the A1 subclass, corroborating results of previous analyses at the level of immunoglobulin-producing cells. Levels of serum-type immunoglobulins were low, except for four subjects in whom levels of IgG corresponded to 20 to 66% of total IgA. Cumulative levels of IgA, IgG, and IgM in undiluted secretions ranged from 260 to 2,494 (median, 777) μg ml−1. IgA1 protease-producing bacteria (Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, or Streptococcus mitis biovar 1) were isolated from the nasal cavities of seven subjects at 2.1 × 103 to 7.2 × 106 CFU per ml of undiluted secretion, corresponding to 0.2 to 99.6% of the flora. Nevertheless, α-chain fragments characteristic of IgA1 protease activity were not detected in secretions from any subject by immunoblotting. Neutralizing antibodies to IgA1 proteases of autologous isolates were detected in secretions from five of the seven subjects but not in those from two subjects harboring IgA1 protease-producing S. mitis biovar 1. α-chain fragments different from Fcα and Fdα were detected in some samples, possibly reflecting nonspecific proteolytic activity of microbial or host origin. These results add to previous evidence for a role of secretory immunity in the defense of the nasal mucosa but do not help identify conditions under which bacterial IgA1 proteases may interfere with this defense. PMID:10618273

  15. Comparison of urine specimen collection times and testing fractions for the detection of high-risk human papillomavirus and high-grade cervical precancer.

    PubMed

    Senkomago, V; Des Marais, A C; Rahangdale, L; Vibat, C R T; Erlander, M G; Smith, J S

    2016-01-01

    Urine testing for high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) detection could provide a non-invasive, simple method for cervical cancer screening. We examined whether HR-HPV detection is affected by urine collection time, portion of urine stream, or urine fraction tested, and assessed the performance of HR-HPV testing in urine for detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade II or worse (CIN2+). A total of 37 female colposcopy clinic attendees, ≥ 30 years, provided three urine samples: "first void" urine collected at home, and "initial stream" and "mid-stream" urine samples collected at the clinic later in the day. Self- and physician-collected brush specimens were obtained at the same clinic visit. Colposcopy was performed and directed biopsies obtained if clinically indicated. For each urine sample, HR-HPV DNA testing was conducted for unfractionated, pellet, and supernatant fractions using the Trovagene test. HR-HPV mRNA testing was performed on brush specimens using the Aptima HPV assay. HR-HPV prevalence was similar in unfractionated and pellet fractions of all urine samples. For supernatant urine fractions, HR-HPV prevalence appeared lower in mid-stream urine (56.8%[40.8-72.7%]) than in initial stream urine (75.7%[61.9-89.5%]). Sensitivity of CIN2+ detection was identical for initial stream urine and physician-collected cervical specimen (89.9%[95%CI=62.7-99.6%]), and similar to self-collected vaginal specimen (79.1%[48.1-96.6%]). This is among the first studies to compare methodologies for collection and processing of urine for HR-HPV detection. HR-HPV prevalence was similar in first void and initial stream urine, and was highly sensitive for CIN2+ detection. Additional research in a larger and general screening population is needed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Detection of Volatile Metabolites Derived from Garlic (Allium sativum) in Human Urine

    PubMed Central

    Scheffler, Laura; Sauermann, Yvonne; Heinlein, Anja; Sharapa, Constanze; Buettner, Andrea

    2016-01-01

    The metabolism and excretion of flavor constituents of garlic, a common plant used in flavoring foods and attributed with several health benefits, in humans is not fully understood. Likewise, the physiologically active principles of garlic have not been fully clarified to date. It is possible that not only the parent compounds present in garlic but also its metabolites are responsible for the specific physiological properties of garlic, including its influence on the characteristic body odor signature of humans after garlic consumption. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to investigate potential garlic-derived metabolites in human urine. To this aim, 14 sets of urine samples were obtained from 12 volunteers, whereby each set comprised one sample that was collected prior to consumption of food-relevant concentrations of garlic, followed by five to eight subsequent samples after garlic consumption that covered a time interval of up to 26 h. The samples were analyzed chemo-analytically using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/olfactometry (GC-MS/O), as well as sensorially by a trained human panel. The analyses revealed three different garlic-derived metabolites in urine, namely allyl methyl sulfide (AMS), allyl methyl sulfoxide (AMSO) and allyl methyl sulfone (AMSO2), confirming our previous findings on human milk metabolite composition. The excretion rates of these metabolites into urine were strongly time-dependent with distinct inter-individual differences. These findings indicate that the volatile odorant fraction of garlic is heavily biotransformed in humans, opening up a window into substance circulation within the human body with potential wider ramifications in view of physiological effects of this aromatic plant that is appreciated by humans in their daily diet. PMID:27916960

  17. Biological exposure indices of pyrrole adducts in serum and urine for hazard assessment of n-hexane exposure.

    PubMed

    Yin, Hongyin; Zhang, Chunling; Guo, Ying; Shao, Xiaoying; Zeng, Tao; Zhao, Xiulan; Xie, Keqin

    2014-01-01

    Pyrrole adducts might be used as a biomarker for monitoring occupational exposure to n-hexane, but the Biological Exposure Indices of pyrrole adducts in serum and urine are still unknown. The current study was designed to investigate the biological exposure limit of pyrrole adducts for hazard assessment of n-hexane. Male Wistar rats were given daily dose of 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 4000 mg/kg bw n-hexane by gavage for 24 weeks. The levels of pyrrole adducts in serum and urine were determined at 8, 24 hours postdose once a week. The Biological Exposure Indices was evaluated by neurological evaluation and the levels of pyrrole adducts. The difference in pyrrole adducts formation between humans and rats were estimated by using in vitro test. Dose-dependent effects were observed between the doses of n-hexane and pyrrole adducts in serum and urine, and the levels of pyrrole adduct in serum and urine approached a plateau at week 4. There was a significantly negative correlation between the time to paralysis and the level of pyrrole adducts in serum and urine, while a positive correlation between gait score and levels of pyrrole adducts in serum and urine was observed. In vitro, pyrrole adducts formed in human serum was about two times more than those in rat serum at the same level of 2,5-HD. It was concluded that the BEIs of pyrrole adducts in humans were 23.1 ± 5.91 nmol/ml in serum 8 h postdose, 11.7 ± 2.64 nmol/ml in serum 24 h postdose, 253.8 ± 36.3 nmol/ml in urine 8 h postdose and 54.6 ± 15.42 nmol/ml in urine 24 h postdose.

  18. Biological Exposure Indices of Pyrrole Adducts in Serum and Urine for Hazard Assessment of n-Hexane Exposure

    PubMed Central

    Yin, Hongyin; Zhang, Chunling; Guo, Ying; Shao, Xiaoying; Zeng, Tao; Zhao, Xiulan; Xie, Keqin

    2014-01-01

    Background Pyrrole adducts might be used as a biomarker for monitoring occupational exposure to n-hexane, but the Biological Exposure Indices of pyrrole adducts in serum and urine are still unknown. The current study was designed to investigate the biological exposure limit of pyrrole adducts for hazard assessment of n-hexane. Methods Male Wistar rats were given daily dose of 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 4000 mg/kg bw n-hexane by gavage for 24 weeks. The levels of pyrrole adducts in serum and urine were determined at 8, 24 hours postdose once a week. The Biological Exposure Indices was evaluated by neurological evaluation and the levels of pyrrole adducts. The difference in pyrrole adducts formation between humans and rats were estimated by using in vitro test. Results Dose-dependent effects were observed between the doses of n-hexane and pyrrole adducts in serum and urine, and the levels of pyrrole adduct in serum and urine approached a plateau at week 4. There was a significantly negative correlation between the time to paralysis and the level of pyrrole adducts in serum and urine, while a positive correlation between gait score and levels of pyrrole adducts in serum and urine was observed. In vitro, pyrrole adducts formed in human serum was about two times more than those in rat serum at the same level of 2,5-HD. Conclusion It was concluded that the BEIs of pyrrole adducts in humans were 23.1±5.91 nmol/ml in serum 8 h postdose, 11.7±2.64 nmol/ml in serum 24 h postdose, 253.8±36.3 nmol/ml in urine 8 h postdose and 54.6±15.42 nmol/ml in urine 24 h postdose. PMID:24465904

  19. Albuminuria is associated with an increased prostasin in urine while aldosterone has no direct effect on urine and kidney tissue abundance of prostasin.

    PubMed

    Oxlund, Christina; Kurt, Birgül; Schwarzensteiner, Ilona; Hansen, Mie R; Stæhr, Mette; Svenningsen, Per; Jacobsen, Ib A; Hansen, Pernille B; Thuesen, Anne D; Toft, Anja; Hinrichs, Gitte R; Bistrup, Claus; Jensen, Boye L

    2017-06-01

    The proteinase prostasin is a candidate mediator for aldosterone-driven proteolytic activation of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC). It was hypothesized that the aldosterone-mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) pathway stimulates prostasin abundance in kidney and urine. Prostasin was measured in plasma and urine from type 2 diabetic patients with resistant hypertension (n = 112) randomized to spironolactone/placebo in a clinical trial. Prostasin protein level was assessed by immunoblotting in (1) human and rat urines with/without nephrotic syndrome, (2) human nephrectomy tissue, (3) urine and kidney from aldosterone synthase-deficient (AS -/- ) mice and ANGII- and aldosterone-infused mice, and in (4) kidney from adrenalectomized rats. Serum aldosterone concentration related to prostasin concentration in urine but not in plasma. Plasma prostasin concentration increased significantly after spironolactone compared to control. Urinary prostasin and albumin related directly and were reduced by spironolactone. In patients with nephrotic syndrome, urinary prostasin protein was elevated compared to controls. In rat nephrosis, proteinuria coincided with increased urinary prostasin, unchanged kidney tissue prostasin, and decreased plasma prostasin while plasma aldosterone was suppressed. Prostasin protein abundance in human nephrectomy tissue was similar across gender and ANGII inhibition regimens. Prostasin urine abundance was not different in AS -/- and aldosterone-infused mice. Prostasin kidney level was not different from control in adrenalectomized rats and AS -/- mice. We found no evidence for a direct relationship between mineralocorticoid receptor signaling and kidney and urine prostasin abundance. The reduction of urinary prostasin in spironolactone-treated patients is most likely the result of an improved glomerular filtration barrier function and generally reduced proteinuria.

  20. Identification of the inactivating factors and mechanisms exerted on MS2 coliphage in concentrated synthetic urine.

    PubMed

    Oishi, Wakana; Sano, Daisuke; Decrey, Loic; Kadoya, Syunsuke; Kohn, Tamar; Funamizu, Naoyuki

    2017-11-15

    Volume reduction (condensation) is a key for the practical usage of human urine as a fertilizer because it enables the saving of storage space and the reduction of transportation cost. However, concentrated urine may carry infectious disease risks resulting from human pathogens frequently present in excreta, though the survival of pathogens in concentrated urine is not well understood. In this study, the inactivation of MS2 coliphage, a surrogate for single-stranded RNA human enteric viruses, in concentrated synthetic urine was investigated. The infectious titer reduction of MS2 coliphage in synthetic urine samples was measured by plaque assay, and the reduction of genome copy number was monitored by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RTqPCR). Among chemical-physical conditions such as pH and osmotic pressure, uncharged ammonia was shown to be the predominant factor responsible for MS2 inactivation, independently of urine concentration level. The reduction rate of the viral genome number varied among genome regions, but the comprehensive reduction rate of six genome regions was well correlated with that of the infectious titer of MS2 coliphage. This indicates that genome degradation is the main mechanism driving loss of infectivity, and that RT-qPCR targeting the six genome regions can be used as a culture-independent assay for monitoring infectivity loss of the coliphage in urine. MS2 inactivation rate constants were well predicted by a model using ion composition and speciation in synthetic urine samples, which suggests that MS2 infectivity loss can be estimated solely based on the solution composition, temperature and pH, without explicitly accounting for effects of osmotic pressure. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Measurement by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography of malondialdehyde in normal human urine following derivatisation with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine.

    PubMed

    Korchazhkina, Olga; Exley, Christopher; Andrew Spencer, Stephen

    2003-09-05

    A selective and sensitive method based on derivatisation with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) and consecutive HPLC gradient separation is described for the determination of malondialdehyde (MDA) in urine. Preparation of urine samples involved a one-step derivatisation/extraction procedure. Separation was achieved using a Waters SymmetryC(18) column (3.9 x 150 mm) and linear gradient of acetonitrile in water (from 30% to 70% in 30 min). The overall detection limit of the method was 56 nM of MDA in urine. The recovery of MDA was 94.3+/-8.6%. MDA in urine of healthy volunteers, measured using the method of standard additions, was 0.019+/-0.012 microM/mmol creatinine. MDA in the same samples measured using the 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) assay was 0.181+/-0.063 microM/mmol creatinine. We demonstrate that the commonly used TBA assay in conjunction with HPLC may overestimate the MDA concentration in human urine by almost 10-fold.

  2. Fate and survival of Salmonella Typhimurium and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in repacked soil lysimeters after application of cattle slurry and human urine.

    PubMed

    Nyberg, Karin A; Ottoson, Jakob R; Vinnerås, Björn; Albihn, Ann

    2014-09-01

    Use of cattle slurry as a fertiliser is common practice around the world. Human urine use is not as common, but owing to its fertiliser value this might change in the future. It is essential to minimise the transfer of enteric pathogens through fertilisation, with respect to both animal and public health. Therefore the objective of this research was to study the survival and transport of Salmonella Typhimurium and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in two agricultural soils when applied to soil along with either cattle slurry or human urine over a period of 180 days. Both Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 were more rapidly reduced when applied together with human urine than when applied with cattle slurry. However, both pathogens persisted in low amounts at 20 and 50 cm depth in both soils throughout the whole study period. No Salmonella or E. coli O157:H7 was detected in the leachate over the 180 day study. The risk of disease transmission is higher when cattle slurry is used as fertiliser compared with human urine. However, the risk of groundwater infiltration would be low as long as water velocity through the soil is moderate. Increased knowledge of pathogen persistence in soil after fertiliser application is a valuable tool for improving risk evaluations and formulating guidelines for the use of cattle and/or human wastes in cropping soils. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

  3. Evaluation of the performance of Human Papillomavirus testing in paired urine and clinician-collected cervical samples among women aged over 30 years in Bhutan.

    PubMed

    Tshomo, Ugyen; Franceschi, Silvia; Tshokey, Tshokey; Tobgay, Tashi; Baussano, Iacopo; Tenet, Vanessa; Snijders, Peter J F; Gheit, Tarik; Tommasino, Massimo; Vorsters, Alex; Clifford, Gary M

    2017-04-08

    Urine sampling may offer a less invasive solution than cervical sampling to test for human papillomavirus (HPV) for HPV vaccine impact monitoring. Paired samples of urine and exfoliated cervical cells were obtained for 89 women with history of high-risk (HR) HPV-positive normal cytology in Bhutan. Urine sampling protocol included self-collection of first-void urine immediately into a conservation medium and procedures to optimize DNA yield. Colposcopical abnormalities were biopsied. Two HPV assays were used: a multiplex type-specific PCR (E7-MPG) and a less analytically sensitive GP5+/6+ PCR followed by reverse line blot. HPV positivity for 21 types common to both assays was similar in urine and cells by E7-MPG (62.9% and 57.3%, respectively, p = 0.32) but lower in urine by GP5+/6+ (30.3% and 40.4%, p = 0.05). HPV6/11/16/18 positivity did not significantly differ between urine and cells by either assay. Sensitivity of urine (using cells as gold standard) to detect 21 HPV types was 80% and 58% for E7-MPG and GP5+/6+, respectively, with specificity 61% and 89%. HPV type distribution in urine and cells was similar, regardless of assay. The 5 detected CIN3+ were HR-HPV positive in cells by both assays, compared to 4 and 3 by E7-MPG and GP5+/6+, respectively, in urine samples. For the monitoring of vaccine impact, we demonstrate validity of a urine sampling protocol to obtain HPV prevalence data that are broadly comparable to that from cervical cells. However, detection of HPV in urine varies according to assay sensitivity, presumably because low level infections are frequent.

  4. Urinary Virome Perturbations in Kidney Transplantation.

    PubMed

    Sigdel, Tara K; Mercer, Neil; Nandoe, Sharvin; Nicora, Carrie D; Burnum-Johnson, Kristin; Qian, Wei-Jun; Sarwal, Minnie M

    2018-01-01

    The human microbiome is important for health and plays a role in essential metabolic functions and protection from certain pathogens. Conversely, dysbiosis of the microbiome is seen in the context of various diseases. Recent studies have highlighted that a complex microbial community containing hundreds of bacteria colonizes the healthy urinary tract, but little is known about the human urinary viruses in health and disease. To evaluate the human urinary virome in the context of kidney transplantation (tx), variations in the composition of the urinary virome were evaluated in urine samples from normal healthy volunteers as well as patients with kidney disease after they had undergone kidney tx. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry analysis was undertaken on a selected cohort of 142 kidney tx patients and normal healthy controls, from a larger biobank of 770 kidney biopsy matched urine samples. In addition to analysis of normal healthy control urine, the cohort of kidney tx patients had biopsy confirmed phenotype classification, coincident with the urine sample analyzed, of stable grafts (STA), acute rejection, BK virus nephritis, and chronic allograft nephropathy. We identified 37 unique viruses, 29 of which are being identified for the first time in human urine samples. The composition of the human urinary virome differs in health and kidney injury, and the distribution of viral proteins in the urinary tract may be further impacted by IS exposure, diet and environmental, dietary, or cutaneous exposure to various insecticides and pesticides.

  5. Development of analyses by high-performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtilus) anthocyanins in human plasma and urine.

    PubMed

    Cooke, Darren N; Thomasset, Sarah; Boocock, David J; Schwarz, Michael; Winterhalter, Peter; Steward, William P; Gescher, Andreas J; Marczylo, Timothy H

    2006-09-20

    Anthocyanins are potent antioxidants that may possess chronic disease preventive properties. Here, rapid, reliable, and reproducible solid-phase extraction, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and mass spectrometry techniques are described for the isolation, separation, and identification of anthocyanins in human plasma and urine. Recoveries of cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G) were 91% from water, 71% from plasma, and 81% from urine. Intra- and interday variations for C3G extraction were 9 and 9.1% in plasma and 7.1 and 9.1% in urine and were less than 15% for all anthocyanins from a standardized bilberry extract (mirtoselect). Analysis of mirtoselect by HPLC with UV detection produced spectra with 15 peaks compatible with anthocyanin components found in mirtoselect within a total run time of 15 min. Chromatographic analysis of human urine obtained after an oral dose of mirtoselect yielded 19 anthocyanin peaks. Mass spectrometric analysis employing multiple reaction monitoring suggests the presence of unchanged anthocyanins and anthocyanidin glucuronide metabolites.

  6. Characterization of thiol-conjugated metabolites of ginger components shogaols in mouse and human urine and modulation of the glutathione levels in cancer cells by [6]-shogaol.

    PubMed

    Chen, Huadong; Soroka, Dominique N; Hu, Yuhui; Chen, Xiaoxin; Sang, Shengmin

    2013-03-01

    Shogaols, a series of major constituents in dried ginger with the most abundant being [6]-, [8]-, and [10]-shogaols, show much higher anticancer potencies than gingerols. Previously, we reported the mercapturic acid pathway as a major metabolic route for [6]-shogaol in mice. However, it is still unclear how the side chain length affects the metabolism of shogaols and how shogaols are metabolized in humans. We first investigate the metabolism of [10]-shogaol in mouse urine, and then investigate the biotransformation of shogaols in human urine. Our results show that eight major thiol-conjugated metabolites of [10]-shogaol were detected in mouse urine, while six major thiol-conjugated metabolites of [6]-shogaol, two thiol-conjugated metabolites of [8]-shogaol, and two thiol-conjugated metabolites of [10]-shogaol were detected in urine collected from human after drinking ginger tea, using LC/ESI-MS/MS. Our results clearly indicate the mercapturic acid pathway is a major metabolic route for [10]-shogaol in mice and for shogaols in human. Furthermore, we also investigated the regulation of glutathione (GSH) by [6]-shogaol in human colon cancer cells HCT-116. Our results show [6]-shogaol, after initially depleting glutathione levels, can subsequently restore and increase GSH levels over time. Shogaols are metabolized extensively in mouse and human to form thiol-conjugated metabolites and GSH might play an important role in the cancer-preventive activity of ginger. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  7. Direct measurement of the glucuronide conjugate of 1-hydroxypyrene in human urine by using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Kakimoto, Kensaku; Toriba, Akira; Ohno, Takanori; Ueno, Mariko; Kameda, Takayuki; Tang, Ning; Hayakawa, Kazuichi

    2008-05-15

    To evaluate human exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), we developed a rapid, simple and sensitive method for determining 1-hydroxypyrene-glucuronide (1-OHP-G) in human urine. To improve precision, a deuterated glucuronide was used as an internal standard. The method requires only 1 mL of urine. The urine was treated with a mixed-mode anion-exchange and reversed-phase solid-phase extraction cartridge (Oasis MAX). The analytes were analyzed with a C(18) reversed-phase column with a gradient elution, followed by tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization in negative ion mode. The detection limit of 1-OHP-G (corresponding to a signal-to-noise ratio of 3) was 0.13 fmol/injection. Urinary concentrations of 1-OHP-G determined by this method were strongly correlated (r(2)=0.961) with concentrations of 1-hydroxypyrene by conventional HPLC with fluorescence detection.

  8. Development and validation of a UPLC-MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of fotagliptin and its two major metabolites in human plasma and urine.

    PubMed

    Wang, Zhenlei; Jiang, Ji; Hu, Pei; Zhao, Qian

    2017-02-01

    Fotagliptin is a novel dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor under clinical development for the treatment of Type II diabetes mellitus. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a specific and sensitive ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC)-MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of fotagliptin and its two major metabolites in human plasma and urine. Methodology & results: After being pretreated using an automatized procedure, the plasma and urine samples were separated and detected using a UPLC-ESI-MS/MS method, which was validated following the international guidelines. A selective and sensitive UPLC-MS/MS method was first developed and validated for quantifying fotagliptin and its metabolite in human plasma and urine. The method was successfully applied to support the clinical study of fotagliptin in Chinese healthy subjects.

  9. Dielectric relaxation in undiluted poly (4-chlorostyrene). II. Characteristics of the high frequency tail

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yoshihara, M.; Work, R. N.

    1981-05-01

    The shape of the principal dielectric relaxation process that occurs just above the glass transition temperature Tg in well annealed, atactic, undiluted poly (4-chlorostyrene) exhibits a small tail at the high frequency end of the spectrum of relaxation times. This high frequency tail (HFT) has been characterized at temperatures varying from 351 to 413 K by using the Havriliak-Negami equation. The glass transition temperature Tg of P4CS is about 400 K. It is suggested that the HFT is distinct from the β relaxation process which occurs in polystyrene at temperatures just below Tg; and that the HFT is experimental evidence of the existence of localized, fast conformational changes. This fast process is presumed to be slowed and broadened by interactions with the surroundings.

  10. A Quantitative Investigation of Entrainment and Detrainment in Numerically Simulated Convective Clouds. Pt. 1; Model Development

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cohen, Charles

    1998-01-01

    A method is developed which uses numerical tracers to make accurate diagnoses of entraimnent and detrainment rates and of the properties of the entrained and detrained air in numerically simulated clouds. The numerical advection scheme is modified to make it nondispersive, as required by the use of the tracers. Tests of the new method are made, and an appropriate definition of clouds is selected. Distributions of mixing fractions in the model consistently show maximums at the end points, for nearly undilute environmental air or nearly undilute cloud air, with a uniform distribution between. The cumulonimbus clouds simulated here entrain air that had been substantially changed by the clouds, and detrained air that is not necessarily representative of the cloud air at the same level.

  11. Identification of fipronil metabolites by time-of-flight mass spectrometry for application in a human exposure study

    PubMed Central

    McMahen, Rebecca L.; Strynar, Mark J.; Dagnino, Sonia; Herr, David W.; Moser, Virginia C.; Garantziotis, Stavros; Andersen, Erik M.; Freeborn, Danielle L.; McMillan, Larry; Lindstrom, Andrew B.

    2016-01-01

    Fipronil is a phenylpyrazole insecticide commonly used in residential and agricultural applications. To understand more about the potential risks for human exposure associated with fipronil, urine and serum from dosed Long Evans adult rats (5 and 10 mg/kg bw) were analyzed to identify metabolites as potential biomarkers for use in human biomonitoring studies. Urine from treated rats was found to contain seven unique metabolites, two of which had not been previously reported—M4 and M7 which were putatively identified as a nitroso compound and an imine, respectively. Fipronil sulfone was confirmed to be the primary metabolite in rat serum. The fipronil metabolites identified in the respective matrices were then evaluated in matched human urine (n = 84) and serum (n = 96) samples from volunteers with no known pesticide exposures. Although no fipronil or metabolites were detected in human urine, fipronil sulfone was present in the serum of approximately 25% of the individuals at concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 4 ng/mL. These results indicate that many fipronil metabolites are produced following exposures in rats and that fipronil sulfone is a useful biomarker in human serum. Furthermore, human exposure to fipronil may occur regularly and require more extensive characterization. PMID:25687022

  12. Identification of fipronil metabolites by time-of-flight mass spectrometry for application in a human exposure study.

    PubMed

    McMahen, Rebecca L; Strynar, Mark J; Dagnino, Sonia; Herr, David W; Moser, Virginia C; Garantziotis, Stavros; Andersen, Erik M; Freeborn, Danielle L; McMillan, Larry; Lindstrom, Andrew B

    2015-05-01

    Fipronil is a phenylpyrazole insecticide commonly used in residential and agricultural applications. To understand more about the potential risks for human exposure associated with fipronil, urine and serum from dosed Long Evans adult rats (5 and 10mg/kg bw) were analyzed to identify metabolites as potential biomarkers for use in human biomonitoring studies. Urine from treated rats was found to contain seven unique metabolites, two of which had not been previously reported-M4 and M7 which were putatively identified as a nitroso compound and an imine, respectively. Fipronil sulfone was confirmed to be the primary metabolite in rat serum. The fipronil metabolites identified in the respective matrices were then evaluated in matched human urine (n=84) and serum (n=96) samples from volunteers with no known pesticide exposures. Although no fipronil or metabolites were detected in human urine, fipronil sulfone was present in the serum of approximately 25% of the individuals at concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 4ng/mL. These results indicate that many fipronil metabolites are produced following exposures in rats and that fipronil sulfone is a useful biomarker in human serum. Furthermore, human exposure to fipronil may occur regularly and require more extensive characterization. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  13. Human Urine Decreases Function and Expression of Type 1 Pili in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli

    PubMed Central

    Greene, Sarah E.; Hibbing, Michael E.; Janetka, James; Chen, Swaine L.

    2015-01-01

    ABSTRACT Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is the primary cause of community-acquired urinary tract infections (UTIs). UPEC bind the bladder using type 1 pili, encoded by the fim operon in nearly all E. coli. Assembled type 1 pili terminate in the FimH adhesin, which specifically binds to mannosylated glycoproteins on the bladder epithelium. Expression of type 1 pili is regulated in part by phase-variable inversion of the genomic element containing the fimS promoter, resulting in phase ON (expressing) and OFF (nonexpressing) orientations. Type 1 pili are essential for virulence in murine models of UTI; however, studies of urine samples from human UTI patients demonstrate variable expression of type 1 pili. We provide insight into this paradox by showing that human urine specifically inhibits both expression and function of type 1 pili. Growth in urine induces the fimS phase OFF orientation, preventing fim expression. Urine also contains inhibitors of FimH function, and this inhibition leads to a further bias in fimS orientation toward the phase OFF state. The dual effect of urine on fimS regulation and FimH binding presents a potential barrier to type 1 pilus-mediated colonization and invasion of the bladder epithelium. However, FimH-mediated attachment to human bladder cells during growth in urine reverses these effects such that fim expression remains ON and/or turns ON. Interestingly, FimH inhibitors called mannosides also induce the fimS phase OFF orientation. Thus, the transduction of FimH protein attachment or inhibition into epigenetic regulation of type 1 pilus expression has important implications for the development of therapeutics targeting FimH function. PMID:26126855

  14. Identification and quantification of (5'R)- and (5'S)-8,5'-cyclo-2'-deoxyadenosines in human urine as putative biomarkers of oxidatively induced damage to DNA

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jaruga, Pawel, E-mail: pawel.jaruga@nist.gov; Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Bydgoszcz; Dizdaroglu, Miral

    2010-06-18

    Biomarkers of oxidatively induced DNA damage are of great interest and can potentially be used for the early detection of disease, monitoring the progression of disease and determining the efficacy of therapy. The present work deals with the measurement in human urine of (5'R)-8,5'-cyclo-2'-deoxyadenosine (R-cdA) and (5'S)-8,5'-cyclo-2'-deoxyadenosine (S-cdA). These modified nucleosides had hitherto not been considered or investigated to be present in urine as possible biomarkers of oxidatively induced DNA damage. Urine samples were collected from volunteers, purified and analyzed by LC-MS/MS with isotope-dilution. R-cdA and S-cdA were detected in urine and quantified. Creatinine levels were also measured. In addition,more » we measured 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine that is commonly used as a biomarker. This study shows, for the first time, that R-cdA and S-cdA exist in human urine and can be identified and quantified by LC-MS/MS. We propose that R-cdA and S-cdA may be well-suited biomarkers for disease processes such as carcinogenesis.« less

  15. A urine-fuelled soil-based bioregenerative life support system for long-term and long-distance manned space missions.

    PubMed

    Maggi, Federico; Tang, Fiona H M; Pallud, Céline; Gu, Chuanhui

    2018-05-01

    A soil-based cropping unit fuelled with human urine for long-term manned space missions was investigated with the aim to analyze whether a closed-loop nutrient cycle from human liquid wastes was achievable. Its ecohydrology and biogeochemistry were analysed in microgravity with the use of an advanced computational tool. Urine from the crew was used to supply primary (N, P, and K) and secondary (S, Ca and Mg) nutrients to wheat and soybean plants in the controlled cropping unit. Breakdown of urine compounds into primary and secondary nutrients as well as byproduct gases, adsorbed, and uptake fractions were tracked over a period of 20 years. Results suggested that human urine could satisfy the demand of at least 3 to 4 out of 6 nutrients with an offset in pH and salinity tolerable by plants. It was therefore inferred that a urine-fuelled life support system can introduce a number of advantages including: (1) recycling of liquids wastes and production of food; (2) forgiveness of neglect as compared to engineered electro-mechanical systems that may fail under unexpected or unplanned conditions; and (3) reduction of supply and waste loads during space missions. Copyright © 2018 The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. PROFILES OF GREAT LAKES CRITICAL POLLUTANTS: A SENTINEL ANALYSIS OF HUMAN BLOOD AND URINE

    EPA Science Inventory

    To determine the contaminants that should be studied further in the subsequent population-based study, a profile of Great Lakes (GL) sport fish contaminant residues were studied in human blood and urine specimens from 32 sport fish consumers from three Great Lakes: Lake Michigan ...

  17. Urinary Biomarkers of Brain Diseases

    PubMed Central

    An, Manxia; Gao, Youhe

    2016-01-01

    Biomarkers are the measurable changes associated with a physiological or pathophysiological process. Unlike blood, urine is not subject to homeostatic mechanisms. Therefore, greater fluctuations could occur in urine than in blood, better reflecting the changes in human body. The roadmap of urine biomarker era was proposed. Although urine analysis has been attempted for clinical diagnosis, and urine has been monitored during the progression of many diseases, particularly urinary system diseases, whether urine can reflect brain disease status remains uncertain. As some biomarkers of brain diseases can be detected in the body fluids such as cerebrospinal fluid and blood, there is a possibility that urine also contain biomarkers of brain diseases. This review summarizes the clues of brain diseases reflected in the urine proteome and metabolome. PMID:26751805

  18. Disposition and metabolism of [14C]-levomilnacipran, a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, in humans, monkeys, and rats

    PubMed Central

    Brunner, Valérie; Maynadier, Bernadette; Chen, Laishun; Roques, Louise; Hude, Isabelle; Séguier, Sébastien; Barthe, Laurence; Hermann, Philippe

    2015-01-01

    Levomilnacipran is approved in the US for the treatment of major depressive disorder in adults. We characterized the metabolic profile of levomilnacipran in humans, monkeys, and rats after oral administration of [14C]-levomilnacipran. In vitro binding of levomilnacipran to human plasma proteins was also studied. Unchanged levomilnacipran was the major circulating compound after dosing in all species. Within 12 hours of dosing in humans, levomilnacipran accounted for 52.9% of total plasma radioactivity; the circulating metabolites N-desethyl levomilnacipran N-carbamoyl glucuronide, N-desethyl levomilnacipran, and levomilnacipran N-carbamoyl glucuronide accounted for 11.3%, 7.5%, and 5.6%, respectively. Similar results were seen in monkeys. N-Desethyl levomilnacipran and p-hydroxy levomilnacipran were the main circulating metabolites in rats. Mass balance results indicated that renal excretion was the major route of elimination with 58.4%, 35.5%, and 40.2% of total radioactivity being excreted as unchanged levomilnacipran in humans, monkeys, and rats, respectively. N-Desethyl levomilnacipran was detected in human, monkey, and rat urine (18.2%, 12.4%, and 7.9% of administered dose, respectively). Human and monkey urine contained measurable quantities of levomilnacipran glucuronide (3.8% and 4.1% of administered dose, respectively) and N-desethyl levomilnacipran glucuronide (3.2% and 2.3% of administered dose, respectively); these metabolites were not detected in rat urine. The metabolites p-hydroxy levomilnacipran and p-hydroxy levomilnacipran glucuronide were detected in human urine (≤1.2% of administered dose), and p-hydroxy levomilnacipran glucuronide was found in rat urine (4% of administered dose). None of the metabolites were pharmacologically active. Levomilnacipran was widely distributed with low plasma protein binding (22%). PMID:26150694

  19. Assessment of serum pharmacokinetics and urinary excretion of albendazole and its metabolites in human volunteers.

    PubMed

    Ceballos, Laura; Krolewiecki, Alejandro; Juárez, Marisa; Moreno, Laura; Schaer, Fabian; Alvarez, Luis I; Cimino, Rubén; Walson, Judd; Lanusse, Carlos E

    2018-01-01

    Soil Transmitted Helminth (STH) infections negatively impact physical and mental development in human populations. Current WHO guidelines recommend morbidity control of these infections through mass drug administration (MDA) using albendazole (ABZ) or mebendazole. Despite major reductions in STH associated morbidity globally, not all programs have demonstrated the expected impact on prevalence of parasite infections. These therapeutic failures may be related to poor programmatic coverage, suboptimal adherence or the exposure of parasites to sub-therapeutic drug concentrations. As part of the DeWorm3 project, we sought to characterize the serum disposition kinetics and pattern of urinary excretion of ABZ and its main metabolites ABZ sulphoxide (ABZSO) and ABZ sulphone (ABZSO2) in humans, and the assessment of the duration and optimal time point where ABZ and/or its metabolites can be measured in urine as an indirect assessment of an individual's adherence to treatment. Consecutive venous blood and urine samples were collected from eight (8) human volunteers up to 72 h post-ABZ oral administration. ABZ/metabolites were quantified by HPLC. The ABZSO metabolite was the main analyte recovered both in serum and urine. ABZSO Cmax in serum was 1.20 ± 0.44 μg/mL, reached at 4.75 h post-treatment. In urine, ABZSO Cmax was 3.24 ± 1.51 μg/mL reached at 6.50 h post-ABZ administration. Pharmacokinetic data obtained for ABZ metabolites in serum and urine, including the recovery of the ABZ sulphoxide derivative up to 72 h in both matrixes and the recovery of the amino-ABZ sulphone metabolite in urine samples, are suggesting the possibility of developing a urine based method to assess compliance to ABZ treatment. Such an assay may be useful to optimize ABZ use in human patients. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03192449.

  20. The metabolism of the anti-inflammatory drug eterylate in rat, dog and man.

    PubMed

    Wood, S G; John, B A; Chasseaud, L F; Johnstone, I; Biggs, S R; Hawkins, D R; Priego, J G; Darragh, A; Lambe, R F

    1983-12-01

    Oral doses of 14C-eterylate were well absorbed by rat and man and excreted mainly in the urine (94% dose by rat in three days and 91% by man in five days). Oral doses to dogs were excreted in similar proportions in both the urine and faeces, although faecal 14C was probably derived in part, from biliary-excreted material. Peak plasma 14C and drug concn. were generally reached between one and three hours after oral doses. In humans, only two metabolites, salicylic acid and 4-acetamido-phenoxyacetic acid, were detected in plasma. The latter was cleared more rapidly than the former and hence plasma salicyclate concn. reached a peak (10.9 and 19.8 micrograms/ml in Subjects 1 and 2, respectively) and initially declined with a half-life of about two-three hours. Plasma 4-acetamidophenoxyacetic acid concn. reached a peak (4.3, 10.0 micrograms/ml, respectively) and declined with a half-life of about one hour. Tissue concn. of 14C were generally greater in dogs than in rats. Highest conc. occurred at three hours in dogs and at one hour in rats. Apart from those in the liver and kidneys, tissue concn. were lower than those in the corresponding plasma. Unchanged drug was not detected in urine or plasma of any species and was rapidly metabolized in human plasma. The major 14C components in human urine were identified as salicyluric acid and 4-acetamidophenoxyacetic acid; minor metabolites were salicylic acid, gentisic acid and paracetamol. These metabolites were also detected in rat urine albeit in different proportions to those in human urine. Dog urine contained less of these metabolites and a major proportion of the 14C was associated with relatively non-polar components. Although salicylic acid and 4-acetamidophenoxyacetic acid were the only major circulating metabolites in man and rat, dog plasma also contained the non-polar urine metabolites.

  1. International Space Station Urine Monitoring System Functional Integration and Science Testing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rodriquez, Branelle R.; Broyan, James Lee, Jr.

    2011-01-01

    Exposure to microgravity during human spaceflight needs to be better understood as the human exploration of space requires longer duration missions. It is known that long term exposure to microgravity causes bone loss. Measuring the calcium and other metabolic byproducts in a crew member s urine can evaluate the effectiveness of bone loss countermeasures. The International Space Station (ISS) Urine Monitoring System (UMS) is an automated urine collection device designed to collect urine, separate the urine and air, measure the void volume, and allow for syringe sampling. Accurate measuring and minimal cross-contamination is essential to determine bone loss and the effectiveness of countermeasures. The ISS UMS provides minimal cross-contamination (<0.7 mL urine) and has volume accuracy of 2% between 100 to 1000 mL urine voids. Designed to provide a non-invasive means to collect urine samples from crew members, the ISS UMS operates in-line with the Node 3 Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC). The ISS UMS has undergone modifications required to interface with the WHC, including material changes, science algorithm improvements, and software platform revisions. Integrated functional testing was performed to determine the pressure drop, air flow rate, and the maximum amount of fluid capable of being discharged from the UMS to the WHC. This paper will detail the results of the science and the functional integration tests.

  2. Microchemical urinalysis. IX - Determination of hydroxyproline in urine.

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Grunbaum, B. W.; Pace, N.

    1973-01-01

    A simplified procedure is described for the determination of hydroxyproline in human or monkey urine. In this procedure 1 ml of urine is subjected in succession to hydrolysis, oxidation, extraction, and color development. During these steps impurities and interfering substances are eliminated, thus resulting in a chromophore due to hydroxyproline alone.

  3. Development and validation of an LC-MS/MS analysis for simultaneous determination of delphinidin-3-glucoside, cyanidin-3-glucoside and cyanidin-3-(6-malonylglucoside) in human plasma and urine after blood orange juice administration.

    PubMed

    Giordano, Lucia; Coletta, Walter; Rapisarda, Paolo; Donati, Maria Benedetta; Rotilio, Domenico

    2007-12-01

    Blood orange juice has a high content in anthocyanins, especially represented by delphinidin-3-glucoside (D3G), cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G) and cyanidin-3-(6-malonylglucoside) (CMG). An LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous determination of D3G and C3G in human plasma and urine was developed and validated. After sample preparation by SPE, chromatographic separation was performed with an RP-C(18) column, using a water/methanol linear gradient. The quantitation of target compounds was determined by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode, using ESI. The method showed good selectivity, sensitivity (LOD = 0.05 and 0.10 ng/mL for C3G in plasma and urine, respectively; LOD = 0.10 ng/mL for D3G in plasma and urine), linearity (0.20-200 ng/mL; r >or= 0.998), intra- and interday precision and accuracy (

  4. Studies on the excretion of ascorbic acid 2-sulfate and total vitamin C into human urine after oral administration of ascorbic acid 2-sulfate.

    PubMed

    Tsujimura, M; Fukuda, T; Kasai, T

    1982-10-01

    The excretion of AsS and total vitamin C into urine after oral administration of AsS to humans was investigated. When 10 mmol of AsS was administered to the subjects, the excretion of AsS into urine continued for 60 hr in males and 48 hr in females. The average amount excreted per hour was less than 5 mg. These results differed from those for AsA and DAsA orally administered to humans. The determination of vitamin C after oral administration of AsS to the subjects consisting of ten males and six females showed no vitamin C effect in humans, similarly to the case with the guinea pig and the rhesus monkey.

  5. Quantitative determination of BAF312, a S1P-R modulator, in human urine by LC-MS/MS: prevention and recovery of lost analyte due to container surface adsorption.

    PubMed

    Li, Wenkui; Luo, Suyi; Smith, Harold T; Tse, Francis L S

    2010-02-15

    Analyte loss due to non-specific binding, especially container surface adsorption, is not uncommon in the quantitative analysis of urine samples. In developing a sensitive LC-MS/MS method for the determination of a drug candidate, BAF312, in human urine, a simple procedure was outlined for identification, confirmation and prevention of analyte non-specific binding to a container surface and to recover the 'non-specific loss' of an analyte, if no transfer has occurred to the original urine samples. Non-specific binding or container surface adsorption can be quickly identified by using freshly spiked urine calibration standards and pre-pooled QC samples during a LC-MS/MS feasibility run. The resulting low recovery of an analyte in urine samples can be prevented through the use of additives, such as the non-ionic surfactant Tween-80, CHAPS and others, to the container prior to urine sample collection. If the urine samples have not been transferred from the bulk container, the 'non-specific binding' of an analyte to the container surface can be reversed by the addition of a specified amount of CHAPS, Tween-80 or bovine serum albumin, followed by appropriate mixing. Among the above agents, Tween-80 is the most cost-effective. beta-cyclodextrin may be suitable in stabilizing the analyte of interest in urine via pre-treating the matrix with the agent. However, post-addition of beta-cyclodextrin to untreated urine samples does not recover the 'lost' analyte due to non-specific binding or container surface adsorption. In the case of BAF312, a dynamic range of 0.0200-20.0 ng/ml in human urine was validated with an overall accuracy and precision for QC sample results ranging from -3.2 to 5.1% (bias) and 3.9 to 10.2% (CV), respectively. Pre- and post-addition of 0.5% (v/v) Tween-80 to the container provided excellent overall analyte recovery and minimal MS signal suppression when a liquid-liquid extraction in combination with an isocratic LC separation was employed. The compound was stable in 0.5% Tween-80 treated human urine QC samples for at least 24 h at room temperature, after three freeze/thaw cycles with storage at < or =-60 degrees C and for at least 3 months when stored at < or =-60 degrees C. The current work could serve as a simple example in trouble shooting non-specific binding or container surface adsorption in quantitative analysis of urine samples. Copyright 2010. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  6. Evaluation of the in vitro growth of urinary tract infection-causing gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria in a proposed synthetic human urine (SHU) medium.

    PubMed

    Ipe, Deepak S; Ulett, Glen C

    2016-08-01

    Bacteriuria is a hallmark of urinary tract infection (UTI) and asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU), which are among the most frequent infections in humans. A variety of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria are associated with these infections but Escherichia coli contributes up to 80% of cases. Multiple bacterial species including E. coli can grow in human urine as a means to maintain colonization during infections. In vitro bacteriuria studies aimed at modeling microbial growth in urine have utilized various compositions of synthetic human urine (SHU) and a Composite SHU formulation was recently proposed. In this study, we sought to validate the recently proposed Composite SHU as a medium that supports the growth of several bacterial species that are known to grow in normal human urine and/or artificial urine. Comparative growth assays of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Streptococcus agalactiae, Staphylococcus saprophyticus and Enterococcus faecalis were undertaken using viable bacterial count and optical density measurements over a 48h culture period. Three different SHU formulations were tested in various culture vessels, shaking conditions and volumes and showed that Composite SHU can support the robust growth of gram-negative bacteria but requires supplementation with 0.2% yeast extract to support the growth of gram-positive bacteria. Experiments are also presented that show an unexpected but major influence of P. mirabilis towards the ability to measure bacterial growth in generally accepted multiwell assays using absorbance readings, predicted to have a basis in the release of volatile organic compound(s) from P. mirabilis during growth in Composite SHU medium. This study represents an essential methodological validation of a more chemically defined type of synthetic urine that can be applied to study mechanisms of bacteriuria and we conclude will offer a useful in vitro model to investigate the basis of some of the most common infections of humans. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Intercomparison of analytical methods for arsenic speciation in human urine.

    PubMed

    Crecelius, E; Yager, J

    1997-06-01

    An intercomparison exercise was conducted for the quantification of arsenic species in spiked human urine. The primary objective of the exercise was to determine the variance among laboratories in the analysis of arsenic species such as inorganic As (As+3 and As+5), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA). Laboratories that participated had previous experience with arsenic speciation analysis. The results of this interlaboratory comparison are encouraging. There is relatively good agreement on the concentrations of these arsenic species in urine at concentrations that are relevant to research on the metabolism of arsenic in humans and other mammals. Both the accuracy and precision are relatively poor for arsenic concentrations of less than about 5 micrograms/l.

  8. [Determination of trace cobalt in human urine by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometr].

    PubMed

    Zhong, L X; Ding, B M; Jiang, D; Liu, D Y; Yu, B; Zhu, B L; Ding, L

    2016-05-20

    To establish a method to determine cobalt in human urine by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. Urine with 2% nitric acid diluted two-fold, to quantify the curve, graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometric detection. Co was linear within 2.5~40.0 ng/ml with r>0.999. Spike experiment showed that Co received good recovery rate, which was 90.8%~94.8%. Intra-assay precisions were 3.2%~5.1% for Co, inter-assay precisions were 4.4%~5.2% for Co. The method by using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometr to determine urine Co was fast, accurate and with low matrix effect. It could meet the requirement in GBZ/T 210.5-2008.

  9. Human urine as test material in 1H NMR-based metabonomics: recommendations for sample preparation and storage.

    PubMed

    Lauridsen, Michael; Hansen, Steen H; Jaroszewski, Jerzy W; Cornett, Claus

    2007-02-01

    Metabonomic approaches are believed to have the capability of revolutionizing diagnosis of diseases and assessment of patient conditions after medical interventions. In order to ensure comparability of metabonomic 1H NMR data from different studies, we suggest validated sample preparation guidelines for human urine based on a stability study that evaluates effects of storage time and temperature, freeze-drying, and the presence of preservatives. The results indicated that human urine samples should be stored at or below -25 degrees C, as no changes in the 1H NMR fingerprints have been observed during storage at this temperature for 26 weeks. Formation of acetate, presumably due to microbial contamination, was occasionally observed in samples stored at 4 degrees C without addition of a preservative. Addition of a preserving agent is not mandatory provided that the samples are stored at -25 degrees C. Thus, no differences were observed between 1H NMR spectra of nonpreserved urines and urines with added sodium azide and stored at -25 degrees C, whereas the presence of sodium fluoride caused a shift of especially citrate resonances. Freeze-drying of urine and reconstitution in D2O at pH 7.4 resulted in the disappearance of the creatinine CH2 signal at delta 4.06 due to deuteration. A study evaluating the effects of phosphate buffer concentration on signal variability and assessment of the probability of citrate or creatinine resonances crossing bucket border (a boundary between adjacent integrated regions) led to the conclusion that a minimum buffer concentration of 0.3 M is adequate for normal urines used in this study. However, final buffer concentration of 1 M will be required for very concentrated urines.

  10. Establishment of a dog primary prostate cancer organoid using the urine cancer stem cells.

    PubMed

    Usui, Tatsuya; Sakurai, Masashi; Nishikawa, Shimpei; Umata, Koji; Nemoto, Yuki; Haraguchi, Tomoya; Itamoto, Kazuhito; Mizuno, Takuya; Noguchi, Shunsuke; Mori, Takashi; Iwai, Satomi; Nakagawa, Takayuki; Yamawaki, Hideyuki; Ohama, Takashi; Sato, Koichi

    2017-12-01

    Dog spontaneously develop prostate cancer (PC) like humans. Because most dogs with PC have a poor prognosis, they could be used as a translational model for advanced PC in humans. Stem cell-derived 3-D organoid culture could recapitulate organ structures and physiology. Using patient tissues, a human PC organoid culture system was established. Recent study has shown that urine cells also possess the characteristic of stem cells. However, urine cell-derived PC organoids have never been produced. Therefore, we generated PC organoids using the dog urine samples. Urine organoids were successfully generated from each dog with PC. Each organoid showed cystic structures and resembled the epithelial structures of original tissues. Expression of an epithelial cell marker, E-cadherin, and a myofibloblast marker, α-SMA, was observed in the urine organoids. The organoids also expressed a basal cell marker, CK5, and a luminal cell marker, CK8. CD49f-sorted basal cell organoids rapidly grew compared with CD24-sorted luminal cell organoids. The population of CD44-positive cells was the highest in both organoids and the original urine cells. Tumors were successfully formed with the injection of the organoids into immunodeficient mice. Treatment with a microtubule inhibitor, docetaxel, but not a cyclooxygenase inhibitor, piroxicam, and an mTOR inhibitor, rapamycin, decreased the cell viability of organoids. Treatment with a Hedgehog signal inhibitor, GANT61, increased the radiosensitivity in the organoids. These findings revealed that PC organoids using urine might become a useful tool for investigating the mechanisms of the pathogenesis and treatment of PC in dogs. © 2017 The Authors. Cancer Science published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Cancer Association.

  11. Quantitative analysis of trihydroxybutyl mercapturic acid, a urinary metabolite of 1, 3-butadiene, in humans

    PubMed Central

    Kotapati, Srikanth; Matter, Brock A.; Grant, Amy L.; Tretyakova, Natalia Y.

    2011-01-01

    1,3-butadiene (BD)* is a known human carcinogen present in cigarette smoke and in automobile exhaust, leading to widespread exposure of human populations. BD requires cytochrome P450-mediated metabolic activation to electrophilic species, e.g. 3,4-epoxy-1-butene (EB), hydroxymethylvinylketone (HMVK), and 3,4-epoxy-1,2-diol (EBD), which form covalent adducts with DNA. EB, HMVK, and EBD can be conjugated with glutathione and ultimately excreted in urine as monohydroxybutenyl mercapturic acid (MHBMA), dihydroxybutyl mercapturic acid (DHBMA), and trihydroxybutyl mercapturic acid (THBMA), respectively, which can serve as biomarkers of BD exposure and metabolic processing. While MHBMA and DHBMA have been found in smokers and non-smokers, THBMA has not been previously detected in humans. In the present work, an isotope dilution HPLC-ESI−-MS/MS methodology was developed and employed to quantify THBMA in urine of known smokers and non-smokers (19–27 per group). The new method has excellent sensitivity (LOQ, 1 ng/mL urine) and achieves accurate quantitation using a small sample volume (100 µl). Mean urinary THBMA concentrations in smokers and non-smokers were found to be 21.6 and 13.7 ng/mg creatinine, respectively, suggesting that there are sources of THBMA other than exposure to tobacco smoke in humans, as is also the case for DHBMA. However, THBMA concentrations are significantly greater in urine of smokers than that of non-smokers (p < 0.01). Furthermore, THBMA amounts in human urine declined 25–50 % following smoking cessation, suggesting that smoking is an important source of this metabolite in humans. The HPLC-ESI−-MS/MS methodology developed in the present work will be useful for future epidemiological studies of BD exposure and metabolism. PMID:21749114

  12. Rapid Diagnosis of Tuberculosis from Analysis of Urine Volatile Organic Compounds

    PubMed Central

    Lim, Sung H.; Martino, Raymond; Anikst, Victoria; Xu, Zeyu; Mix, Samantha; Benjamin, Robert; Schub, Herbert; Eiden, Michael; Rhodes, Paul A.; Banaei, Niaz

    2017-01-01

    The World Health Organization has called for simple, sensitive, and non-sputum diagnostics for tuberculosis. We report development of a urine tuberculosis test using a colorimetric sensor array (CSA). The sensor comprised of 73 different indicators captures high-dimensional, spatiotemporal signatures of volatile chemicals emitted by human urine samples. The sensor responses to 63 urine samples collected from 22 tuberculosis cases and 41 symptomatic controls were measured under five different urine test conditions. Basified testing condition yielded the best accuracy with 85.5% sensitivity and 79.5% specificity. The CSA urine assay offers desired features needed for tuberculosis diagnosis in endemic settings. PMID:29057329

  13. High Modulus Biodegradable Polyurethanes for Vascular Stents: Evaluation of Accelerated in vitro Degradation and Cell Viability of Degradation Products

    PubMed Central

    Sgarioto, Melissa; Adhikari, Raju; Gunatillake, Pathiraja A.; Moore, Tim; Patterson, John; Nagel, Marie-Danielle; Malherbe, François

    2015-01-01

    We have recently reported the mechanical properties and hydrolytic degradation behavior of a series of NovoSorb™ biodegradable polyurethanes (PUs) prepared by varying the hard segment (HS) weight percentage from 60 to 100. In this study, the in vitro degradation behavior of these PUs with and without extracellular matrix (ECM) coating was investigated under accelerated hydrolytic degradation (phosphate buffer saline; PBS/70°C) conditions. The mass loss at different time intervals and the effect of aqueous degradation products on the viability and growth of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were examined. The results showed that PUs with HS 80% and below completely disintegrated leaving no visual polymer residue at 18 weeks and the degradation medium turned acidic due to the accumulation of products from the soft segment (SS) degradation. As expected the PU with the lowest HS was the fastest to degrade. The accumulated degradation products, when tested undiluted, showed viability of about 40% for HUVEC cells. However, the viability was over 80% when the solution was diluted to 50% and below. The growth of HUVEC cells is similar to but not identical to that observed with tissue culture polystyrene standard (TCPS). The results from this in vitro study suggested that the PUs in the series degraded primarily due to the SS degradation and the cell viability of the accumulated acidic degradation products showed poor viability to HUVEC cells when tested undiluted, however particles released to the degradation medium showed cell viability over 80%. PMID:26000274

  14. Simultaneous determination of triptolide, tripdiolide and tripterine in human urine by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ion trap atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Jin, Mi-cong; Chen, Xiao-hong; OuYang, Xiao-kun

    2009-03-01

    An accurate and selective method for the simultaneous determination of triptolide, tripdiolide and tripterine in human urine using hydrocortisone as an internal standard (IS) by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry in negative ion mode has been developed. After triptolide, tripdiolide and tripterine in human urine were extracted with ethyl acetate and cleaned by solid-phase extraction with C(18) cartridges, a satisfactory separation was achieved on an XDB C(18) short column (30 x 2.1 mm i.d., 3 microm) using the mobile phase of acetic acid-ammonium acetate (5 mmol/L, pH = 4.5)-acetonitrile-methanol in gradient elution. Detection was operated by APCI in selected ion monitoring mode. The target ions m/z 359, m/z 375, m/z 449 and m/z 419 were selected for the quantification of triptolide, tripdiolide, tripterine and IS, respectively. The linear range was 1.0-100.0 ng mL(-1), and the limits of quantification in human urine were found to be 0.1-0.5 ng mL(-1) for the three compounds. The precisions (CV%) and accuracies were 6.6-12.9 and 85.1-97.0%, respectively. The developed method could be applied to the determination of triptolide, tripdiolide and tripterine in human urine for diagnosis of the intoxication and for forensic purposes. 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  15. A short review on human exposure to and tissue distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs).

    PubMed

    Jian, Jun-Meng; Chen, Da; Han, Fu-Juan; Guo, Ying; Zeng, Lixi; Lu, Xingwen; Wang, Fei

    2018-09-15

    PFASs are widely distributed in natural and living environment and can enter human bodies via different routes. Many studies have reported that PFASs may be associated with human diseases, such as urine acid and thyroid diseases. In this study, we reviewed PFAS levels in human bodies reported in past seven years, including blood, urine, milk, and tissues (hair and nails). Most studies focused on human blood. Blood type, spatiality, human age, and gender were found to have a strong relationship with PFAS levels in blood samples. The PFAS distribution in urine samples was reported to be associated with the chain length of PFASs and human gender. Urinary excretion was found to be an important pathway of PFAS elimination. PFAS levels in human milk might be affected by various factors, such as mothers' age, dietary habit, parity of mothers and the interval of interpregnancy. Data in hair and nails remain very limited, but these matrices offer a non-invasive approach to evaluate human exposure to PFASs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. High soil and groundwater arsenic levels induce high body arsenic loads, health risk and potential anemia for inhabitants of northeastern Iran.

    PubMed

    Taheri, Masumeh; Mehrzad, Jalil; Mahmudy Gharaie, Mohamad Hosein; Afshari, Reza; Dadsetan, Ahmad; Hami, Shakiba

    2016-04-01

    Arsenic bioavailability in rock, soil and water resources is notoriously hazardous. Geogenic arsenic enters the body and adversely affects many biochemical processes in animals and humans, posing risk to public health. Chelpu is located in NE Iran, where realgar, orpiment and pyrite mineralization is the source of arsenic in the macroenvironment. Using cluster random sampling strategy eight rocks, 23 soils, 12 drinking water resources, 36 human urine and hair samples and 15 adult sheep urine and wool samples in several large-scale herds in the area were randomly taken for quantification of arsenic in rock/soil/water, wool/hair/urine. Arsenic levels in rock/soil/water and wool/hair/urine were measured using inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy and atomic absorption spectrophotometry, respectively. While arsenic levels in rocks, soils and water resources hazardously ranged 9.40-25,873.3 mg kg(-1), 7.10-1448.80 mg kg(-1) and 12-606 μg L(-1), respectively, arsenic concentrations in humans' hair and urine and sheep's wool and urine varied from 0.37-1.37 μg g(-1) and 9-271.4 μg L(-1) and 0.3-3.11 μg g(-1) and 29.1-1015 μg L(-1), respectively. Local sheep and human were widely sick and slightly anemic. Hematological examination of the inhabitants revealed that geogenic arsenic could harm blood cells, potentially resulting in many other hematoimmunological disorders including cancer. The findings warn widespread exposure of animals and human in this agroecologically and geopolitically important region (i.e., its proximity with Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkmenistan) and give a clue on how arsenic could induce infectious and non-infectious diseases in highly exposed human/animals.

  17. Determination of miloxacin and metabolites in human serum and urine by high-pressure liquid chromatography.

    PubMed Central

    Yoshitake, A; Kawahara, K; Shono, F; Umeda, I; Izawa, A; Komatsu, T

    1980-01-01

    A sensitive and reliable high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay for miloxacin and its two principal metabolites, 5,8-dihydro-8-oxo-2H-1,3-dioxolo[4,5-g]quinoline-7-carboxylic acid (M-1) and 1,4-dihydro-1,6-dimethoxy-7-hydroxy-4-oxoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid (M-2), in human serum and urine was developed. A strong anion-exchange Zipax SAX column using a mobile phase of 0.01 M citric acid solution containing 0.03 M sodium nitrate with pH 5.0 was used to achieve separation of the three compounds. The retention times of miloxacin, M-1, and M-2 were 3.8, 9.3, and 5.9 min, respectively. Serum and urine concentrations of these compounds as low as 10 ng/ml were measured. When results from the HPLC assay were compared with those from the microbiological assay of serum and urine samples from human subjects receiving miloxacin orally, the correlation coefficients were 0.94 for the serum and 0.99 for the urine. The HPLC assay method presents an alternative to the microbiological assay and permits future pharmacokinetic investigations of miloxacin. PMID:7416751

  18. Separation of platelets from whole blood using standing surface acoustic waves in a microchannel.

    PubMed

    Nam, Jeonghun; Lim, Hyunjung; Kim, Dookon; Shin, Sehyun

    2011-10-07

    Platelet separation from blood is essential for biochemical analyses and clinical diagnosis. In this article, we propose a method to separate platelets from undiluted whole blood using standing surface acoustic waves (SSAWs) in a microfluidic device. A polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic channel was fabricated and integrated with interdigitated transducer (IDT) electrodes patterned on a piezoelectric substrate. To avoid shear-induced activation of platelets, the blood sample flow was hydrodynamically focused by introducing sheath flow from two side-inlets and pressure nodes were designed to locate at side walls. By means of flow cytometric analysis, the RBC clearance ratio from whole blood was found to be over 99% and the purity of platelets was close to 98%. Conclusively, the present technique using SSAWs can directly separate platelets from undiluted whole blood with higher purity than other methods.

  19. Off surface matrix based on-chip electrochemical biosensor platform for protein biomarker detection in undiluted serum.

    PubMed

    Arya, Sunil K; Kongsuphol, Patthara; Park, Mi Kyoung

    2017-06-15

    The manuscript describes a concept of using off surface matrix modified with capturing biomolecule for on-chip electrochemical biosensing. 3D matrix made by laser engraving of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) sheet as off surface matrix was integrated in very close vicinity of the electrode surface. Laser engraving and holes in PMMA along with spacing from surface provide fluidic channel and incubation chamber. Covalent binding of capturing biomolecule (anti-TNF-α antibody) on off-surface matrix was achieved via azide group activity of 4-fluoro-3-nitro-azidobenzene (FNAB), which act as cross-linker and further covalently binds to anti-TNF-α antibody via thermal reaction. Anti-TNF-α/FNAB/PMMA matrix was then integrated over comb structured gold electrode array based sensor chip. Separate surface modification followed by integration of sensor helped to prevent the sensor chip surface from fouling during functionalization. Nonspecific binding was prevented using starting block T20 (PBS). Results for estimating protein biomarker (TNF-α) in undiluted serum using Anti-TNF-α/FNAB/PMMA/Au reveal that system can detect TNF-α in 100pg/ml to 100ng/ml range with high sensitivity of 119nA/(ng/ml), with negligible interference from serum proteins and other cytokines. Thus, use of off surface matrix may provide the opportunity to electrochemically sense biomarkers sensitively to ng/ml range with negligible nonspecific binding and false signal in undiluted serum. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Cytomegalovirus retinitis after intravitreal bevacizumab injection in an immunocompetent patient.

    PubMed

    Bae, So Hyun; Kim, Tae Wan; Chung, Hum; Heo, Jang Won

    2013-02-01

    We report a case of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis after intravitreal bevacizumab injection. A 61-year-old woman with diabetic macular edema developed dense vitritis and necrotizing retinitis 3 weeks after intravitreal bevacizumab injection. A diagnostic vitrectomy was performed. The undiluted vitreous sample acquired by vitrectomy was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction and culture. Polymerase chain reaction of the vitreous was positive for CMV DNA. Other laboratory results did not show evidence of other infectious retinitis and systemic immune dysfunction. Human immunodeficiency virus antibodies were also negative. After systemic administration of ganciclovir, retinitis has resolved and there has been no recurrence of retinitis during the follow-up period of 12 months. Ophthalmologists should be aware of potential risk for CMV retinitis after intravitreal bevacizumab injection.

  1. Evaluation of a killed Rocky Mountain spotted fever vaccine in cynomolgus monkeys.

    PubMed Central

    Gonder, J C; Kenyon, R H; Pedersen, C E

    1979-01-01

    A nonhuman primate model of Rocky Mountain spotted fever infection was developed in cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) infected by the subcutaneous route or by aerosol. Clinical responses, hematology and serum chemistry values, and pathological findings were similar to those found in humans ill with Rocky Mountain spotted fever. The clinical model was then used to test the efficacy of a killed Rocky Mountain spotted fever vaccine grown in chicken embryo cells. Monkeys were immunized with varying dilutions of the vaccine with a two-dose schedule and then challenged at 2 months with virulent Rickettsia rickettsii by the subcutaneous route or by aerosol. The undiluted vaccine totally protected monkeys against both challenges, even at extremely high doses. PMID:120877

  2. Does increased urination frequency protect against bladder cancer?

    PubMed

    Silverman, Debra T; Alguacil, Juan; Rothman, Nathaniel; Real, Francisco X; Garcia-Closas, Montserrat; Cantor, Kenneth P; Malats, Nuria; Tardon, Adonina; Serra, Consol; Garcia-Closas, Reina; Carrato, Alfredo; Lloreta, Josep; Samanic, Claudine; Dosemeci, Mustafa; Kogevinas, Manolis

    2008-10-01

    Experimental studies suggest that increased urination frequency may reduce bladder cancer risk if carcinogens are present in the urine. Only 2 small studies of the effect of increased urination frequency on bladder cancer risk in humans have been conducted with conflicting results. Our purpose was to evaluate the effect of urination frequency on risk of bladder cancer in a large, multicenter case-control study. We analyzed data based on interviews conducted with 884 patients with newly diagnosed, bladder cancer and 996 controls from 1998 to 2001 in Spain. We observed a consistent, inverse trend in risk with increasing nighttime voiding frequency in both men (p = 0.0003) and women (p = 0.07); voiding at least 2 times per night was associated with a significant, 40-50% risk reduction. The protective effect of nocturia was apparent among study participants with low, moderate and high water consumption. The risk associated with cigarette smoking was reduced by nocturia. Compared with nonsmokers who did not urinate at night, current smokers who did not urinate at night had an OR of 7.0 (95% CI = 4.7-10.2), whereas those who voided at least twice per night had an OR of 3.3 (95% CI = 1.9-5.8) (p value for trend = 0.0005). Our findings suggest a strong protective effect of nocturia on bladder cancer risk, providing evidence in humans that bladder cancer risk is related to the contact time of the urothelium with carcinogens in urine. Increased urination frequency, coupled with possible dilution of the urine from increased water intake, may diminish the effect of urinary carcinogens on bladder cancer risk.

  3. To observe the intensity of the inflammatory reaction caused by neonatal urine and meconium on the intestinal wall of rats in order to understand etiology of intestinal damage in gastroschisis

    PubMed Central

    Samala, Devdas S.; Parelkar, Sandesh V.; Sanghvi, Beejal V.; Vageriya, Natasha L.; Paradkar, Bhupesh A.; Kandalkar, Bhuvaneshwari M.; Sathe, Pragati A.

    2014-01-01

    Objectives: The aim of this experimental study was to observe the intensity of the inflammatory reaction caused by neonatal urine and meconium on the intestinal wall of rats to better understand etiology of intestinal damage in gastroschisis. Materials and Methods: A total of 24 adult Wistar rats were used as experimental models to simulate the effect of exposed bowel in cases of gastroschisis. The peritoneal cavity of the rats was injected with substances which constitute human amniotic fluid to study the effect on the bowel. Sterile urine and meconium were obtained from newborn humans. The rats were divided into four groups according to the material to be injected. In Group I (Control group) 3 mL of distilled water was injected, in Group II (Urine group) 3 mL of neonatal urine was injected, in Group III (Meconium group) 5% meconium suspension was injected, while in Group IV, a combination of 5% meconium suspension and urine was injected. A total of 3mL solution was injected into the right inferior quadrant twice a day for 5 days. The animals were sacrificed on the 6th day by a high dose of thiopentone sodium. A segment of small bowel specimen was excised, fixed in paraffin, and stained with hematoxylin-eosin for microscopic analysis for determination of the degree of inflammatory reaction in the intestinal wall. All pathology specimens were studied by the same pathologist. Results: The maximum bowel damage was seen in Group II (Urine group) in the form of serositis, severe enteritis, parietal necrosis, and peeling. A lesser degree of damage was observed in Group III (Meconium group) as mild enteritis (mild lymphoid hyperplasia). The least damage was seen in Group IV (Combination of meconium and urine) and Group I (Control group). Conclusion: The intraabdominal injection of neonatal human urine produces significant inflammatory reactions in the intestinal wall of rats. PMID:24604977

  4. Optimization of analytical and pre-analytical conditions for MALDI-TOF-MS human urine protein profiles.

    PubMed

    Calvano, C D; Aresta, A; Iacovone, M; De Benedetto, G E; Zambonin, C G; Battaglia, M; Ditonno, P; Rutigliano, M; Bettocchi, C

    2010-03-11

    Protein analysis in biological fluids, such as urine, by means of mass spectrometry (MS) still suffers for insufficient standardization in protocols for sample collection, storage and preparation. In this work, the influence of these variables on healthy donors human urine protein profiling performed by matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) was studied. A screening of various urine sample pre-treatment procedures and different sample deposition approaches on the MALDI target was performed. The influence of urine samples storage time and temperature on spectral profiles was evaluated by means of principal component analysis (PCA). The whole optimized procedure was eventually applied to the MALDI-TOF-MS analysis of human urine samples taken from prostate cancer patients. The best results in terms of detected ions number and abundance in the MS spectra were obtained by using home-made microcolumns packed with hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) resin as sample pre-treatment method; this procedure was also less expensive and suitable for high throughput analyses. Afterwards, the spin coating approach for sample deposition on the MALDI target plate was optimized, obtaining homogenous and reproducible spots. Then, PCA indicated that low storage temperatures of acidified and centrifuged samples, together with short handling time, allowed to obtain reproducible profiles without artifacts contribution due to experimental conditions. Finally, interesting differences were found by comparing the MALDI-TOF-MS protein profiles of pooled urine samples of healthy donors and prostate cancer patients. The results showed that analytical and pre-analytical variables are crucial for the success of urine analysis, to obtain meaningful and reproducible data, even if the intra-patient variability is very difficult to avoid. It has been proven how pooled urine samples can be an interesting way to make easier the comparison between healthy and pathological samples and to individuate possible differences in the protein expression between the two sets of samples. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Determination of thiol metabolites in human urine by stable isotope labeling in combination with pseudo-targeted mass spectrometry analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Ping; Qi, Chu-Bo; Zhu, Quan-Fei; Yuan, Bi-Feng; Feng, Yu-Qi

    2016-02-01

    Precursor ion scan and multiple reaction monitoring scan (MRM) are two typical scan modes in mass spectrometry analysis. Here, we developed a strategy by combining stable isotope labeling (IL) with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) under double precursor ion scan (DPI) and MRM for analysis of thiols in 5 types of human cancer urine. Firstly, the IL-LC-DPI-MS method was applied for non-targeted profiling of thiols from cancer samples. Compared to traditional full scan mode, the DPI method significantly improved identification selectivity and accuracy. 103 thiol candidates were discovered in all cancers and 6 thiols were identified by their standards. It is worth noting that pantetheine, for the first time, was identified in human urine. Secondly, the IL-LC-MRM-MS method was developed for relative quantification of thiols in cancers compared to healthy controls. All the MRM transitions of light and heavy labeled thiols were acquired from urines by using DPI method. Compared to DPI method, the sensitivity of MRM improved by 2.1-11.3 folds. In addition, the concentration of homocysteine, γ-glutamylcysteine and pantetheine enhanced more than two folds in cancer patients compared to healthy controls. Taken together, the method demonstrated to be a promising strategy for identification and comprehensive quantification of thiols in human urines.

  6. Determination of thiol metabolites in human urine by stable isotope labeling in combination with pseudo-targeted mass spectrometry analysis

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Ping; Qi, Chu-Bo; Zhu, Quan-Fei; Yuan, Bi-Feng; Feng, Yu-Qi

    2016-01-01

    Precursor ion scan and multiple reaction monitoring scan (MRM) are two typical scan modes in mass spectrometry analysis. Here, we developed a strategy by combining stable isotope labeling (IL) with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) under double precursor ion scan (DPI) and MRM for analysis of thiols in 5 types of human cancer urine. Firstly, the IL-LC-DPI-MS method was applied for non-targeted profiling of thiols from cancer samples. Compared to traditional full scan mode, the DPI method significantly improved identification selectivity and accuracy. 103 thiol candidates were discovered in all cancers and 6 thiols were identified by their standards. It is worth noting that pantetheine, for the first time, was identified in human urine. Secondly, the IL-LC-MRM-MS method was developed for relative quantification of thiols in cancers compared to healthy controls. All the MRM transitions of light and heavy labeled thiols were acquired from urines by using DPI method. Compared to DPI method, the sensitivity of MRM improved by 2.1–11.3 folds. In addition, the concentration of homocysteine, γ-glutamylcysteine and pantetheine enhanced more than two folds in cancer patients compared to healthy controls. Taken together, the method demonstrated to be a promising strategy for identification and comprehensive quantification of thiols in human urines. PMID:26888486

  7. The determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in human urine by high-resolution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Cho, Sung-Hee; Lee, Sun-Kyung; Kim, Chong Hyeak

    2018-05-01

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organic compounds formed by at least two condensed aromatic rings, are ubiquitous environmental pollutants that are produced by incomplete combustion of organic materials. PAHs have been classified as carcinogenIC to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, because they can bind to DNA, causing mutations. Therefore, the levels of PAHs in human urine can be used as an indicator for potential carcinogenesis and cell mutation. An analytical method was developed for the accurate measurement of PAHs in urine using high-resolution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Urine samples were extracted by an Oasis HLB extraction cartridge after enzymatic hydrolysis with a β-glucuronidase/arylsulfatase cocktail. The 18 PAHs were separated using an Agilent DB-5 MS capillary column (30 m × 0.25 mm, 0.25 μm) and monitored by time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Under the optimized method, the linearity of calibration curves was >0.994. The limits of detection at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 were 10-100 ng/L. The coefficients of variation were in the range of 0.4-9.0%. The present method was highly accurate for simultaneous determination of 18 PAHs in human urine and could be applied to monitoring and biomedical investigations to check exposure of PAHs. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  8. A qualitative/quantitative approach for the detection of 37 tryptamine-derived designer drugs, 5 β-carbolines, ibogaine, and yohimbine in human urine and plasma using standard urine screening and multi-analyte approaches.

    PubMed

    Meyer, Markus R; Caspar, Achim; Brandt, Simon D; Maurer, Hans H

    2014-01-01

    The first synthetic tryptamines have entered the designer drug market in the late 1990s and were distributed as psychedelic recreational drugs. In the meantime, several analogs have been brought onto the market indicating a growing interest in this drug class. So far, only scarce analytical data were available on the detectability of tryptamines in human biosamples. Therefore, the aim of the presented study was the development and full validation of a method for their detection in human urine and plasma and their quantification in human plasma. The liquid chromatography-linear ion trap mass spectrometry method presented covered 37 tryptamines as well as five β-carbolines, ibogaine, and yohimbine. Compounds were analyzed after protein precipitation of urine or fast liquid-liquid extraction of plasma using an LXQ linear ion trap coupled to an Accela ultra ultra high-performance liquid chromatography system. Data mining was performed via information-dependent acquisition or targeted product ion scan mode with positive electrospray ionization. The assay was selective for all tested substances with limits of detection in urine between 10 and 100 ng/mL and in plasma between 1 and 100 ng/mL. A validated quantification in plasma according to international recommendation could be demonstrated for 33 out of 44 analytes.

  9. The major histocompatibility complex and the chemosensory signalling of individuality in humans.

    PubMed

    Eggert, F; Luszyk, D; Haberkorn, K; Wobst, B; Vostrowsky, O; Westphal, E; Bestmann, H J; Müller-Ruchholtz, W; Ferstl, R

    The chemosensory identity of mice and rats is determined partly by polymorphic genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). In inbred strains of mice, as well as in seminatural populations, MHC-associated mating preferences selectively influence reproductive success, thus serving to promote heterozygocity in the MHC. In order to determine whether MHC-associated chemosignals are present in humans, two studies were conducted. In a first study, olfactory identification of MHC-associated chemosignals was conducted on 12 trained rats' responses to the urine odors of humans. In a second study, MHC-associated olfactory cues in humans were analyzed by means of gas chromatography. The results indicate that the urine odors of humans are associated with the MHC and demonstrate that the profile of volatile components in the urine odors shows some association with the MHC. Furthermore, results show that a profile of some specific components, as well as a few ubiquitous volatiles, constitutes MHC-associated odor signals in humans.

  10. Quantitative electrochemical metalloimmunoassay for TFF3 in urine using a paper analytical device.

    PubMed

    DeGregory, Paul R; Tsai, Yi-Ju; Scida, Karen; Richards, Ian; Crooks, Richard M

    2016-03-07

    We report a paper-based assay platform for the detection of the kidney disease marker Trefoil Factor 3 (TFF3) in human urine. The sensor is based on a quantitative metalloimmunoassay that can determine TFF3 concentrations via electrochemical detection of environmentally stable silver nanoparticle (AgNP) labels attached to magnetic microbeads via a TFF3 immunosandwich. The paper electroanalytical device incorporates two preconcentration steps that make it possible to detect concentrations of TFF3 in human urine at the low end of the target TFF3 concentration range (0.03-7.0 μg mL(-1)). Importantly, the paper device provides a level of accuracy for TFF3 determination in human urine equivalent to that of a commercial kit. The paper sensor has a dynamic range of ∼2.5 orders of magnitude, only requires a simple, one-step incubation protocol, and is fast, requiring only 10 min to complete. The cost of the materials at the prototypic laboratory scale, excluding reagents, is just US$0.42.

  11. Immunoreactive LH in long-term frozen human urine samples.

    PubMed

    Singh, Gurmeet Kaur Surindar; Jimenez, Mark; Newman, Ron; Handelsman, David J

    2014-04-01

    Urine provides a convenient non-invasive alternative to blood sampling for measurement of certain hormones. Urinary luteinizing hormone (LH) measurements have been used for endocrinology research and anti-doping testing. However, the commercially available LH immunoassays are developed and validated for human blood samples but not urine so that LH assays intended for use with urine samples need thorough validation. Therefore, the present study evaluated the measurement of urinary LH immunoreactivity using previously validated immunofluorometric (IF) and immunochemiluminometric (ICL) LH assays after prolonged frozen storage. LH was measured in serial urine samples following administration of a single injection of one of two doses of recombinant human chorionic hormone (rhCG) with assays run at the end of study (2008) and again after four years of frozen (-20 °C) storage where samples were stored without adding preservatives. The ICL assay showed quantitatively reproducible LH measurements after prolonged -20 °C storage. However, the IF immunoassay gave consistently lower LH levels relative to ICL (2008) with a further proportionate reduction after four years of sample storage (2012). Yet, both the assays displayed similar patterns of the time-course of urine LH measurement both before and after four years of frozen storage. In conclusion, we found that both immunoassays are suitable for urinary LH measurements with ICL assay being more robust for quantitative urinary LH measurement such as for anti-doping purposes, whereas the IF could be applicable for research studies where urine LH levels are compared within-study but not in absolute terms. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  12. Intercomparison of analytical methods for arsenic speciation in human urine.

    PubMed Central

    Crecelius, E; Yager, J

    1997-01-01

    An intercomparison exercise was conducted for the quantification of arsenic species in spiked human urine. The primary objective of the exercise was to determine the variance among laboratories in the analysis of arsenic species such as inorganic As (As+3 and As+5), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA). Laboratories that participated had previous experience with arsenic speciation analysis. The results of this interlaboratory comparison are encouraging. There is relatively good agreement on the concentrations of these arsenic species in urine at concentrations that are relevant to research on the metabolism of arsenic in humans and other mammals. Both the accuracy and precision are relatively poor for arsenic concentrations of less than about 5 micrograms/l. PMID:9288500

  13. Identification and quantitation of 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) in human urine by 1H NMR spectroscopy. Application to five cases of intoxication.

    PubMed

    Liu, Jonathan; Decatur, John; Proni, Gloria; Champeil, Elise

    2010-01-30

    Identification of 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) in five cases of intoxication using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of human urine is reported. A new water suppression technique PURGE (Presaturation Utilizing Relaxation Gradients and Echoes) was used. A calibration curve was obtained using spiked samples. The method gave a linear response (correlation coefficient of 0.992) over the range 0.01-1mg/mL. Subsequently, quantitation of the amount of MDMA present in the samples was performed. The benefit and reliability of NMR investigations of human urine for cases of intoxication with MDMA are discussed. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

  14. An optical spot test for the detection of dopamine in human urine using stabilized in air lipid films.

    PubMed

    Nikolelis, Dimitrios P; Drivelos, Dimitrios A; Simantiraki, Maria G; Koinis, Spyros

    2004-04-15

    The present technique describes a simple, sensitive spot test for the rapid one-shot detection of dopamine in human urine using lipid films with incorporated resorcin[4]arene receptor that are synthesized by a chemical reaction with a methacrylate polymer on a glass fiber filter. The lipid films without the receptor provided fluorescence under a UV lamp. The use of the receptor in these films quenched this fluorescence, and the color became similar to that of the filters without the lipid films. A drop of dopamine or urine containing this stimulant provided a "switching on" of the fluorescence, which allows the rapid detection of this stimulant in human urine at 10(-8) M concentrations. The novelty of the present work is that it opens new routes in the field of biosensing, i.e., development of sensitive, rapid, and simple methods for detecting species based on the fluorescence of the lipid membranes on a polymer film, and provides a spot test technique for the rapid detection of dopamine. The effect of potent interferences including a wide range of compounds usually found in human urine (i.e., ascorbic aid, glucose, leucine, glycine, tartrate, citrate, bicarbonate, and caffeine) was examined using an aqueous buffered solution that contained the potent interference and dopamine at two lower concentration levels (i.e., 3 x 10(-8)-10(-8) M). The effect of proteins and lipids was also investigated at these two lower dopamine concentration levels in aqueous buffered solution. The results showed no interferences from all these constituents at concentrations usually found in human urine samples; for example, albumin up to 3.22 g/L concentration levels did not provide any interference (i.e., no fluorescence). A drop of urine containing this stimulant provided similar results, i.e., a "switching on" of the fluorescence that allows a technique for the rapid detection of this stimulant in human urine at 10(-8) M concentrations. The technique is not based on a calibration graph but is a semiquantitative method for the detection of dopamine in real samples of urine that can be complimentary to HPLC methods. The difference in color between the samples containing dopamine at concentration levels of 10(-8)-10(-7) M can be easily distinguished by naked eye and a digital camera. An increase of dopamine concentration from 10(-8) to 10(-7) M makes the color more blue whereas the color of the filters remains purple in the blank test (i.e., addition of a urine sample without dopamine or dopamine at concentration levels of 10(-9) M to the filters that contain the lipid membranes with incorporated receptor). The reproducibility of the method was checked in approximately 100 samples, and all of them were found to provide similar results. Note that it was also found that the colors remain stable in the samples containing dopamine for periods of more than two months.

  15. Urinary Biomarkers of Brain Diseases.

    PubMed

    An, Manxia; Gao, Youhe

    2015-12-01

    Biomarkers are the measurable changes associated with a physiological or pathophysiological process. Unlike blood, urine is not subject to homeostatic mechanisms. Therefore, greater fluctuations could occur in urine than in blood, better reflecting the changes in human body. The roadmap of urine biomarker era was proposed. Although urine analysis has been attempted for clinical diagnosis, and urine has been monitored during the progression of many diseases, particularly urinary system diseases, whether urine can reflect brain disease status remains uncertain. As some biomarkers of brain diseases can be detected in the body fluids such as cerebrospinal fluid and blood, there is a possibility that urine also contain biomarkers of brain diseases. This review summarizes the clues of brain diseases reflected in the urine proteome and metabolome. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  16. Detection of Ciprofloxacin in Urine through Sensitized Lanthanide Luminescence

    PubMed Central

    Singha, Subhankar; Ahn, Kyo Han

    2016-01-01

    Ciprofloxacin, a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, is widely used for the treatment of bacterial infection in humans due to its broad antibacterial spectrum. An excessive use or overdose of ciprofloxacin on the other hand can cause several adverse effects not only to humans but also to microorganisms. Unabsorbed ciprofloxacin in the body is mostly excreted through urine and finally goes to the environment, providing a drug resistance pressure on bacteria. Hence a simple and efficient detection method of ciprofloxacin is necessary, which, for example, can be used to analyze ciprofloxacin content in urine. Although ciprofloxacin itself shows inherent fluorescence, direct fluorescent detection of ciprofloxacin in raw urine sample is difficult due to autofluorescence of urine by other components. Herein we report that a Tb(III) complex of DO3A (1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7-triacetic acid) can be efficiently sensitized by ciprofloxacin to emit luminescence separately from the urine autofluorescence wavelength region. Tb-DO3A shows excellent sensitivity with a detection limit of three parts per billion in aqueous buffer solution. Further, Tb-DO3A is used to detect ciprofloxacin with high sensitivity and selectivity in a raw urine sample without any purification or separation procedures in the concentrations ranging from 1 µg·mL−1 to 50 µg·mL−1. The direct measurement of ciprofloxacin excreted in urine may be used to control overdose of the drug. PMID:27929396

  17. Combined quantification of paclitaxel, docetaxel and ritonavir in human feces and urine using LC-MS/MS.

    PubMed

    Hendrikx, Jeroen J M A; Rosing, Hilde; Schinkel, Alfred H; Schellens, Jan H M; Beijnen, Jos H

    2014-02-01

    A combined assay for the determination of paclitaxel, docetaxel and ritonavir in human feces and urine is described. The drugs were extracted from 200 μL urine or 50 mg feces followed by high-performance liquid chromatography analysis coupled with positive ionization electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. The validation program included calibration model, accuracy and precision, carry-over, dilution test, specificity and selectivity, matrix effect, recovery and stability. Acceptance criteria were according to US Food and Drug Administration guidelines on bioanalytical method validation. The validated range was 0.5-500 ng/mL for paclitaxel and docetaxel, 2-2000 ng/mL for ritonavir in urine, 2-2000 ng/mg for paclitaxel and docetaxel, and 8-8000 ng/mg for ritonavir in feces. Inter-assay accuracy and precision were tested for all analytes at four concentration levels and were within 8.5% and <10.2%, respectively, in both matrices. Recovery at three concentration levels was between 77 and 94% in feces samples and between 69 and 85% in urine samples. Method development, including feces homogenization and spiking blank urine samples, are discussed. We demonstrated that each of the applied drugs could be quantified successfully in urine and feces using the described assay. The method was successfully applied for quantification of the analytes in feces and urine samples of patients. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  18. NHEXAS PHASE I REGION 5 STUDY--STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE--HUMAN BIOLOGICAL MARKERS:BLOOD AND URINE SAMPLE COLLECTION AND ANALYSES (EOHSI-AP-209-040)

    EPA Science Inventory

    This procedure describes the process for collecting and analyzing blood and urine samples. The presence of chemical contaminants in biological specimens such as blood, urine, and hair represent a measure of the internal dose or body burden for a given individual derived from the ...

  19. SIMPLE SAMPLE CLEAN UP PROCEDURE AND HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHIC METHOD FOR THE ANALYSIS OF CYANURIC ACID IN HUMAN URINE

    EPA Science Inventory

    Cyanuric acide (CA) is widely used as a chlorine stabilizer in outdoor pools. No simple method exists for CA measurement in the urine of exposed swimmers. The high hydrophilicity of CA makes usage of solid phase sorbents to extract it from urine nearly impossible because of samp...

  20. Urine analysis concerning xenon for doping control purposes.

    PubMed

    Thevis, Mario; Piper, Thomas; Geyer, Hans; Schaefer, Maximilian S; Schneemann, Julia; Kienbaum, Peter; Schänzer, Wilhelm

    2015-01-15

    On September 1(st) 2014, a modified Prohibited List as established by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) became effective featuring xenon as a banned substance categorized as hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) activator. Consequently, the analysis of xenon from commonly provided doping control specimens such as blood and urine is desirable, and first data on the determination of xenon from urine in the context of human sports drug testing, are presented. In accordance to earlier studies utilizing plasma as doping control matrix, urine was enriched to saturation with xenon, sequentially diluted, and the target analyte was detected as supported by the internal standard d6 -cyclohexanone by means of gas chromatography/triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS) using headspace injection. Three major xenon isotopes at m/z 128.9, 130.9 and 131.9 were targeted in (pseudo) selected reaction monitoring mode enabling the unambiguous identification of the prohibited substance. Assay characteristics including limit of detection (LOD), intraday/interday precision, and specificity as well as analyte recovery under different storage conditions were determined. Proof-of-concept data were generated by applying the established method to urine samples collected from five patients before, during and after (up to 48 h) xenon-based general anesthesia. Xenon was traceable in enriched human urine samples down to the detection limit of approximately 0.5 nmol/mL. The intraday and interday imprecision values of the method were found below 25%, and specificity was demonstrated by analyzing 20 different blank urine samples that corroborated the fitness-for-purpose of the analytical approach to unequivocally detect xenon at non-physiological concentrations in human urine. The patients' urine specimens returned 'xenon-positive' test results up to 40 h post-anesthesia, indicating the limits of the expected doping control detection window. Since xenon has been considered a prohibited substance according to WADA regulations in September 2014, its analysis from common specimens of routine sports drug testing is desirable. In previous studies, its traceability in whole blood and plasma was shown, and herein a complementary approach utilizing doping control urine samples for the GC/MS/MS analysis of xenon was reported. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  1. Evaluation of storage and evaporation in the removal efficiency of D-norgestrel and progesterone in human urine.

    PubMed

    Zanchetta, Priscilla Garozi; Heringer, Otávio; Scherer, Rodrigo; Pacheco, Henrique Poltronieri; Gonçalves, Ricardo; Pena, Angelina

    2015-10-01

    Pharmaceuticals are emerging contaminants and it must be noted that approximately 70 % of them are excreted via urine. Therefore, urine usage implies the risk of transfer of pharmaceutical residues to agricultural fields and environment contamination. Thus, this study aimed on the development and validation of a LC-MS/MS method for D-norgestrel (D-NOR) and progesterone (PRO) determination in human urine, as well as the evaluation of the removal efficiency of two methods (storage and evaporation), and the effects of acidification with sulfuric acid. The storage process was evaluated for 6 weeks, while the evaporation was assessed at three different temperatures (50, 75, and 100 °C). All experiments were done with normal urine (pH = 6.0) and acidified urine (pH = 2.0, with sulfuric acid). The results of validation showed good method efficiency. In the second week of storage, higher hormone degradation was observed. In the evaporation method, both D-NOR and PRO were almost completely degraded when the volume was reduced to the lowermost level. Results also indicate that acidification did not affect degradation. Overall, the results showed that combination of two methods can be employed for more efficient hormone removal in urine.

  2. Simultaneous LC-MS/MS determination of JWH-210, RCS-4, ∆(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol, and their main metabolites in pig and human serum, whole blood, and urine for comparing pharmacokinetic data.

    PubMed

    Schaefer, Nadine; Kettner, Mattias; Laschke, Matthias W; Schlote, Julia; Peters, Benjamin; Bregel, Dietmar; Menger, Michael D; Maurer, Hans H; Ewald, Andreas H; Schmidt, Peter H

    2015-05-01

    A series of new synthetic cannabinoids (SC) has been consumed without any toxicological testing. For example, pharmacokinetic data have to be collected from forensic toxicological case work and/or animal studies. To develop a corresponding model for assessing such data, samples of controlled pig studies with two selected SC (JWH-210, RCS-4) and, as reference, ∆(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) should be analyzed as well as those of human cases. Therefore, a method for determination of JWH-210, RCS-4, THC, and their main metabolites in pig and human serum, whole blood, and urine samples is presented. Specimens were analyzed by liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and multiple-reaction monitoring with three transitions per compound. Full validation was carried out for the pig specimens and cross-validation for the human specimens concerning precision and bias. For the pig studies, the limits of detection were between 0.05 and 0.50 ng/mL in serum and whole blood and between 0.05 and 1.0 ng/mL in urine, the lower limits of quantification between 0.25 and 1.0 ng/mL in serum and 0.50 and 2.0 ng/mL in whole blood and urine, and the intra- and interday precision values lower than 15% and bias values within ±15%. The applicability was tested with samples taken from a pharmacokinetic pilot study with pigs following intravenous administration of a mixture of 200 μg/kg body mass dose each of JWH-210, RCS-4, and THC. The cross-validation data for human serum, whole blood, and urine showed that this approach should also be suitable for human specimens, e.g., of clinical or forensic cases.

  3. Oligosaccharides in Urine, Blood, and Feces of Piglets Fed Milk Replacer Containing Galacto-oligosaccharides.

    PubMed

    Difilippo, Elisabetta; Bettonvil, Monique; Willems, Rianne H A M; Braber, Saskia; Fink-Gremmels, Johanna; Jeurink, Prescilla V; Schoterman, Margriet H C; Gruppen, Harry; Schols, Henk A

    2015-12-23

    Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are absorbed into the blood (about 1% of the HMO intake) and subsequently excreted in urine, where they may protect the infant from pathogen infection. As dietary galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) have partial structural similarities with HMOs, this study investigated the presence of GOS and oligosaccharides originating from milk replacer in blood serum, urine, and cecal and fecal samples of piglets, as a model for human infants. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and capillary electrophoresis with fluorescence detection, oligosaccharides originating from piglet diet including 3'-sialyllactose and specific GOS ranging from degree of polymerization 3 to 6 were detected in blood serum and in urine of piglets. In blood serum, GOS levels ranged from 16 to 23 μg/mL, representing about 0.1% of the GOS daily intake. In urine, approximately 0.85 g of GOS/g of creatinine was found. Cecum digesta and feces contained low amounts of oligosaccharides, suggesting an extensive GOS intestinal fermentation in piglets.

  4. Green Urine in Traditional Persian Medicine

    PubMed Central

    Kolouri, Sepideh; Daneshfard, Babak; Jaladat, Amir-Mohammad; Tafazoli, Vahid

    2016-01-01

    The color of urine is an important factor in urine examination, which can help physicians differentiate various diseases. Today, it is known that certain dyes, drug intoxications, and diseases can induce green urine discoloration. In the view of traditional Persian medicine, which is based on humoral medicine, green urine discoloration is generally referred to the dominance of coldness in the body. In fact, it is considered to be a result of a special kind of humoral imbalance and fluid depletion or retention in the human body. Persian scholars believed that green urine could be an indicator of intoxication or a predictor of an imminent spasm or convulsion in pediatric patients. Further investigations could result in finding new diagnostic scales of urine color based on the teachings of traditional Persian medicine. PMID:27103627

  5. Comparative Genomic Analysis of Pathogenic and Probiotic Enterococcus faecalis Isolates, and Their Transcriptional Responses to Growth in Human Urine

    PubMed Central

    Snipen, Lars; Nes, Ingolf F.; Brede, Dag A.

    2010-01-01

    Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common infection caused by enterococci, and Enterococcus faecalis accounts for the majority of enterococcal infections. Although a number of virulence related traits have been established, no comprehensive genomic or transcriptomic studies have been conducted to investigate how to distinguish pathogenic from non-pathogenic E. faecalis in their ability to cause UTI. In order to identify potential genetic traits or gene regulatory features that distinguish pathogenic from non-pathogenic E. faecalis with respect to UTI, we have performed comparative genomic analysis, and investigated growth capacity and transcriptome profiling in human urine in vitro. Six strains of different origins were cultivated and all grew readily in human urine. The three strains chosen for transcriptional analysis showed an overall similar response with respect to energy and nitrogen metabolism, stress mechanism, cell envelope modifications, and trace metal acquisition. Our results suggest that citrate and aspartate are significant for growth of E. faecalis in human urine, and manganese appear to be a limiting factor. The majority of virulence factors were either not differentially regulated or down-regulated. Notably, a significant up-regulation of genes involved in biofilm formation was observed. Strains from different origins have similar capacity to grow in human urine. The overall similar transcriptional responses between the two pathogenic and the probiotic strain suggest that the pathogenic potential of a certain E. faecalis strain may to a great extent be determined by presence of fitness and virulence factors, rather than the level of expression of such traits. PMID:20824220

  6. [Development of automatic urine monitoring system].

    PubMed

    Wei, Liang; Li, Yongqin; Chen, Bihua

    2014-03-01

    An automatic urine monitoring system is presented to replace manual operation. The system is composed of the flow sensor, MSP430f149 single chip microcomputer, human-computer interaction module, LCD module, clock module and memory module. The signal of urine volume is captured when the urine flows through the flow sensor and then displayed on the LCD after data processing. The experiment results suggest that the design of the monitor provides a high stability, accurate measurement and good real-time, and meets the demand of the clinical application.

  7. Portable kit for identification and detection of drugs in human urine using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

    PubMed

    Han, Zhenzhen; Liu, Honglin; Meng, Juan; Yang, Liangbao; Liu, Jing; Liu, Jinhuai

    2015-09-15

    A portable kit was demonstrated for rapid and reliable surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection of drugs in human urine. This kit contains two sealed reagent tubes, a packet of standardized SERS substrates, and a mini Raman device. A 3 min pretreatment for separating amphetamines from human urine was developed with an extraction rate of >80% examined by ultraperformance liquid chromatography (UPLC). Simultaneously, highly reproducible two-dimensional (2D) gold nanorod (GNR) arrays were assembled by the use of methoxymercaptopoly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG-SH) capping. Thirty batches of GNR arrays produced the 1001 cm(-1) intensity of methamphetamine (MA) molecules with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 7.9%, and a 21 × 21 μm(2) area mapping on a 2D GNR array produced a statistical RSD of <10%, implying an excellent reproducibility and uniformity. The detection limit of amphetamines in human urine was at least 0.1 ppm. Moreover, the portable kit was successfully used for detecting MA, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and methcathinone (MC) in 30 volunteers' urine samples with various clinical natures, and the dual-analyte detection of MA and MDMA implied a good capability of multiplex analysis. UPLC examination and the SERS recovery test clearly indicated that our pretreatment procedure was sufficient to lower the high background signals caused by complex components in urine and demonstrated the practicability and the resistance to false positives, which is a vital problem for law enforcement applications. The excellent performance of our portable kit promises a great prospective toward a rapid, reliable, and on-spot analyzer, especially for public safety and healthcare.

  8. Comparison of Human Papillomavirus Detections in Urine, Vulvar, and Cervical Samples from Women Attending a Colposcopy Clinic

    PubMed Central

    Gravitt, Patti E.; Dunn, S. Terence; Brown, David; Allen, Richard A.; Eby, Yolanda J.; Smith, Katie; Zuna, Rosemary E.; Zhang, Roy R.; Gold, Michael A.; Schiffman, Mark; Walker, Joan L.; Castle, Philip E.; Wentzensen, Nicolas

    2014-01-01

    While urine-based sampling for human papillomavirus (HPV) is being explored as a simple and noninvasive approach for cervical cancer screening, data comparing HPV genotyping in urine and those in cellular sampling of the cervix and vulva, and their correlation with rigorously confirmed cervical disease status, are sparse. We performed HPV genotyping on voided-urine and clinician-collected vulvar and cervical samples from 72 women undergoing colposcopy. Although urine-based HPV carcinogenic HPV detection was lower (58.3%) than cervical (73.6%) and vulvar (72.1%) detection (P = 0.05 and 0.07, respectively), the agreement of urine HPV with cervical and vulvar HPV was moderate (kappa = 0.55) and substantial (kappa = 0.62), respectively. Urine-based carcinogenic HPV detection had a clinical sensitivity of 80.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 60.7 to 93.5) and a specificity of 53.3% (95% CI = 37.9 to 68.3) for diagnosing cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grades 2/3 (CIN2/3) on histology; 90.0% of CIN3 was positive for urine HPV. The corresponding sensitivity and specificity values for vulvar sampling were 92% (95% CI = 74 to 99) and 40.5% (95% CI = 25.6 to 56.7), and those for cervical sampling were 96.2% (95% CI = 80.4 to 99.9) and 40% (95% CI = 25.7 to 55.7), respectively. HPV16 was the most common carcinogenic genotype detectable in 25% of urine, 33.8% of vulvar, and 31.9% of cervical samples overall, with prevalence increasing with cervical disease grade, regardless of the sampling method. Stronger cervical HPV PCR signal strengths were associated with increased frequency of urine HPV detection. In summary, the relatively lower detection rates but comparable clinical performance of urine-based HPV sampling underscore the need for larger studies to evaluate urine-based sampling for cervical cancer screening, epidemiologic studies, and postvaccination HPV disease surveillance. PMID:24197879

  9. The optical nature of methylsuccinic acid in human urine

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zeitman, B.; Lawless, J. G.

    1975-01-01

    Methylsuccinic acid was isolated from human urine, derivatized as the di-S-(+)-2-butyl ester, and analyzed using a gas chromatographic system capable of separating the enantiomers of the derivative. The R-(+)-isomer was found to be present. Methylsuccinic acid is potentially important as a criterion for abiogenicity, having been obtained as a racemic mixture from sources known to be abiotic.

  10. Heteroatom-doped highly porous carbon from human urine.

    PubMed

    Chaudhari, Nitin Kaduba; Song, Min Young; Yu, Jong-Sung

    2014-06-09

    Human urine, otherwise potentially polluting waste, is an universal unused resource in organic form disposed by the human body. We present for the first time "proof of concept" of a convenient, perhaps economically beneficial, and innovative template-free route to synthesize highly porous carbon containing heteroatoms such as N, S, Si, and P from human urine waste as a single precursor for carbon and multiple heteroatoms. High porosity is created through removal of inherently-present salt particles in as-prepared "Urine Carbon" (URC), and multiple heteroatoms are naturally doped into the carbon, making it unnecessary to employ troublesome expensive pore-generating templates as well as extra costly heteroatom-containing organic precursors. Additionally, isolation of rock salts is an extra bonus of present work. The technique is simple, but successful, offering naturally doped conductive hierarchical porous URC, which leads to superior electrocatalytic ORR activity comparable to state of the art Pt/C catalyst along with much improved durability and methanol tolerance, demonstrating that the URC can be a promising alternative to costly Pt-based electrocatalyst for ORR. The ORR activity can be addressed in terms of heteroatom doping, surface properties and electrical conductivity of the carbon framework.

  11. Heteroatom-doped highly porous carbon from human urine

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chaudhari, Nitin Kaduba; Song, Min Young; Yu, Jong-Sung

    2014-06-01

    Human urine, otherwise potentially polluting waste, is an universal unused resource in organic form disposed by the human body. We present for the first time ``proof of concept'' of a convenient, perhaps economically beneficial, and innovative template-free route to synthesize highly porous carbon containing heteroatoms such as N, S, Si, and P from human urine waste as a single precursor for carbon and multiple heteroatoms. High porosity is created through removal of inherently-present salt particles in as-prepared ``Urine Carbon'' (URC), and multiple heteroatoms are naturally doped into the carbon, making it unnecessary to employ troublesome expensive pore-generating templates as well as extra costly heteroatom-containing organic precursors. Additionally, isolation of rock salts is an extra bonus of present work. The technique is simple, but successful, offering naturally doped conductive hierarchical porous URC, which leads to superior electrocatalytic ORR activity comparable to state of the art Pt/C catalyst along with much improved durability and methanol tolerance, demonstrating that the URC can be a promising alternative to costly Pt-based electrocatalyst for ORR. The ORR activity can be addressed in terms of heteroatom doping, surface properties and electrical conductivity of the carbon framework.

  12. Heteroatom-doped highly porous carbon from human urine

    PubMed Central

    Chaudhari, Nitin Kaduba; Song, Min Young; Yu, Jong-Sung

    2014-01-01

    Human urine, otherwise potentially polluting waste, is an universal unused resource in organic form disposed by the human body. We present for the first time “proof of concept” of a convenient, perhaps economically beneficial, and innovative template-free route to synthesize highly porous carbon containing heteroatoms such as N, S, Si, and P from human urine waste as a single precursor for carbon and multiple heteroatoms. High porosity is created through removal of inherently-present salt particles in as-prepared “Urine Carbon” (URC), and multiple heteroatoms are naturally doped into the carbon, making it unnecessary to employ troublesome expensive pore-generating templates as well as extra costly heteroatom-containing organic precursors. Additionally, isolation of rock salts is an extra bonus of present work. The technique is simple, but successful, offering naturally doped conductive hierarchical porous URC, which leads to superior electrocatalytic ORR activity comparable to state of the art Pt/C catalyst along with much improved durability and methanol tolerance, demonstrating that the URC can be a promising alternative to costly Pt-based electrocatalyst for ORR. The ORR activity can be addressed in terms of heteroatom doping, surface properties and electrical conductivity of the carbon framework. PMID:24909133

  13. Abundant Rodent Furan-Derived Urinary Metabolites Are Associated with Tobacco Smoke Exposure in Humans.

    PubMed

    Grill, Alex E; Schmitt, Thaddeus; Gates, Leah A; Lu, Ding; Bandyopadhyay, Dipankar; Yuan, Jian-Min; Murphy, Sharon E; Peterson, Lisa A

    2015-07-20

    Furan, a possible human carcinogen, is found in heat treated foods and tobacco smoke. Previous studies have shown that humans are capable of converting furan to its reactive metabolite, cis-2-butene-1,4-dial (BDA), and therefore may be susceptible to furan toxicity. Human risk assessment of furan exposure has been stymied because of the lack of mechanism-based exposure biomarkers. Therefore, a sensitive LC-MS/MS assay for six furan metabolites was applied to measure their levels in urine from furan-exposed rodents as well as in human urine from smokers and nonsmokers. The metabolites that result from direct reaction of BDA with lysine (BDA-N(α)-acetyllysine) and from cysteine-BDA-lysine cross-links (N-acetylcysteine-BDA-lysine, N-acetylcysteine-BDA-N(α)-acetyllysine, and their sulfoxides) were targeted in this study. Five of the six metabolites were identified in urine from rodents treated with furan by gavage. BDA-N(α)-acetyllysine, N-acetylcysteine-BDA-lysine, and its sulfoxide were detected in most human urine samples from three different groups. The levels of N-acetylcysteine-BDA-lysine sulfoxide were more than 10 times higher than that of the corresponding sulfide in many samples. The amount of this metabolite was higher in smokers relative to that in nonsmokers and was significantly reduced following smoking cessation. Our results indicate a strong relationship between BDA-derived metabolites and smoking. Future studies will determine if levels of these biomarkers are associated with adverse health effects in humans.

  14. Sample handling for mass spectrometric proteomic investigations of human urine.

    PubMed

    Petri, Anette Lykke; Høgdall, Claus; Christensen, Ib Jarle; Simonsen, Anja Hviid; T'jampens, Davy; Hellmann, Marja-Leena; Kjaer, Susanne Krüger; Fung, Eric T; Høgdall, Estrid

    2008-09-01

    Because of its non-invasive sample collection method, human urine is an attractive biological material both for discovering biomarkers and for use in future screening trials for different diseases. Before urine can be used for these applications, standardized protocols for sample handling that optimize protein stability are required. In this explorative study, we examine the influence of different urine collection methods, storage temperatures, storage times, and repetitive freeze-thaw procedures on the protein profiles obtained by surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS). Prospectively collected urine samples from 11 women were collected as either morning or midday specimens. The effects of storage temperature, time to freezing, and freeze-thaw cycles were assessed by calculating the number, intensity, and reproducibility of peaks visualized by SELDI-TOF-MS. On the CM10 array, 122 peaks were detected and 28 peaks were found to be significantly different between urine types, storage temperature and time to freezing. On the IMAC-Cu array, 65 peaks were detected and 1 peak was found to be significantly different according to time to freezing. No significant differences were demonstrated for freeze-thaw cycles. Optimal handling and storage conditions are necessary in clinical urine proteomic investigations. Collection of urine with a single and consistently performed protocol is needed to reduce analytical bias. Collecting only one urine type, which is stored for a limited period at 4°C until freezing at -80°C prior to analysis will provide the most stable profiles. Copyright © 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  15. Comparison of initial stream urine samples and cervical samples for detection of human papillomavirus.

    PubMed

    Hagihara, Mao; Yamagishi, Yuka; Izumi, Koji; Miyazaki, Narimi; Suzuki, Takayoshi; Kato, Hideo; Nishiyama, Naoya; Koizumi, Yusuke; Suematsu, Hiroyuki; Mikamo, Hiroshige

    2016-08-01

    Uterine cervical cancer is a treatable and preventable cancer. Medical efforts to reduce rates of cervical cancer focus on the promotion of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and the promotion of routine cervical cancer screening done by cervical cytology and cervical HPV testing. Urine-based HPV testing would be simple and noninvasive approach to screen for cervical cancer. Two biospecimens (clinician-taken sample from cervix and initial stream urine sample) were provided from a total of 240 healthy women attending for cancer screening provided for HPV testing. We have assessed the HPV detection rates among cervical samples and pellet fraction of urine samples using HPV test (Anyplex™ II HPV28 Detection kit, Seegene, Korea). Among 240 samples screened, HPV prevalence was 42.9% in pellet fractions of urine samples. The agreement between the two kinds of samples was 98.4%, k = 0.792. Discordant results were observed in 27 cases; 5 were positive only by urine samples and 22 were positive only by smear samples. Sensitivity and specificity for all HPV DNA in pellet fractions of urine using cervical samples as reference was 68.4% and 99.9%. Comparing methodologies of collection of samples for HPV detection, they showed the higher agreements for almost genotypes between cervical samples and pellet fractions of urine samples. These results suggest that urine could be a good noninvasive tool to monitor HPV infection in women. Additional research in a larger and general screening population would be needed. Copyright © 2016 Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Simultaneous determination of neonicotinoid insecticides in human serum and urine using diatomaceous earth-assisted extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Yamamuro, Tadashi; Ohta, Hikoto; Aoyama, Mika; Watanabe, Daisuke

    2014-10-15

    A rapid and sensitive analytical method was developed for simultaneous determination of eight neonicotinoid insecticides (acetamiprid, clothianidin, dinotefuran, flonicamid, imidacloprid, nitenpyram, thiacloprid and thiamethoxam) and three specific metabolites of acetamiprid (N-desmethylacetamiprid, 5-(N-acetyl-N-methylaminomethyl)-2-chloropyridine and 5-(N-acetylaminomethyl)-2-chloropyridine) in human serum and urine. A diatomaceous earth-assisted extraction using Extrelut NT3 column with chloroform/2-propanol (3:1, v/v) as eluent was selected for the single step cleanup procedure for all the target compounds. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with multiple reaction monitoring mode. The limits of detection and the limits of quantification of eleven compounds were in the ranges of 0.1-0.2ng/mL and 0.5-10ng/mL for serum, 0.1-1ng/mL and 1-10ng/mL for urine, respectively. The extraction recoveries were between 80.9% and 101.8% for serum samples, 91.9% and 106% for urine samples. The intra-day RSDs and the inter-day RSDs were less than 11.5% and 13.2% for serum, less than 8.3% and 8.8% for urine. The proposed procedure will be suitable for forensic investigations of human poisoning cases with neonicotinoid insecticides. This is the first report of simultaneous determination of eight neonicotinoids in serum and urine samples. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  17. ‘GREENER’ CHEMICAL SYNTHESES USING MICROWAVES

    EPA Science Inventory

    The diverse nature of chemical entities requires various green strategic pathways in our quest towards attaining sustainability. A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of less-expensive and recyclable ...

  18. Electrochemical Studies of Sulfur Oxychlorides.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-03-28

    It had been proposed to study sulfuroxyhalides (1) as solutes in a non-aqueous solvent, (2) undiluted, employing lithium tetrachloroaluminate and (3...electrodes in N,N-dimethylforeamide (DNF) with tetra-butylammonium hexafluorophosphate (TBAPF6 ) as supporting electrolyte. Cyclic voltammetry showed

  19. NON-TRADITIONAL 'GREENER' ALTERNATIVES TO ORGANIC SYNTHESES

    EPA Science Inventory

    Synthetic organic transformations performed under non-traditional conditions are becoming popular primarily to circumvent the growing environmental concerns. A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of l...

  20. NON-TRADITIONAL 'GREENER' ALTERNATIVES TO CHEMICAL TRANSFORMATIONS

    EPA Science Inventory

    Synthetic organic transformations performed under non-traditional conditions are becoming popular primarily to circumvent the growing environmental concerns. A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of l...

  1. ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLIER SYNTHETIC ALTERNATIVES USING NON-TRADITIONAL APPROACHES

    EPA Science Inventory

    Synthetic organic transformations performed under non-traditional conditions are becoming popular primarily to circumvent the growing environmental concerns. A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) either in presence of a cataly...

  2. Novel liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry method for the quantification in human urine of microbial aromatic acid metabolites derived from dietary polyphenols.

    PubMed

    Gonthier, Marie-Paule; Rios, Laurent Y; Verny, Marie- Anne; Rémésy, Christian; Scalbert, Augustin

    2003-06-15

    An HPLC-ESI-MS-MS method was developed to quantify in human urine fourteen aromatic acids known as metabolites of dietary polyphenols. These metabolites were determined simultaneously in a single 20-min chromatographic analysis with multiple reaction monitoring detection. The inter- and intra-day precisions, calculated from quality control samples were 8.8 and 5.3%, respectively, and the mean accuracy was 2.3%. The method was tested on urine samples collected from one healthy volunteer who consumed a polyphenol-rich diet for 3 days. Increased levels of several aromatic acid metabolites were observed, demonstrating that the method can be used to detect changes in the excretion of microbial metabolites induced by the consumption of polyphenol-containing foods in humans.

  3. Preliminary study on application of urine amino acids profiling for monitoring of renal tubular injury using GLC-MS.

    PubMed

    Kazubek-Zemke, Maja; Rybka, Jacek; Marchewka, Zofia; Rybka, Wojciech; Pawlik, Krzysztof; Długosz, Anna

    2014-11-14

    The early diagnosis of the nephrotoxic effect of xenobiotics and drugs is still an unsolved problem. Recent studies suggest a correlation between the nephrotoxic activity of xenobiotics and increased concentration of amino acids in urine. The presented study was focused on the application of GLC-MS method for amino acids profiling in human urine as a noninvasive method for monitoring of kidney condition and tubular injury level. The analytic method is based on the conversion of the amino acids present in the sample to tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS) derivatives and their analysis by gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (GLC-MS). The procedure of urine sample preparation for chromatographic analysis was optimized. The presence of 12 amino acids in most of the tested healthy human urine samples was detected. The significant differences in the levels of particular amino acids between patients with tubular injury and healthy controls were found, especially for lysine, valine, serine, alanine and leucine (on average 30.0, 7.5, 3.6, 2.9 and 0.5 fold respectively). We found that this approach based on GLC-MS detection can be used in nephrotoxicity studies for urine amino acids monitoring in exposure to xenobiotics and drugs.

  4. Application of duckweed for human urine treatment in Bioregenerative Life Support System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manukovsky, Nickolay; Kovalev, Vladimir

    The object of the study was the common duckweed Lemna minor L. Thanks to the ability to assimilate mineral and organic substances, duckweed is used to purify water in sewage lagoons. In addition, duckweed biomass is known to be a potential high-protein feed resource for domestic animals and fish. The aim of the study was to estimate an application of duckweed in a two-stage treatment of human urine in Bioregenerative Life Support System (BLSS). At the first stage, the urine’s organic matter is oxidized by hydrogen peroxide. Diluted solution of oxidized urine is used for cultivation of duckweed. The appointment of duckweed is the assimilation of mineralized substances of urine. Part of the duckweed biomass yield directly or after composting could be embedded in the soil-like substrate as organic fertilizer to compensate the carry-over in consequence of plant growing. The rest duckweed biomass could be used as a feed for animals in BLSS. Then, the residual culture liquid is concentrated and used as a source of dietary salt. It takes 10-15 m2 of duckweed culture per crewmember to treat oxidized urine. The BLSS configuration including two-component subsystem of urine treatment is presented.

  5. Arsenic, cadmium, lead, and chromium in well water, rice, and human urine in Sri Lanka in relation to chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology.

    PubMed

    S Herath, H M Ayala; Kawakami, Tomonori; Nagasawa, Shiori; Serikawa, Yuka; Motoyama, Ayuri; Chaminda, G G Tushara; Weragoda, S K; Yatigammana, S K; Amarasooriya, A A G D

    2018-04-01

    Chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) is spreading gradually in Sri Lanka. In the current research, 1,435 well water samples from all 25 districts of Sri Lanka, 91 rice samples, and 84 human urine samples from both CKDu-endemic and non-endemic areas in Sri Lanka were analyzed for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and chromium to detect whether toxic elements could be a cause of CKDu. The liver-type fatty acid binding protein (L-FABP) concentration and arsenic, cadmium, lead, and chromium concentrations of the urine samples were analyzed to determine the relation of L-FABP with arsenic, cadmium, lead, and chromium. High concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, lead, and chromium were not detected in the well water samples from CKDu-endemic areas. Arsenic, cadmium, and lead contents in the rice samples from both CKDu-endemic and non-endemic areas were well below the Codex standard. There were no relationships between the L-FABP concentration and concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, lead, and chromium in urine. In addition, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and chromium concentrations in human urine samples from CKDu-endemic areas were not significantly different from those from non-endemic areas. These findings indicated that arsenic, cadmium, lead, and chromium could not cause CKDu.

  6. Quantification of four major metabolites of embryotoxic N-methyl- and N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidone in human urine by cooled-injection gas chromatography and isotope dilution mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Schindler, Birgit K; Koslitz, Stephan; Meier, Swetlana; Belov, Vladimir N; Koch, Holger M; Weiss, Tobias; Brüning, Thomas; Käfferlein, Heiko U

    2012-04-17

    N-Methyl- and N-ethyl-2-pyrollidone (NMP and NEP) are frequently used industrial solvents and were shown to be embryotoxic in animal experiments. We developed a sensitive, specific, and robust analytical method based on cooled-injection (CIS) gas chromatography and isotope dilution mass spectrometry to analyze 5-hydroxy-N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidone (5-HNEP) and 2-hydroxy-N-ethylsuccinimide (2-HESI), two newly identified presumed metabolites of NEP, and their corresponding methyl counterparts (5-HNMP, 2-HMSI) in human urine. The urine was spiked with deuterium-labeled analogues of these metabolites. The analytes were separated from urinary matrix by solid-phase extraction and silylated prior to quantification. Validation of this method was carried out by using both, spiked pooled urine samples and urine samples from 56 individuals of the general population with no known occupational exposure to NMP and NEP. Interday and intraday imprecision was better than 8% for all metabolites, while the limits of detection were between 5 and 20 μg/L depending on the analyte. The high sensitivity of the method enables us to quantify NMP and NEP metabolites at current environmental exposures by human biomonitoring.

  7. Analysis of 3,5-dichloroaniline as a biomarker of vinclozolin and iprodione in human urine using liquid chromatography/triple quadrupole mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Lindh, Christian H; Littorin, Margareta; Amilon, Asa; Jönsson, Bo A G

    2007-01-01

    The fungicides vinclozolin and iprodione are widely used in agriculture. These pesticides are dicarboximide fungicides containing the common moiety 3,5-dichloroaniline (3,5-DCA). It has been suggested that low-level exposures to such compounds may be associated with adverse health effects such as endocrine disruption. In this study a method using liquid chromatography/triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) was developed for the analysis of 3,5-DCA as a biomarker of exposure to these fungicides in human urine. The urine samples were treated by basic hydrolysis to degrade the fungicides, their metabolites and conjugates to 3,5-DCA. The 3,5-DCA was then extracted using toluene and derivatized using pentafluoropropionic anhydride (PFPA). Analysis of the derivative was carried out using selected reaction monitoring (SRM) in the negative ion mode. Quantification of the derivative was performed using [(13)C(6)]-labeled 3,4-DCA as an internal standard with good precision and linearity in the range 0.1-200 ng/mL urine. The limit of detection was determined to be 0.1 ng/mL. The metabolites in urine were found to be stable during storage at -20 degrees C. To validate 3,5-DCA as a biomarker the method was applied in a human experimental exposure to iprodione and vinclozolin. Two healthy volunteers received 200 microg single oral doses of each pesticide followed by urine sampling during 72-120 h post-exposure. Between 78-107% of the dose was recovered as 3,5-DCA in the urine after exposure. Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  8. Effects of diet composition on mutagenic activity in urine.

    PubMed

    Ohara, Akihiro; Matsuhisa, Tsugio

    2004-01-01

    The effects of dietary habits on mutagenic activity in urine were investigated using the umu test based on the use of the genetically engineered bacteria Salmonella typhimurium TA 1535 pSK1002. Genotoxic effects in sample urine were detected by measuring the activation of the SOS response in the bacteria and recording the beta- galactosidase activity. Human subjects consisted of smokers and non-smokers. Urine from subjects who consumed fish showed the highest mutagenic activity, followed by the urine samples from subjects who ate pork or beef. Chicken induced a low level of mutagenic activity. When the subjects ate fried or roasted animal foods, the urine samples gave higher mutagenicity than the urine samples from the subject who consumed non-fried or non-roasted animal foods. When the subject ate vegetables along with a diet rich in animal foods, the activity in urine decreased. Herbs and spices gave the same tendency toward decline as vegetables. Non-smoker urine shower mutagenic activity than samples from smokers.

  9. Determination of bupropion using liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection in pharmaceutical preparations, human plasma and human urine.

    PubMed

    Ulu, Sevgi Tatar; Tuncel, Muzaffer

    2012-05-01

    A novel pre-column derivatization reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection is described for the determination of bupropion in pharmaceutical preparation, human plasma and human urine using mexiletine as internal standard. The proposed method is based on the reaction of 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan (NBD-Cl) with bupropion to produce a fluorescent derivative. The derivative formed is monitored on a C18 (150 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 µm) column using a mobile phase consisting of methanol-water 75:25 (v/v), at a flow-rate of 1.2 mL/min and detected fluorimetrically at λ(ex) = 458 and λ(em) = 533 nm. The assay was linear over the concentration ranges of 5-500 and 10-500 ng/mL for plasma and urine, respectively. The limits of detection and quantification were calculated to be 0.24 and 0.72 ng/mL for plasma and urine, respectively (inter-day results). The recoveries obtained for plasma and urine were 97.12% ± 0.45 and 96.00% ± 0.45, respectively. The method presents good performance in terms of precision, accuracy, specificity, linearity, detection and quantification limits and robustness. The proposed method is applied to determine bupropion in commercially available tablets. The results were compared with an ultraviolet spectrophotometry method using t- and F-tests. © The Author [2012]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

  10. Urine: Waste product or biologically active tissue?

    PubMed

    2018-03-01

    Historically, urine has been viewed primarily as a waste product with little biological role in the overall health of an individual. Increasingly, data suggest that urine plays a role in human health beyond waste excretion. For example, urine might act as an irritant and contribute to symptoms through interaction with-and potential compromise of-the urothelium. To explore the concept that urine may be a vehicle for agents with potential or occult bioactivity and to discuss existing evidence and novel research questions that may yield insight into such a role, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease invited experts in the fields of comparative evolutionary physiology, basic science, nephrology, urology, pediatrics, metabolomics, and proteomics (among others) to a Urinology Think Tank meeting on February 9, 2015. This report reflects ideas that evolved from this meeting and current literature, including the concept of urine quality, the biological, chemical, and physical characteristics of urine, including the microbiota, cells, exosomes, pH, metabolites, proteins, and specific gravity (among others). Additionally, the manuscript presents speculative, and hopefully testable, ideas about the functional roles of urine constituents in health and disease. Moving forward, there are several questions that need further understanding and pursuit. There were suggestions to consider actively using various animal models and their biological specimens to elaborate on basic mechanistic information regarding human bladder dysfunction. Published 2018. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

  11. Absorption of the nerve agent VX (O-ethyl-S-[2(di-isopropylamino)ethyl] methyl phosphonothioate) through pig, human and guinea pig skin in vitro.

    PubMed

    Dalton, Christopher H; Hattersley, Ian J; Rutter, Stephen J; Chilcott, Robert P

    2006-12-01

    The physico-chemical properties of VX make the skin the most likely route of absorption into the human body. The development of effective medical countermeasures against such percutaneous threat agents relies on the use of appropriate animal models, as the inherent toxicity of nerve agents precludes the use of human volunteers. Previous studies have characterised the mechanism of nerve agent toxicity in rodent models, however, it is generally accepted that one of the most appropriate animal models for human skin absorption is the domestic pig. The purpose of the present study was to measure and compare the skin absorption kinetics of VX in vitro using pig, human and guinea pig skin to highlight any potential species differences in skin permeability. When undiluted VX was applied directly to the skin, the permeability of guinea pig skin was approximately 7-fold greater than human skin. There was no significant difference in the permeability of pig and human skin. When VX diluted with isopropyl alcohol was applied to the skin, the permeability of guinea pig skin was approximately 4-fold greater than human skin. There was no significant difference in the permeability of pig and human skin. From this data it may be inferred that dermatomed, abdominal pig skin is an appropriate model for the human skin absorption of VX.

  12. Detection of Intracellular Bacterial Communities in Human Urinary Tract Infection

    PubMed Central

    Rosen, David A; Hooton, Thomas M; Stamm, Walter E; Humphrey, Peter A; Hultgren, Scott J

    2007-01-01

    Background Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common bacterial infections and are predominantly caused by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC). While UTIs are typically considered extracellular infections, it has been recently demonstrated that UPEC bind to, invade, and replicate within the murine bladder urothelium to form intracellular bacterial communities (IBCs). These IBCs dissociate and bacteria flux out of bladder facet cells, some with filamentous morphology, and ultimately establish quiescent intracellular reservoirs that can seed recurrent infection. This IBC pathogenic cycle has not yet been investigated in humans. In this study we sought to determine whether evidence of an IBC pathway could be found in urine specimens from women with acute UTI. Methods and Findings We collected midstream, clean-catch urine specimens from 80 young healthy women with acute uncomplicated cystitis and 20 asymptomatic women with a history of UTI. Investigators were blinded to culture results and clinical history. Samples were analyzed by light microscopy, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy for evidence of exfoliated IBCs and filamentous bacteria. Evidence of IBCs was found in 14 of 80 (18%) urines from women with UTI. Filamentous bacteria were found in 33 of 80 (41%) urines from women with UTI. None of the 20 urines from the asymptomatic comparative group showed evidence of IBCs or filaments. Filamentous bacteria were present in all 14 of the urines with IBCs compared to 19 (29%) of 66 samples with no evidence of IBCs (p < 0.001). Of 65 urines from patients with E. coli infections, 14 (22%) had evidence of IBCs and 29 (45%) had filamentous bacteria, while none of the gram-positive infections had IBCs or filamentous bacteria. Conclusions The presence of exfoliated IBCs and filamentous bacteria in the urines of women with acute cystitis suggests that the IBC pathogenic pathway characterized in the murine model may occur in humans. The findings support the occurrence of an intracellular bacterial niche in some women with cystitis that may have important implications for UTI recurrence and treatment. PMID:18092884

  13. Modified batch anaerobic digestion assay for testing efficiencies of trace metal additives to enhance methane production of energy crops.

    PubMed

    Brulé, Mathieu; Bolduan, Rainer; Seidelt, Stephan; Schlagermann, Pascal; Bott, Armin

    2013-01-01

    Batch biochemical methane potential (BMP) assays to evaluate the methane yield of biogas substrates such as energy crops are usually carried out with undiluted inoculum. A BMP assay was performed on two energy crops (green cuttings and grass silage). Anaerobic digestion was performed both with and without supplementation of three commercial additives containing trace metals in liquid, solid or adsorbed form (on clay particles). In order to reveal positive effects of trace metal supplementation on the methane yield, besides undiluted inoculum, 3-fold and 10-fold dilutions of the inoculum were applied for substrate digestion. Diluted inoculum variants were supplemented with both mineral nutrients and pH-buffering substances to prevent a collapse of the digestion process. As expected, commercial additives had no effect on the digestion process performed with undiluted inoculum, while significant increases of methane production through trace element supplementation could be observed on the diluted variants. The effect of inoculum dilution may be twofold: (1) decrease in trace metal supplementation from the inoculum and (2) reduction in the initial number of bacterial cells. Bacteria require higher growth rates for substrate degradation and hence have higher trace element consumption. According to common knowledge of the biogas process, periods with volatile fatty acids accumulation and decreased pH may have occurred in the course ofanaerobic digestion. These effects may have led to inhibition, not only ofmethanogenes and acetogenes involved in the final phases of methane production, but also offibre-degrading bacterial strains involved in polymer hydrolysis. Further research is required to confirm this hypothesis.

  14. Qualitative Profiling and Quantification of Neonicotinoid Metabolites in Human Urine by Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Mass Spectrometry

    PubMed Central

    Taira, Kumiko; Fujioka, Kazutoshi; Aoyama, Yoshiko

    2013-01-01

    Neonicotinoid pesticides have been widely applied for the production of fruits and vegetables, and occasionally detected in conventionally grown produce. Thus oral exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides may exist in the general population; however, neonicotinoid metabolites in human body fluids have not been investigated comprehensively. The purpose of this study is the qualitative profiling and quantitative analysis of neonicotinoid metabolites in the human spot urine by liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Human urine samples were collected from three patients suspected of subacute exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides. A qualitative profiling of urinary metabolites was performed using liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/TOFMS) with a database of nominal molecular weights of 57 known metabolites of three neonicotinoid pesticides (acetamiprid, Imidacloprid, and clothianidin), as well as the parent compounds. Then a quantitative analysis of selected urinary metabolites was performed using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) with a standard pesticide and metabolite, which were detected by the qualitative profiling. The result of qualitative profiling showed that seven metabolites, i.e. an acetamiprid metabolite, N-desmethyl-acetamiprid; three Imidacloprid metabolites, 5-hydroxy-Imidacloprid, 4,5-dihydroxy-imidacloprid, 4,5-dehydro-Imidacloprid; a common metabolite of acetamiprid and Imidacloprid, N-(6-chloronicotinoyl)-glycine; and two clothianidin metabolites, N-desmethyl-clothianidin, N-(2-(methylsulfanyl)thiazole-5-carboxyl)-glycine, as well as acetamiprid, were detected in the urine of three cases. The result of the quantitative analysis showed N-desmethyl-acetamiprid was determined in the urine of one case, which had been collected on the first visit, at a concentration of 3.2 ng/mL. This is the first report on the qualitative and quantitative detection of N-desmethyl-acetamiprid in the human urine. The results suggest that the one case with detection of N-desmethyl-acetamiprid was exposed to acetamiprid through the consumption of contaminated foods. Urinary N-desmethyl-acetamiprid, as well as 5-hydroxy-Imidacloprid and N-desmethyl-clothianidin, may be a good biomarker for neonicotinoid exposure in humans and warrants further investigation. PMID:24265808

  15. NON-TRADITIONAL APPROACHES FOR PHARMACEUTICALLY RELEVANT SYNTHETIC TRANSFORMATIONS

    EPA Science Inventory

    A rapid and environmentally friendlier approach for organic synthesis, and transformations is described which involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) often in presence of inorganic oxides as recyclable catalysts such as alumina, silica, clay, or 'doped' sur...

  16. CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS & TRANSFORMATIONS USING MICROWAVES

    EPA Science Inventory

    A historical account of the utility of microwaves in a variety of chemical synthesis applications will be presented, including a solvent-free strategy that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of recyclable mineral supports such...

  17. GREENER CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS USING MICROWAVES

    EPA Science Inventory

    A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or "doped" surfaces is presented which is applicable to a wide range of cleavage, condensation, cyc...

  18. NON-TRADITIONAL 'GREENER' ALTERNATIVES TO SYNTHETIC ORGANIC TRANSFORMATIONS USING MICROWAVES

    EPA Science Inventory

    Non-traditional 'Greener' Alternatives to synthetic Organic Transformations Using Microwaves

    A rapid and environmentally friendlier approach for organic synthesis and transformations is described which involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) often i...

  19. Permeation of Comite through protective gloves.

    PubMed

    Zainal, Hanaa; Que Hee, Shane S

    2006-09-01

    The goal of the study was to assess how protective disposable (Safeskin) and chemical protective (Sol-Vex) nitrile gloves were against Comite emulsifiable concentrate formulation containing propargite (PROP) as active pesticidal ingredient, because there were no explicit recommendations for the gloves that should be worn for hand protection. The glove material was exposed in ASTM-type I-PTC-600 permeation cells at 30.0+/-0.5 degrees C, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry used for PROP analysis. Aqueous solutions of Comite at 40.4 mg/mL permeated both Safeskin and Sol-Vex nitrile by 8h. Safeskin showed a mean PROP mass permeated of 176+/-27 microg after 8h compared with a mean mass permeated for Sol-Vex of 3.17+/-4.08 microg. Thus, Sol-Vex was about 56 times more protective than Safeskin for an 8-h exposure. However, the kinetics of the permeation revealed that Safeskin can be worn for at least 200 min before disposal. When undiluted Comite challenged both types of nitrile, much faster permeation was observed. Safeskin gloves showed two steady state periods. The first had lag times (t(l)) values of about 1h, although normalized breakthrough times (t(b)) were < 10 min. The second steady state rate (P(s)) was on average four times the rate of the first period, and the second steady state period t(l) was about three times as long as that of the first steady state period, and about the same t(l) as for the aqueous solution. Sol-Vex gloves exposed continuously to undiluted Comite permeated above the normalized breakthrough threshold beyond 2.7h. A risk assessment revealed that the PROP skin permeation rate of 7.1 ng cm(-2)h(-1) was much slower than the first steady state Safeskin glove P(s) of 62,000 ng cm(-2)h(-1). Infrared analysis showed that the glove surfaces were not degraded by the Comite challenge. The chemically protective Sol-Vex gloves protected adequately against undiluted formulation for about 2.7h, whereas they provided protection for nearly 8h when the formulation was diluted with water to the highest concentration for field application. In contrast, the disposable Safeskin gloves did not protect at all for the undiluted formulation, but did for 200 min when the formulation was diluted with water to the highest concentration for spraying.

  20. Urine human papillomavirus prevalence in women with high-grade cervical lesions.

    PubMed

    Nicolau, P; Mancebo, G; Agramunt, S; Solé-Sedeño, J M; Bellosillo, B; Muset, M M; Lloveras, B; Alameda, F; Carreras, R

    2014-12-01

    To determine the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in urine samples from women with high-grade cervical lesions. Secondary objectives are to identify the influence of socio-demographic factors and the different genotypes with urinary HPV positivity. 75 women with a positive biopsy for CIN2+ were included in the study from October 2010 to July 2011. A sample of urine was collected immediately before conization at the outpatient clinic. We analyzed the presence of HPV using a PCR technique. The mean age of the patients was 34.8 years (range 24 to 61). All patients had histological CIN2+, of whom 54.67% had CIN3. The prevalence of HPV in urine test was 58.82% in CIN2 population versus 78.05% in CIN3 patients (p 0.072). 31 different genotypes were found. The most frequent HPV genotype was 16-HPV, which was identified in 58% of women with positive HPV-DNA in urine samples. No demographic characteristics were significantly associated to urinary HPV prevalence. Most of the patients with CIN2+ showed positive results for urine HPV test. The prevalence of positive urinary HPV test was higher for patients with CIN3. HPV urine detection could be considered as an acceptable option for high-risk population who skip regular screening programs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Accuracy of urinary human papillomavirus testing for presence of cervical HPV: systematic review and meta-analysis

    PubMed Central

    Pathak, Neha; Dodds, Julie; Khan, Khalid

    2014-01-01

    Objective To determine the accuracy of testing for human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in urine in detecting cervical HPV in sexually active women. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources Searches of electronic databases from inception until December 2013, checks of reference lists, manual searches of recent issues of relevant journals, and contact with experts. Eligibility criteria Test accuracy studies in sexually active women that compared detection of urine HPV DNA with detection of cervical HPV DNA. Data extraction and synthesis Data relating to patient characteristics, study context, risk of bias, and test accuracy. 2×2 tables were constructed and synthesised by bivariate mixed effects meta-analysis. Results 16 articles reporting on 14 studies (1443 women) were eligible for meta-analysis. Most used commercial polymerase chain reaction methods on first void urine samples. Urine detection of any HPV had a pooled sensitivity of 87% (95% confidence interval 78% to 92%) and specificity of 94% (95% confidence interval 82% to 98%). Urine detection of high risk HPV had a pooled sensitivity of 77% (68% to 84%) and specificity of 88% (58% to 97%). Urine detection of HPV 16 and 18 had a pooled sensitivity of 73% (56% to 86%) and specificity of 98% (91% to 100%). Metaregression revealed an increase in sensitivity when urine samples were collected as first void compared with random or midstream (P=0.004). Limitations The major limitations of this review are the lack of a strictly uniform method for the detection of HPV in urine and the variation in accuracy between individual studies. Conclusions Testing urine for HPV seems to have good accuracy for the detection of cervical HPV, and testing first void urine samples is more accurate than random or midstream sampling. When cervical HPV detection is considered difficult in particular subgroups, urine testing should be regarded as an acceptable alternative. PMID:25232064

  2. DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF AN ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOASSAY (ELISA) METHOD FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF 2,4-DICHLOROPHENOXYACETIC ACID IN HUMAN URINE

    EPA Science Inventory

    This paper describes the development of a 96-microwell high sample capacity ELISA method for measuring 2,4-D in urine; the analysis of 2,4-D in real-world urine samples by both ELISA and GC/MS methods; and compares the ELISA and GC/MS results in several key areas: accuracy, preci...

  3. Probing structure-antifouling activity relationships of polyacrylamides and polyacrylates.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Chao; Zhao, Jun; Li, Xiaosi; Wu, Jiang; Chen, Shenfu; Chen, Qiang; Wang, Qiuming; Gong, Xiong; Li, Lingyan; Zheng, Jie

    2013-07-01

    We have synthesized two different polyacrylamide polymers with amide groups (polySBAA and polyHEAA) and two corresponding polyacrylate polymers without amide groups (polySBMA and polyHEA), with particular attention to the evaluation of the effect of amide group on the hydration and antifouling ability of these systems using both computational and experimental approaches. The influence of polymer architectures of brushes, hydrogels, and nanogels, prepared by different polymerization methods, on antifouling performance is also studied. SPR and ELISA data reveal that all polymers exhibit excellent antifouling ability to repel proteins from undiluted human blood serum/plasma, and such antifouling ability can be further enhanced by presenting amide groups in polySBAA and polyHEAA as compared to polySBMA and polyHEA. The antifouling performance is positively correlated with the hydration properties. Simulations confirm that four polymers indeed have different hydration characteristics, while all presenting a strong hydration overall. Integration of amide group with pendant hydroxyl or sulfobetaine group in polymer backbones is found to increase their surface hydration of polymer chains and thus to improve their antifouling ability. Importantly, we present a proof-of-concept experiment to synthesize polySBAA nanogels, which show a switchable property between antifouling and pH-responsive functions driven by acid-base conditions, while still maintaining high stability in undiluted fetal bovine serum and minimal toxicity to cultured cells. This work provides important structural insights into how very subtle structural changes in polymers can yield great improvement in biological activity, specifically the inclusion of amide group in polymer backbone/sidechain enables to obtain antifouling materials with better performance for biomedical applications. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Biotransformation of aesculin by human gut bacteria and identification of its metabolites in rat urine.

    PubMed

    Ding, Wei-Jun; Deng, Yun; Feng, Hao; Liu, Wei-Wei; Hu, Rong; Li, Xiang; Gu, Zhe-Ming; Dong, Xiao-Ping

    2009-03-28

    To observe the biotransformation process of a Chinese compound, aesculin, by human gut bacteria, and to identify its metabolites in rat urine. Representative human gut bacteria were collected from 20 healthy volunteers, and then utilized in vitro to biotransform aesculin under anaerobic conditions. At 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 48 and 72 h post-incubation, 10 mL of culture medium was collected. Metabolites of aesculin were extracted 3 x from rat urine with methanol and analyzed by HPLC. For in vivo metabolite analysis, aesculetin (100 mg/kg) was administered to rats via stomach gavage, rat urine was collected from 6 to 48 h post-administration, and metabolite analysis was performed by LC/ESI-MS and MS/MS in the positive and negative modes. Human gut bacteria could completely convert aesculin into aesculetin in vitro. The biotransformation process occurred from 8 to 24 h post-incubation, with its highest activity was seen from 8 to 12 h. The in vitro process was much slower than the in vivo process. In contrast to the in vitro model, six aesculetin metabolites were identified in rat urine, including 6-hydroxy-7-gluco-coumarin (M1), 6-hydroxy-7-sulf-coumarin (M2), 6, 7-di-gluco-coumarin (M3), 6-glc-7-gluco-coumarin (M4), 6-O-methyl-7-gluco-coumarin (M5) and 6-O-methyl-7-sulf-coumarin (M6). Of which, M2 and M6 were novel metabolites. Aesculin can be transferred into aesculetin by human gut bacteria and is further modified by the host in vivo. The diverse metabolites of aesculin may explain its pleiotropic pharmaceutical effects.

  5. Selenium metabolite levels in human urine after dosing selenium in different chemical forms

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hasunuma, Ryoichi; Tsuda, Morizo; Ogawa, Tadao

    1993-11-01

    It has been well known that selenium in marine fish such as tuna and swordfish protects the toxicity of methylmercury in vivo. The protective potency might depend on the chemical forms of selenium in the meat of marine fish sebastes and sperm whale. Little has been revealed, however, on the chemical forms of selenium in the meat of these animals or the selenium metabolites in urine, because the amount of the element is very scarce. Urine is the major excretory route for selenium. The chemical forms of urinary selenium may reflect the metabolism of the element. We have developed methodologymore » for analysis of selenium-containing components in human urine. Using this method, we have observed the time courses of excretory levels of urinary selenium components after a single dose of selenium as selenious acid, selenomethionine, trimethylselenonium ion or tuna meat. 14 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab.« less

  6. Detection of West Nile virus lineage 2 in the urine of acute human infections.

    PubMed

    Papa, Anna; Testa, Theodolinda; Papadopoulou, Elpida

    2014-12-01

    West Nile virus (WNV) lineage 2 emerged in Greece in 2010 and since then outbreaks in humans have been reported for four consecutive years. Laboratory diagnosis is based mainly on serology. A real-time RT-PCR was applied on urine samples obtained from 35 patients with acute WNV infection. WNV RNA was detected in 40% of the samples with cycle threshold (CT) values ranging from 26.95 to 39.89 (mean 33.11). WNV was isolated from two of four urine samples with low CT (<30). Viral load was not associated with patients' age, sex, day of illness, presence of WNV antibodies, and neurological symptoms. However, it seems that sample shipment and storage conditions are very important for virus detection and isolation. The usefulness of the WNV RNA detection in urine as a diagnostic tool of acute WNV infections is discussed. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  7. Quantitative determination of the hydrolysis products of nitrogen mustards in human urine by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Lemire, Sharon W; Ashley, David L; Calafat, Antonia M

    2003-01-01

    Nitrogen mustards are a public health concern because of their extreme vesicant properties and the possible exposure of workers during the destruction of chemical stockpiles. A sensitive, rapid, accurate, and precise analysis for the quantitation of ultratrace levels of N-ethyldiethanolamine (EDEA) and N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) in human urine as a means of assessing recent exposure to the nitrogen mustards bis(2-chloroethyl)ethylamine and bis(2-chloroethyl)methylamine, respectively, was developed. The method was based on solid-phase extraction, followed by analysis of the urine extract using isotope-dilution high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry with TurbolonSpray ionization and multiple-reaction monitoring. The method limits of detection were 0.41 ng/mL for EDEA and 0.96 ng/mL for MDEA in 1 mL of urine with coefficients of variation < 10% for both compounds.

  8. Capacitive malaria aptasensor using Plasmodium falciparum glutamate dehydrogenase as target antigen in undiluted human serum.

    PubMed

    Singh, Naveen K; Arya, Sunil K; Estrela, Pedro; Goswami, Pranab

    2018-06-08

    A capacitive aptasensor for detecting the malaria biomarker, Plasmodium falciparum glutamate dehydrogenase (PfGDH), directly in human serum samples developed. A thiolated ssDNA aptamer (NG3) that binds specifically to PfGDH antigen with high affinity (K d = 79 nM) was used to develop the aptasensor. The aptasensor produced capacitance response at an optimized frequency of 2 Hz in a non-Faradaic electrochemical impedance based signal transduction platform. The aptasensor exhibited a wide dynamic range of 100 fM-100 nM with a limits of detection of 0.77 pM in serum samples. The interference from other predominant malarial biomarkers, namely, Plasmodium falciparum -lactate dehydrogenase and -histidine rich protein-II on the aptasensor was negligible. This PfGDH aptasensor with highly sensitive and label free detection capability has great application potential for diagnosis of asymptotic malaria and monitoring the regression of malaria during treatment regime with antimalarial drugs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. ZMappTM Reinforces the Airway Mucosal Barrier Against Ebola Virus.

    PubMed

    Yang, Bing; Schaefer, Alison; Wang, Ying-Ying; McCallen, Justin; Lee, Phoebe; Newby, Jay M; Arora, Harendra; Kumar, Priya A; Zeitlin, Larry; Whaley, Kevin J; McKinley, Scott A; Fischer, William A; Harit, Dimple; Lai, Samuel K

    2018-04-24

    Filoviruses, including Ebola, have the potential to be transmitted via virus-laden droplets deposited onto mucus membranes. Protecting against such emerging pathogens will require understanding how they may transmit at mucosal surfaces and developing strategies to reinforce the airway mucus barrier.Here, we prepared Ebola pseudovirus (with Zaire strain glycoproteins) and employed high resolution multiple particle tracking to track the motions of hundreds of individual pseudoviruses in fresh and undiluted human airway mucus isolated from extubated endotracheal tubes.We found that Ebola pseudovirus readily penetrate human airway mucus. Addition of ZMappTM, a cocktail of Ebola-binding IgG antibodies, effectively reduced mobility of Ebola pseudovirus in the same mucus secretions. Topical delivery of ZMappTM to the mouse airways also facilitated rapid elimination of Ebola pseudovirus.Our work demonstrates that antibodies can immobilize virions in airway mucus and reduce access to the airway epithelium, highlighting topical delivery of pathogen-specific antibodies to the lungs as a potential prophylactic or therapeutic approach against emerging viruses or biowarfare agents.

  10. Metabolic fate of desomorphine elucidated using rat urine, pooled human liver preparations, and human hepatocyte cultures as well as its detectability using standard urine screening approaches.

    PubMed

    Richter, Lilian H J; Kaminski, Yeda Rumi; Noor, Fozia; Meyer, Markus R; Maurer, Hans H

    2016-09-01

    Desomorphine is an opioid misused as "crocodile", a cheaper alternative to heroin. It is a crude synthesis product homemade from codeine with toxic byproducts. The aim of the present work was to investigate the metabolic fate of desomorphine in vivo using rat urine and in vitro using pooled human liver microsomes and cytosol as well as human liver cell lines (HepG2 and HepaRG) by Orbitrap-based liquid chromatography-high resolution-tandem mass spectrometry or hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography. According to the identified metabolites, the following metabolic steps could be proposed: N-demethylation, hydroxylation at various positions, N-oxidation, glucuronidation, and sulfation. The cytochrome P450 (CYP) initial activity screening revealed CYP3A4 to be the only CYP involved in all phase I steps. UDP-glucuronyltransferase (UGT) initial activity screening showed that UGT1A1, UGT1A8, UGT1A9, UGT1A10, UGT2B4, UGT2B7, UGT2B15, and UGT2B17 formed desomorphine glucuronide. Among the tested in vitro models, HepaRG cells were identified to be the most suitable tool for prediction of human hepatic phase I and II metabolism of drugs of abuse. Finally, desomorphine (crocodile) consumption should be detectable by all standard urine screening approaches mainly via the parent compound and/or its glucuronide assuming similar kinetics in rats and humans.

  11. Sample preparation and storage can change arsenic speciation in human urine.

    PubMed

    Feldmann, J; Lai, V W; Cullen, W R; Ma, M; Lu, X; Le, X C

    1999-11-01

    Stability of chemical speciation during sample handling and storage is a prerequisite to obtaining reliable results of trace element speciation analysis. There is no comprehensive information on the stability of common arsenic species, such as inorganic arsenite [As(III)], arsenate [As(V)], monomethylarsonic acid, dimethylarsinic acid, and arsenobetaine, in human urine. We compared the effects of the following storage conditions on the stability of these arsenic species: temperature (25, 4, and -20 degrees C), storage time (1, 2, 4, and 8 months), and the use of additives (HCl, sodium azide, benzoic acid, benzyltrimethylammonium chloride, and cetylpyridinium chloride). HPLC with both inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and hydride generation atomic fluorescence detection techniques were used for the speciation of arsenic. We found that all five of the arsenic species were stable for up to 2 months when urine samples were stored at 4 and -20 degrees C without any additives. For longer period of storage (4 and 8 months), the stability of arsenic species was dependent on urine matrices. Whereas the arsenic speciation in some urine samples was stable for the entire 8 months at both 4 and -20 degrees C, other urine samples stored under identical conditions showed substantial changes in the concentration of As(III), As(V), monomethylarsonic acid, and dimethylarsinic acid. The use of additives did not improve the stability of arsenic speciation in urine. The addition of 0.1 mol/L HCl (final concentration) to urine samples produced relative changes in inorganic As(III) and As(V) concentrations. Low temperature (4 and -20 degrees C) conditions are suitable for the storage of urine samples for up to 2 months. Untreated samples maintain their concentration of arsenic species, and additives have no particular benefit. Strong acidification is not appropriate for speciation analysis.

  12. A Versatile Nanowire Platform for Highly Efficient Isolation and Direct PCR-free Colorimetric Detection of Human Papillomavirus DNA from Unprocessed Urine

    PubMed Central

    Lee, HyungJae; Choi, Mihye; Hwang, Sang-Hyun; Cho, Youngnam

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: As human papillomavirus (HPV) is primarily responsible for the development of cervical cancer, significant efforts have been devoted to develop novel strategies for detecting and identifying HPV DNA in urine. The analysis of target DNA sequences in urine offers a potential alternative to conventional methods as a non-invasive clinical screening and diagnostic assessment tool for the detection of HPV. However, the lack of efficient approaches to isolate and directly detect HPV DNA in urine has restricted its potential clinical use. In this study, we demonstrated a novel approach of using polyethylenimine-conjugated magnetic polypyrrole nanowires (PEI-mPpy NWs) for the extraction, identification, and PCR-free colorimetric detection of high-risk strains of HPV DNA sequences, particularly HPV-16 and HPV-18, in urine specimens of cervical cancer patients. Materials and Methods: We fabricated and characterized polyethylenimine-conjugated magnetic nanowires (PEI/mPpy NWs). PEI/mPpy NWs-based HPV DNA isolation and detection strategy appears to be a cost-effective and practical technology with greater sensitivity and accuracy than other urine-based methods. Results: The analytical and clinical performance of PEI-mPpy NWs was evaluated and compared with those of cervical swabs, demonstrating a superior type-specific concordance rate of 100% between urine and cervical swabs, even when using a small volume of urine (300 µL). Conclusion: We envision that PEI-mPpy NWs provide substantive evidence for clinical diagnosis and management of HPV-associated disease with their excellent performance in the recovery and detection of HPV DNA from minimal amounts of urine samples. PMID:29290816

  13. Development and evaluation of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method for the measurement of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid in human urine.

    PubMed

    Chuang, Jane C; Emon, Jeanette M Van; Durnford, Joyce; Thomas, Kent

    2005-09-15

    An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was developed to quantitatively measure 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in human urine. Samples were diluted (1:5) with phosphate-buffered saline containing 0.05% Tween and 0.02% sodium azide, with analysis by a 96-microwell plate immunoassay format. No clean up was required as dilution step minimized sample interferences. Fifty urine samples were received without identifiers from a subset of pesticide applicators and their spouses in an EPA pesticide exposure study (PES) and analyzed by the ELISA method and a conventional gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) procedure. For the GC/MS analysis, urine samples were extracted with acidic dichloromethane (DCM); methylated by diazomethane and fractionated by a Florisil solid phase extraction (SPE) column prior to GC/MS detection. The percent relative standard deviation (%R.S.D.) of the 96-microwell plate triplicate assays ranged from 1.2 to 22% for the urine samples. Day-to-day variation of the assay results was within +/-20%. Quantitative recoveries (>70%) of 2,4-D were obtained for the spiked urine samples by the ELISA method. Quantitative recoveries (>80%) of 2,4-D were also obtained for these samples by the GC/MS procedure. The overall method precision of these samples was within +/-20% for both the ELISA and GC/MS methods. The estimated quantification limit for 2,4-D in urine was 30ng/mL by ELISA and 0.2ng/mL by GC/MS. A higher quantification limit for the ELISA method is partly due to the requirement of a 1:5 dilution to remove the urine sample matrix effect. The GC/MS method can accommodate a 10:1 concentration factor (10mL of urine converted into 1mL organic solvent for analysis) but requires extraction, methylation and clean up on a solid phase column. The immunoassay and GC/MS data were highly correlated, with a correlation coefficient of 0.94 and a slope of 1.00. Favorable results between the two methods were achieved despite the vast differences in sample preparation. Results indicated that the ELISA method could be used as a high throughput, quantitative monitoring tool for human urine samples to identify individuals with exposure to 2,4-D above the typical background levels.

  14. Sacha Inchi Oil (Plukenetia volubilis L.), effect on adherence of Staphylococus aureus to human skin explant and keratinocytes in vitro.

    PubMed

    Gonzalez-Aspajo, German; Belkhelfa, Haouaria; Haddioui-Hbabi, Laïla; Bourdy, Geneviève; Deharo, Eric

    2015-08-02

    Plukenetia volubilis L. (Euphorbiaceae) is a domesticated vine distributed from the high-altitude Andean rain forest to the lowlands of the Peruvian Amazon. Oil from the cold-pressed seeds, sold under the commercial name of Sacha Inchi Oil (SIO) is actually much in favour because it contains a high percentage of omega 3 and omega 6, and is hence used as a dietary supplement. SIO is also used traditionally for skin care, in order to maintain skin softness, and for the treatment of wounds, insect bites and skin infections, in a tropical context where the skin is frequently damaged. This study was designed in order to verify whether the traditional use of SIO for skin care would have any impact on Staphylococcus aureus growth and skin adherence, as S. aureus is involved in many skin pathologies (impetigo, folliculitis, furuncles and subcutaneous abscesses) being one if the main pathogens that can be found on the skin. Therefore, our objective was to assess SIO bactericidal activity and interference with adherence to human skin explants and the keratinocyte cell line. Cytotoxicity on that cells was also determined. The activity of SIO was compared to coconut oil (CocO), which is widely used for skin care but has different unsaturated fatty acids contents. Laboratory testing with certified oil, determined antibacterial activity against radio labelled S. aureus. Cytotoxic effects were measured with XTT on keratinocyte cells and with neutral red on human skin explants; phenol was used as cytotoxic control. Adherence assays were carried out by mixing H3-labelled S. aureus bacteria with keratinocyte cells and human skin explants, incubated with oils 2h before (to determine the inhibition of adherence, assimilated to a preventive effect) or 2h after the contact of the biological material with S. aureus (to assess the detachment of the bacteria, assimilated to a curative effect). Residual radioactivity measured after washings made it possible to determine the adherence intensity. Bactericidal effect was determined by colony counting on trypticase soy agar. Laboratory assays showed that SIO and CocO, tested undiluted, were not cytotoxic on keratinocytes nor human explants and were not bactericidal neither. SIO was more active as antiadherent (preventive) than CocO on keratinocytes. There was no significant difference between detachment effects (curative) of both oils on keratinocytes but SIO was almost 5 times more active on the detachment of S. aureus from human skin explants. From that study it can be concluded that the use of SIO on dermal cells is safe and efficient in the inhibition of S. aureus adherence. Our results tend to support the traditional use of undiluted SIO in skin care. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Characterization of thiol-conjugated metabolites of ginger components shogaols in mouse and human rrine and modulation of the glutathione levels in cancer cells by [6]-shogaol

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Huadong; Soroka, Dominique N.; Hu, Yuhui; Chen, Xiaoxin; Sang, Shengmin

    2013-01-01

    Scope Shogaols, a series of major constituents in dried ginger with the most abundant being [6]-, [8]-, and [10]-shogaols, show much higher anti-cancer potencies than gingerols. Previously, we reported the mercapturic acid pathway as a major metabolic route for [6]-shogaol in mice. However, it is still unclear how the side chain length affects the metabolism of shogaols and how shogaols are metabolized in humans. Methods and results We first investigate the metabolism of [10]-shogaol in mouse urine, and then investigate the biotransformation of shogaols in human urine. Our results show that eight major thiol-conjugated metabolites of [10]-shogaol were detected in mouse urine, while six major thiol-conjugated metabolites of [6]-shogaol, two thiol-conjugated metabolites of [8]-shogaol, and two thiol-conjugated metabolites of [10]-shogaol were detected in urine collected from human after drinking ginger tea, using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Our results clearly indicate the mercapturic acid pathway is a major metabolic route for [10]-shogaol in mice and for shogaols in human. Furthermore, we also investigated the regulation of glutathione (GSH) by [6]-shogaol in human colon cancer cells HCT-116. Our results show [6]-shogaol, after initially depleting glutathione levels, can subsequently restore and increase GSH levels over time. Conclusion Shogaols are metabolized extensively in mouse and human to form thiol-conjugated metabolites and GSH might play an important role in the cancer preventative activity of ginger. PMID:23322393

  16. Human Urine-Derived Renal Progenitors for Personalized Modeling of Genetic Kidney Disorders

    PubMed Central

    Ronconi, Elisa; Angelotti, Maria Lucia; Peired, Anna; Mazzinghi, Benedetta; Becherucci, Francesca; Conti, Sara; Sansavini, Giulia; Sisti, Alessandro; Ravaglia, Fiammetta; Lombardi, Duccio; Provenzano, Aldesia; Manonelles, Anna; Cruzado, Josep M.; Giglio, Sabrina; Roperto, Rosa Maria; Materassi, Marco; Lasagni, Laura

    2015-01-01

    The critical role of genetic and epigenetic factors in the pathogenesis of kidney disorders is gradually becoming clear, and the need for disease models that recapitulate human kidney disorders in a personalized manner is paramount. In this study, we describe a method to select and amplify renal progenitor cultures from the urine of patients with kidney disorders. Urine-derived human renal progenitors exhibited phenotype and functional properties identical to those purified from kidney tissue, including the capacity to differentiate into tubular cells and podocytes, as demonstrated by confocal microscopy, Western blot analysis of podocyte-specific proteins, and scanning electron microscopy. Lineage tracing studies performed with conditional transgenic mice, in which podocytes are irreversibly tagged upon tamoxifen treatment (NPHS2.iCreER;mT/mG), that were subjected to doxorubicin nephropathy demonstrated that renal progenitors are the only urinary cell population that can be amplified in long-term culture. To validate the use of these cells for personalized modeling of kidney disorders, renal progenitors were obtained from (1) the urine of children with nephrotic syndrome and carrying potentially pathogenic mutations in genes encoding for podocyte proteins and (2) the urine of children without genetic alterations, as validated by next-generation sequencing. Renal progenitors obtained from patients carrying pathogenic mutations generated podocytes that exhibited an abnormal cytoskeleton structure and functional abnormalities compared with those obtained from patients with proteinuria but without genetic mutations. The results of this study demonstrate that urine-derived patient-specific renal progenitor cultures may be an innovative research tool for modeling of genetic kidney disorders. PMID:25568173

  17. Impact of collection conditions on the metabolite content of human urine samples as analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

    PubMed

    Roux, Aurélie; Thévenot, Etienne A; Seguin, François; Olivier, Marie-Françoise; Junot, Christophe

    There is a lack of comprehensive studies documenting the impact of sample collection conditions on metabolic composition of human urine. To address this issue, two experiments were performed at a 3-month interval, in which midstream urine samples from healthy individuals were collected, pooled, divided into several aliquots and kept under specific conditions (room temperature, 4 °C, with or without preservative) up to 72 h before storage at -80 °C. Samples were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry and bacterial contamination was monitored by turbidimetry. Multivariate analyses showed that urinary metabolic fingerprints were affected by the presence of preservatives and also by storage at room temperature from 24 to 72 h, whereas no change was observed for urine samples stored at 4 °C over a 72-h period. Investigations were then focused on 280 metabolites previously identified in urine: 19 of them were impacted by the kind of sample collection protocol in both experiments, including 12 metabolites affected by bacterial contamination and 7 exhibiting poor chemical stability. Finally, our results emphasize that the use of preservative prevents bacterial overgrowth, but does not avoid metabolite instability in solution, whereas storage at 4 °C inhibits bacterial overgrowth at least over a 72-h period and slows the chemical degradation process. Consequently, and for further LC/MS analyses, human urine samples should be kept at 4 °C if their collection is performed over 24 h.

  18. A new method for quasi-reagent-free biomonitoring of mercury in human urine.

    PubMed

    Schlathauer, Maria; Reitsam, Verena; Schierl, Rudolf; Leopold, Kerstin

    2017-05-01

    A novel analytical method for sampling and extraction of mercury (Hg) from human urine is presented in this work. The method is based on selective accumulation and separation of Hg from fresh urine sample onto active nanogold-coated silica material by highly efficient solid-phase extraction. After thermal desorption of Hg from the extractant, detection is performed by atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS). The feasibility and validity of the optimized, quasi-reagent-free approach was confirmed by recovery experiments in spiked real urine (recovery rate 96.13 ± 5.34%) and by comparison of found Hg concentrations in real urine samples - originating from occupationally exposed persons - with values obtained from reference methods cold vapor - atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS) and cold vapor - atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV-AFS). A very good agreement of the found values reveals the validity of the proposed approach. The limit of detection (LOD) was found to be as low as 0.004 μg Hg L -1 and a high reproducibility with a relative standard deviations ≤4.2% (n = 6) is given. Moreover, storage of the samples for up to one week at an ambient temperature of 30 °C reveals no analyte losses or contamination. In conclusion, the proposed method enables easy-to-handle on-site extraction of total Hg from human urine ensuring at the same time reagent-free sample stabilization, providing quick and safe sampling, which can be performed by untrained persons. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Chemical Warfare Agent Operational Exposure Hazard Assessment Research: FY07 Report and Analysis

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-07-01

    of the nerve agents sarin, soman, cyclohexylsarin, VX, and Russian VX in human urine using isotope-dilution gas chromatography-tandem mass...Needham L.L.; Barr, D.B. Quantitation of organophosphorous nerve agent metabolites in human urine using isotope dilution gas chromatography-tandem mass... nerve agents , VX, GB, or GF, and to determine lethal percutaneous (PC) levels of VX. Calibration of Physiologically-based pharmacokinetic biomarkers

  20. Human Excretion of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether Flame Retardants: Blood, Urine, and Sweat Study

    PubMed Central

    Genuis, Shelagh K.; Birkholz, Detlef

    2017-01-01

    Commonly used as flame retardants, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are routinely detected in the environment, animals, and humans. Although these persistent organic pollutants are increasingly recognized as having serious health implications, particularly for children, this is the first study, to our knowledge, to investigate an intervention for human elimination of bioaccumulated PBDEs. Objectives. To determine the efficacy of blood, urine, and perspiration as PBDE biomonitoring mediums; assess excretion of five common PBDE congeners (28, 47, 99, 100, and 153) in urine and perspiration; and explore the potential of induced sweating for decreasing bioaccumulated PBDEs. Results. PBDE congeners were not found in urine samples; findings focus on blood and perspiration. 80% of participants tested positive in one or more body fluids for PBDE 28, 100% for PBDE 47, 95% for PBDE 99, and 90% for PBDE 100 and PBDE 153. Induced perspiration facilitated excretion of the five congeners, with different rates of excretion for different congeners. Conclusion. Blood testing provides only a partial understanding of human PBDE bioaccumulation; testing of both blood and perspiration provides a better understanding. This study provides important baseline evidence for regular induced perspiration as a potential means for therapeutic PBDE elimination. Fetotoxic and reproductive effects of PBDE exposure highlight the importance of further detoxification research. PMID:28373979

  1. Magnetic dispersive solid-phase extraction based on modified magnetic nanoparticles for the detection of cocaine and cocaine metabolites in human urine by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Yang, Feiyu; Zou, Yun; Ni, Chunfang; Wang, Rong; Wu, Min; Liang, Chen; Zhang, Jiabin; Yuan, Xiaoliang; Liu, Wenbin

    2017-11-01

    An easy-to-handle magnetic dispersive solid-phase extraction procedure was developed for preconcentration and extraction of cocaine and cocaine metabolites in human urine. Divinyl benzene and vinyl pyrrolidone functionalized silanized Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles were synthesized and used as adsorbents in this procedure. Scanning electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, and infrared spectroscopy were employed to characterize the modified adsorbents. A high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry method for determination of cocaine and its metabolites in human urine sample has been developed with pretreatment of the samples by magnetic dispersive solid-phase extraction. The obtained results demonstrated the higher extraction capacity of the prepared nanoparticles with recoveries between 75.1 to 105.7% and correlation coefficients higher than 0.9971. The limits of detection for the cocaine and cocaine metabolites were 0.09-1.10 ng/mL. The proposed magnetic dispersive solid-phase extraction method provided a rapid, environmentally friendly and magnetic stuff recyclable approach and it was confirmed that the prepared adsorbents material was a kind of highly effective extraction materials for the trace cocaine and cocaine metabolites analyses in human urine. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  2. Multi-trace element levels and arsenic speciation in urine of e-waste recycling workers from Agbogbloshie, Accra in Ghana.

    PubMed

    Asante, Kwadwo Ansong; Agusa, Tetsuro; Biney, Charles Augustus; Agyekum, William Atuobi; Bello, Mohammed; Otsuka, Masanari; Itai, Takaaki; Takahashi, Shin; Tanabe, Shinsuke

    2012-05-01

    To understand human contamination by multi-trace elements (TEs) in electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) recycling site at Agbogbloshie, Accra in Ghana, this study analyzed TEs and As speciation in urine of e-waste recycling workers. Concentrations of Fe, Sb, and Pb in urine of e-waste recycling workers were significantly higher than those of reference sites after consideration of interaction by age, indicating that the recycling workers are exposed to these TEs through the recycling activity. Urinary As concentration was relatively high, although the level in drinking water was quite low. Speciation analysis of As in human urine revealed that arsenobetaine and dimethylarsinic acid were the predominant As species and concentrations of both species were positively correlated with total As concentration as well as between each other. These results suggest that such compounds may be derived from the same source, probably fish and shellfish and greatly influence As exposure levels. To our knowledge, this is the first study on human contamination resulting from the primitive recycling of e-waste in Ghana. This study will contribute to the knowledge about human exposure to trace elements from an e-waste site in a less industrialized region so far scantly covered in the literature. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Stabilization of source-separated human urine by chemical oxidation.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Yang; Li, Zifu; Zhao, Yuan; Chen, Shuangling; Mahmood, Ibrahim Babatunde

    2013-01-01

    The inhibitory effect of ozone and hydrogen peroxide (HP) on urea hydrolysis in stored urine was investigated and compared. Ozone showed less effect on urea hydrolysis due to the complicated composition of urine (including a large amount of urease-producing bacteria) and bacteria regeneration. Ozone concentration and total heterotrophic bacteria analysis demonstrated that residual ozone concentration decreased by 43% within 15 hr from 13.50 to 7.72 mg/L in the one-time ozonation urine test, and finally completely decomposed within 4 days. In addition, bacteria regenerated quickly after ozone completely decomposed. However, HP showed a significant effect on inhibiting urea hydrolysis not only in stored urine but also in fecal-contaminated urine. The suitable doses of applied HP to inhibit urea hydrolysis in stored urine, concentrations of 0.5 and 1.0 g feces per liter of fecal-contaminated urine, were 0.03, 0.16 and 0.23 mol/L, respectively. The urea concentrations after 2 months stored were 7,145, 7,109 and 7,234 mg/L, respectively.

  4. SOLVENT-FREE ACCELERATED ORGANIC SYNTHESES USING MICROWAVES

    EPA Science Inventory

    Abstract: A solvent-free approach for organic synthesis is described which involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) either in presence of a catalyst or catalyzed by the surfaces of inexpensive and recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or...

  5. ORGANIC SYNTHESES UNDER NON-TRADITIONAL CONDITIONS

    EPA Science Inventory

    A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or 'doped' surfaces is presented which is applicable to a wide range of cleavage, condensation, cycl...

  6. EFFICIENT AND GREENER CHEMICAL SYNTHESES USING MICROWAVE IRRADIATION

    EPA Science Inventory

    The diverse nature of chemical entities requires various ‘green’ strategic pathways in our quest towards attaining sustainability. A solvent-free approach involving microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of less-expensive and rec...

  7. GREENER ORGANIC SYNTHESES USING ALTERNATIVE REACTION CONDITIONS AND MEDIA

    EPA Science Inventory

    The diverse nature of chemical entities requires various green' strategic pathways in our quest towards attaining sustainability. A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of less-expensive and recyclable...

  8. NON-TRADITIONAL 'GREENER' ALTERNATIVES TO SYNTHETIC ORGANIC TRANSFORMATIONS USING MICROWAVES

    EPA Science Inventory

    A rapid and environmentally friendlier approach for organic synthesis and transformations is described which involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) often in presence of inorganic oxides as recyclable catalysts such as alumina, silica, clay, or 'doped' surf...

  9. ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLIER ORGANIC TRANSFORMATIONS ON MINERAL SUPPORTS UNDER NON-TRADITIONAL CONDITIONS

    EPA Science Inventory

    Synthetic organic reactions performed under non-traditional conditions are gaining popularity primarily to circumvent the growing environmental concerns. A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) either in presence of a catalyst o...

  10. EFFICIENT CHEMICAL TRANSFORMATIONS USING ALTERNATIVE REACTION CONDITIONS AND MEDIA

    EPA Science Inventory

    The diverse nature of chemical entities requires various green' strategic pathways in our quest towards attaining sustainability. A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of less-expensive and recyclable...

  11. ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLIER SYNTHESIS USING ALTERNATIVE REACTION CONDITIONS AND MEDIA

    EPA Science Inventory

    The diverse nature of chemical universe requires various 'greener' strategic pathways in our quest towards attaining sustainability. A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of less-expensive and recycla...

  12. ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLIER ORGANIC TRANSFORMATIONS ON MINERAL SUPPORTS UNDER NONTRADITIONAL CONDITIONS

    EPA Science Inventory

    Synthetic organic reactions performed under non-traditional conditions are gaining popularity primarily to circumvent the growing environmental concerns. A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) either in presence of a catalyst o...

  13. GREENER SYNTHESIS OF HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS USING MICROWAVE IRRADIATION

    EPA Science Inventory

    An introduction of our interest in the microwave-assisted greener synthesis of a variety of heterocyclic compounds will be presented. It involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of recyclable mineral supports, such as alumina, sili...

  14. 'GREENER' CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS USING MICROWAVE IRRADIATION

    EPA Science Inventory

    A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or 'doped' surfaces is presented which is applicable to a wide range of cleavage, condensation, cycl...

  15. A study examining the bias of albumin and albumin/creatinine ratio measurements in urine.

    PubMed

    Jacobson, Beryl E; Seccombe, David W; Katayev, Alex; Levin, Adeera

    2015-10-01

    The objective of the study was to examine the bias of albumin and albumin/creatinine (ACR) measurements in urine. Pools of normal human urine were augmented with purified human serum albumin to generate a series of 12 samples covering the clinical range of interest for the measurement of ACR. Albumin and creatinine concentrations in these samples were analyzed three times on each of 3 days by 24 accredited laboratories in Canada and the USA. Reference values (RV) for albumin measurements were assigned by a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) comparative method and gravimetrically. Ten random urine samples (check samples) were analyzed as singlets and albumin and ACR values reported according to the routine practices of each laboratory. Augmented urine pools were shown to be commutable. Gravimetrically assigned target values were corrected for the presence of endogenous albumin using the LC-MS/MS comparative method. There was excellent agreement between the RVs as assigned by these two methods. All laboratory medians demonstrated a negative bias for the measurement of albumin in urine over the concentration range examined. The magnitude of this bias tended to decrease with increasing albumin concentrations. At baseline, only 10% of the patient ACR values met a performance limit of RV ± 15%. This increased to 84% and 86% following post-analytical correction for albumin and creatinine calibration bias, respectively. International organizations should take a leading role in the standardization of albumin measurements in urine. In the interim, accuracy based urine quality control samples may be used by clinical laboratories for monitoring the accuracy of their urinary albumin measurements.

  16. Mining the human urine proteome for monitoring renal transplant injury

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sigdel, Tara K.; Gao, Yuqian; He, Jintang

    The human urinary proteome reflects systemic and inherent renal injury perturbations and can be analyzed to harness specific biomarkers for different kidney transplant injury states. 396 unique urine samples were collected contemporaneously with an allograft biopsy from 396 unique kidney transplant recipients. Centralized, blinded histology on the graft was used to classify matched urine samples into categories of acute rejection (AR), chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN), BK virus nephritis (BKVN), and stable graft (STA). Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based proteomics using iTRAQ based discovery (n=108) and global label-free LC-MS analyses of individual samples (n=137) for quantitative proteome assessment were used inmore » the discovery step. Selected reaction monitoring (SRM) was applied to identify and validate minimal urine protein/peptide biomarkers to accurately segregate organ injury causation and pathology on unique urine samples (n=151). A total of 958 proteins were initially quantified by iTRAQ, 87% of which were also identified among 1574 urine proteins detected in LC-MS validation. 103 urine proteins were significantly (p<0.05) perturbed in injury and enriched for humoral immunity, complement activation, and lymphocyte trafficking. A set of 131 peptides corresponding to 78 proteins were assessed by SRM for their significance in an independent sample cohort. A minimal set of 35 peptides mapping to 33 proteins, were modeled to segregate different injury groups (AUC =93% for AR, 99% for CAN, 83% for BKVN). Urinary proteome discovery and targeted validation identified urine protein fingerprints for non-invasive differentiation of kidney transplant injuries, thus opening the door for personalized immune risk assessment and therapy.« less

  17. Quantification of Modified Tyrosines in Healthy and Diabetic Human Urine using Liquid Chromatography/Tandem Mass Spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Kato, Yoji; Dozaki, Natsuko; Nakamura, Toshiyuki; Kitamoto, Noritoshi; Yoshida, Akihiro; Naito, Michitaka; Kitamura, Masayasu; Osawa, Toshihiko

    2009-01-01

    The quantification of urinary oxidized tyrosines, dityrosine (DiY), nitrotyrosine (NY), bromotyrosine (BrY), and dibromotyrosine (DiBrY), was accomplished by quadruple liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). The sample was partially purified by solid phase extraction, and was then applied to the LC/MS/MS using multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) methods. The analysis for the DiY quantification was done first. The residual samples were further butylated with n-butanol/HCl, and the other modified tyrosines were then quantified with isotopic dilution methods. MRM peaks of the modified tyrosines (DiY, NY, BrY, and DiBrY) from human urine were measured and the elution times coincided with the authentic and isotopic standards. The amounts of modified tyrosines in healthy human urine (n = 23) were 8.8 +/- 0.6 (DiY), 1.4 +/- 0.4 (NY), 3.8 +/- 0.3 (BrY), and 0.7 +/- 0.1 (DiBrY) micromol/mol of creatinine, respectively. A comparison of the modified tyrosines with urinary 8-oxo-deoxyguanosine, pentosidine, and N(epsilon)-(hexanoyl)lysine was also performed. Almost all products, except for NY, showed good correlations with each other. The amounts of the modified tyrosines (NY, BrY, and DiBrY) in the diabetic urine were higher than those in the urine from healthy people.

  18. Determination of bisphenol A, triclosan and their metabolites in human urine using isotope-dilution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Provencher, Gilles; Bérubé, René; Dumas, Pierre; Bienvenu, Jean-François; Gaudreau, Eric; Bélanger, Patrick; Ayotte, Pierre

    2014-06-27

    Bisphenol A (BPA) and triclosan (TCS) are ubiquitous environmental phenols exhibiting endocrine disrupting activities that may be involved in various health disorders in humans. There is a need to measure separately free forms and conjugated metabolites because only the former are biologically active. We have developed sensitive methods using isotope-dilution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for individual measurements of free BPA and TCS as well as their metabolites, BPA glucuronide (BPAG), BPA monosulfate (BPAS), BPA disulfate (BPADS), TCS glucuronide (TCSG) and TCS sulfate (TCSS) in urine. Comparative analyses of urine samples from 46 volunteers living in the Quebec City area using the new methods and a GC-MS/MS method previously used in our laboratory revealed very strong correlations for total BPA (Spearman's rs=0.862, p<0.0001) and total TCS concentrations (rs=0.942, p<0.0001). Glucuronide metabolites were the most abundant BPA and TCS species in urine samples (>94% of total urinary concentrations). Unconjugated TCS concentrations represented a small proportion of total TCS species (median=1.6%) but its concentration was likely underestimated due to losses by adsorption to the surface of polypropylene tubes used for sample storage. To our knowledge, we are the first to report levels of free, sulfated and glucuronidated TCS levels in human urine. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Quantitative determination of famotidine in human maternal plasma, umbilical cord plasma and urine using high-performance liquid chromatography - mass spectrometry

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Xiaoming; Rytting, Erik; Abdelrahman, Doaa R.; Nanovskaya, Tatiana N.; Hankins, Gary D.V.; Ahmed, Mahmoud S.

    2013-01-01

    The liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry for the quantitative determination of famotidine in human urine, maternal and umbilical cord plasma was developed and validated. The plasma samples were alkalized with ammonium hydroxide and extracted twice with ethyl acetate. The extraction recovery of famotidine in maternal and umbilical cord plasma ranged from 53% to 64% and 72% to 79%, respectively. Urine samples were directly diluted with the initial mobile phase then injected into the HPLC system. Chromatographic separation of famotidine was achieved by using a Phenomenex Synergi™ Hydro-RP™ column with a gradient elution of acetonitrile and 10 mM ammonium acetate aqueous solution (pH 8.3, adjusted with ammonium hydroxide). Mass Spectrometric detection of famotidine was set in the positive mode and used a selected ion monitoring method. Carbon-13-labeled famotidine was used as internal standard. The calibration curves were linear (r2> 0.99) in the concentration ranges of 0.631-252 ng/mL for umbilical and maternal plasma samples, and of 0.075-30.0 μg/mL for urine samples. The relative deviation of method was less than 14% for intra- and inter-day assays, and the accuracy ranged between 93% and 110%. The matrix effect of famotidine in human urine, maternal and umbilical cord plasma is less than 17%. PMID:23401067

  20. The use of laser-induced fluorescence or ultraviolet detectors for sensitive and selective analysis of tobramycin or erythropoietin in complex samples

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ahmed, Hytham M.; Ebeid, Wael B.

    2015-05-01

    Complex samples analysis is a challenge in pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical analysis. In this work, tobramycin (TOB) analysis in human urine samples and recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) analysis in the presence of similar protein were selected as representative examples of such samples analysis. Assays of TOB in urine samples are difficult because of poor detectability. Therefore laser induced fluorescence detector (LIF) was combined with a separation technique, micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), to determine TOB through derivatization with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC). Borate was used as background electrolyte (BGE) with negative-charged mixed micelles as additive. The method was successively applied to urine samples. The LOD and LOQ for Tobramycin in urine were 90 and 200 ng/ml respectively and recovery was >98% (n = 5). All urine samples were analyzed by direct injection without sample pre-treatment. Another use of hyphenated analytical technique, capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) connected to ultraviolet (UV) detector was also used for sensitive analysis of rhEPO at low levels (2000 IU) in the presence of large amount of human serum albumin (HSA). Analysis of rhEPO was achieved by the use of the electrokinetic injection (EI) with discontinuous buffers. Phosphate buffer was used as BGE with metal ions as additive. The proposed method can be used for the estimation of large number of quality control rhEPO samples in a short period.

  1. Simultaneous determination of parabens, alkylphenols, phenylphenols, bisphenol A and triclosan in human urine, blood and breast milk by continuous solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Azzouz, Abdelmonaim; Rascón, Andrés J; Ballesteros, Evaristo

    2016-02-05

    A highly sensitive gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for the determination of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) including parabens, alkylphenols, phenylphenols, bisphenol A and triclosan in human breast milk, blood and urine samples is proposed. Blood and milk require a pretreatment to remove proteins and other substances potentially interfering with the continuous solid-phase extraction (SPE) system used; on the other hand, urine samples can be directly introduced into the system after filtering. Analytes are retained on a LiChrolut EN column and derivatized by silylation following elution with acetonitrile. The resulting trimethylsilyl derivatives are determined by GC-MS. The proposed method exhibited good linearity (r(2)>0.995) for all target EDCs over the concentration range 0.7-10,000ng/l in urine, and 3.3-50,000ng/l in blood and milk. Also, it provided low limits of detection (0.2-1.8ng/l in urine, and 1.0-9.0ng/l in blood and milk), good precision (relative standard deviations less than 7%) and recoveries from 86 to 104%. A total of 24 human fluid samples were analyzed and most found to contain some target EDC at concentrations from 0.10 to 14μg/l. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Study the influence of licorice and pomegranate drinks on nicotine metabolism in human urine by LC-orbitrap MS.

    PubMed

    Abu-Awwad, Ahmad; Arafat, Tawfiq; Schmitz, Oliver J

    2017-01-05

    Nicotine-diet interactions have a particular importance on human health. Some food substances are subject to change hepatic CYP2A6 metabolism rate for nicotine and its levels in smokers consequently. This study investigates the effect of pomegranate and licorice drinks on nicotine metabolism, by a new developed and validated method for simultaneous determination of nicotine with its major metabolites (cotinine and nicotine N-oxide) in human urine, utilizing LC ESI-orbitrap-MS. Twenty-four Jordanian healthy and smoker volunteers were participated in two equal groups, crossover design for each of pomegranate and licorice test drink. In the study periods each group assigned either to drink test juice three times a day or to be avoided from test drink for 7 successive days, and then both groups switched their drink treatment in subsequent period. Early morning urine samples were collected from all volunteers after each period. Nicotine metabolism rate was evaluated from nicotine/cotinine and nicotine/nicotine N-oxide ratios in urine. A consistent trend of increase in metabolism rate for nicotine was observed from urine analysis under pomegranate or licorice drink conditions compared to control conditions. Pomegranate and licorice drinks are increasing the metabolism rate for nicotine in terms of induction effect for hepatic cytochrome p450 enzymes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. GC-MS Quantification Method for Mephedrone in Plasma and Urine: Application to Human Pharmacokinetics.

    PubMed

    Olesti, Eulàlia; Pujadas, Mitona; Papaseit, Esther; Pérez-Mañá, Clara; Pozo, Óscar J; Farré, Magí; de la Torre, Rafael

    2017-03-01

    Increasing consumption has been observed among young people of new psychoactive substances, including synthetic cathinone derivatives. The most well known of these is mephedrone whose use has been related to acute intoxication and fatality. Several methods able to detect mephedrone have been reported, although to date, none have been applied to human pharmacokinetic studies in a controlled setting. We developed a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technique for mephedrone quantification in human plasma and urine. Plasma after deproteinization and urine were submitted to a liquid-liquid extraction and derivatization of the extract with MSTFA prior to analysis. Calibration curves covered concentration ranges in plasma between 5 and 300 ng/mL and in urine between 20 and 1,500 ng/mL. The method has been successfully applied to biological samples obtained from a pilot clinical trial intended to evaluate the human pharmacology of mephedrone and its relative bioavailability and pharmacokinetics. Six healthy males were administered 150 mg of mephedrone by the oral route in a randomized, double-blind, cross-over controlled trial. Peak plasma concentration (Cmax = 122.6 ± 32.9 ng/mL) was reached at 1 hour (0.5-2 h) post-drug administration. Mephedrone showed a rapid elimination half-life (t1/2 = 2.2 h) compared to other psychostimulants. Less than 15% of the dose was excreted in urine as a free-form. Mephedrone concentrations displayed a relevant inter-subject variability. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  4. A rapid magnetic particle-based enzyme immunoassay for human cytomegalovirus glycoprotein B quantification.

    PubMed

    Pires, F; Arcos-Martinez, M Julia; Dias-Cabral, A Cristina; Vidal, Juan C; Castillo, Juan R

    2018-04-17

    Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a herpes virus that can cause severe infections. Still, the available methods for its diagnostic have the main disadvantage of requiring long time to be performed. In this work, a simple magnetic particle-based enzyme immunoassay (mpEIA) for the quantification of glycoprotein B of Human cytomegalovirus (gB-HCMV) in urine samples is proposed. The immunosensor scheme is based on the analyte protein gB-HCMV sandwiched between a primary monoclonal antibody, (MBs-PrG-mAb1), and a secondary anti-gB-HCMV antibody labelled with Horseradish peroxidase (Ab2-HRP) to allow spectrophotometric detection. The mpEIA analytical performance was tested in urine samples, showing a linear dependence between gB-HCMV concentration and the absorbance signal at 450 nm in a range of concentrations from 90 to 700 pg mL -1 . The calculated detection limits for gB-HCMV were 90 ± 2 pg mL -1 and the RSD was about 6.7% in urine samples. The immunosensor showed good selectivity against other viruses from Herpesviridae family, namely varicella zoster and Epstein Barr viruses. The recoveries of spiked human urine samples at 0.30-0.50 ng mL -1 concentration levels of gB-HCMV ranged between 91 to 105%. The proposed mpEIA method was validated following the guidelines of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA-2014), and allows rapid, successful and easy quantification of gB-HCMV in urine samples. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. The culture of Chlorella vulgaris with human urine in multibiological life support system experiments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Ming; Liu, Hong; Tong, Ling; Fu, Yuming; He, Wenting; Hu, Enzhu; Hu, Dawei

    The Integrative Experimental System (IES) was established as a tool to evaluate the rela-tionship of the subsystems in Bioregenerative Life Support System, and Multibiological Life Support System Experiments (MLSSE) have been conducted in the IES. The IES consists of a higher plant chamber, an animal chamber and a plate photo bioreactor (PPB) which cultivated lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), silkworm (Bombyx Mori L.) and microalgae (Chlorella vulgaris), respectively. In MLSSE, four volunteers took turns breathing the system air through a tube connected with the animal chamber periodically. According to the CO2 concentration in the IES, the automotive control system of the PPB changed the light intensity regulating the photosynthesis of Chlorella vulgaris to make CO2 /O2 in the system maintain at stable levels. Chlorella vulgaris grew with human urine by carrying certain amount of alga liquid out of the bioreactor every day with synthetic urine replenished into the system, and O2 was regenerated, at the same time human urine was purified. Results showed that this IES worked stably and Chlorella vulgaris grew well; The culture of Chlorella vulgaris could be used to keep the balance of CO2 and O2 , and the change of light intensity could control the gas composition in the IES; Microalgae culture could be used in emergency in the system, the culture of Chlorella vulgaris could recover to original state in 5 days; 15.6 ml of condensation water was obtained every day by the culture of Chlorella vulgaris; The removal efficiencies of N, P in human urine could reach to 98.2% and 99.5%.

  6. Rapid and sensitive analysis of phthalate metabolites, bisphenol A, and endogenous steroid hormones in human urine by mixed-mode solid-phase extraction, dansylation, and ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Wang, He-xing; Wang, Bin; Zhou, Ying; Jiang, Qing-wu

    2013-05-01

    Steroid hormone levels in human urine are convenient and sensitive indicators for the impact of phthalates and/or bisphenol A (BPA) exposure on the human steroid hormone endocrine system. In this study, a rapid and sensitive method for determination of 14 phthalate metabolites, BPA, and ten endogenous steroid hormones in urine was developed and validated on the basis of ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. The optimized mixed-mode solid phase-extraction separated the weakly acidic or neutral BPA and steroid hormones from acidic phthalate metabolites in urine: the former were determined in positive ion mode with a methanol/water mobile phase containing 10 mM ammonium formate; the latter were determined in negative ion mode with a acetonitrile/water mobile phase containing 0.1 % acetic acid, which significantly alleviated matrix effects for the analysis of BPA and steroid hormones. Dansylation of estrogens and BPA realized simultaneous and sensitive analysis of the endogenous steroid hormones and BPA in a single chromatographic run. The limits of detection were less than 0.84 ng/mL for phthalate metabolites and less than 0.22 ng/mL for endogenous steroid hormones and BPA. This proposed method had satisfactory precision and accuracy, and was successfully applied to the analyses of human urine samples. This method could be valuable when investigating the associations among endocrine-disrupting chemicals, endogenous steroid hormones, and relevant adverse outcomes in epidemiological studies.

  7. Major human milk oligosaccharides are absorbed into the systemic circulation after oral administration in rats.

    PubMed

    Vazquez, E; Santos-Fandila, A; Buck, R; Rueda, R; Ramirez, M

    2017-01-01

    Human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) are involved in many biological functions influencing infant health. Although HMO act locally at the intestine, recent evidence has demonstrated that HMO are partially incorporated into the systemic circulation of breast-fed infants. In the last few years, a large amount of research has been conducted using preclinical models to uncover new biological functions of HMO. The aim of this study was to evaluate the absorption and urine excretion of HMO in rats. We administered a single oral dose of the following HMO: 2'-fucosyllactose (2'-FL), 6'-sialyllactose and lacto-N-neotetraose at different concentrations to adult rats. The time course of absorption of HMO into the bloodstream and their appearance in urine was studied. Our results showed that rats, similar to human infants, are able to effectively absorb a portion of HMO from the intestine into plasma and to excrete them in urine. On the basis of this, we also conducted a specific kinetic absorption study with 2'-FL, the most predominant HMO in human milk, in 9-11-d-old rat pups. Our results confirmed that a significant amount of 2'-FL was absorbed into the systemic circulation and subsequently excreted in urine during lactation in rats in a dose-depended manner. We also found basal levels of these HMO in plasma and urine of adult rats as well as rat pups as a natural result of nursing. Our data suggest that the rat may be a useful preclinical model that provides new insights into the metabolism and functions of HMO.

  8. A study on the migration and transformation law of nitrogen in urine in municipal wastewater transportation and treatment.

    PubMed

    Wuang, Ren; Pengkang, Jin; Chenggang, Liang; Xiaochang, Wang; Lei, Zhang

    2013-01-01

    Many studies suggest that the total nitrogen (TN) in urine is around 9,000 mg/L and about 80% of nitrogen in municipal wastewater comes from urine, because nitrogen mainly occurs in the form of urea in fresh human urine. Based on this fact, the study on the migration and transformation law of nitrogen in urine and its influencing factors was carried out. It can be seen from the experimental results that the transformation rate of urea in urine into ammonia nitrogen after standing for 20 days is only about 18.2%, but the urea in urine can be hydrolyzed into ammonia nitrogen rapidly after it is catalyzed directly with free urease or indirectly with microorganism. Adding respectively a certain amount of urease, activated sludge and septic-tank sludge to urine samples can make the maximum transformation rate achieve 85% after 1 day, 2 days and 6 days, respectively. In combination with some corresponding treatment methods, recycling of nitrogen in urine can be achieved. The results are of great significance in guiding denitrification in municipal wastewater treatment.

  9. Bisphenol A levels in human urine.

    PubMed Central

    Matsumoto, Akiko; Kunugita, Naoki; Kitagawa, Kyoko; Isse, Toyohi; Oyama, Tsunehiro; Foureman, Gary L; Morita, Masatoshi; Kawamoto, Toshihiro

    2003-01-01

    The estrogenic effects of bisphenol A (BPA) have been reported in human cells (E-screen assays) and in (italic)in vivo(/italic) studies of rodents, although the latter reports remain controversial, as do the exposure levels and adverse health effects of BPA in humans. In this study we report on an analytical high-performance liquid chromatography/fluorescence method for BPA and its conjugate in human urine and on the application of this method in two student cohorts. Urine, along with information on smoking, alcohol intake, and coffee/tea consumption, was collected in two different years from two different groups of university students, 50 in 1992 and 56 in 1999. Overall, the urinary BPA levels in the students in 1992 were significantly higher than were those in 1999. The BPA levels were also positively correlated with coffee and tea consumption in the 1992 cohort but not in the 1999 cohort. We speculate that recent changes made in Japan regarding the interior coating of cans used to package these beverages may partly explain these findings. PMID:12515686

  10. Water Treatment Systems for Long Spaceflights

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    FLynn, Michael T.

    2012-01-01

    Space exploration will require new life support systems to support the crew on journeys lasting from a few days to several weeks, or longer. These systems should also be designed to reduce the mass required to keep humans alive in space. Water accounts for about 80 percent of the daily mass intake required to keep a person alive. As a result, recycling water offers a high return on investment for space life support. Water recycling can also increase mission safety by providing an emergency supply of drinking water, where another supply is exhausted or contaminated. These technologies also increase safety by providing a lightweight backup to stored supplies, and they allow astronauts to meet daily drinking water requirements by recycling the water contained in their own urine. They also convert urine into concentrated brine that is biologically stable and nonthreatening, and can be safely stored onboard. This approach eliminates the need to have a dedicated vent to dump urine overboard. These needs are met by a system that provides a contaminant treatment pouch, referred to as a urine cell or contaminant cell, that converts urine or another liquid containing contaminants into a fortified drink, engineered to meet human hydration, electrolyte, and caloric requirements, using a variant of forward osmosis (FO) to draw water from a urine container into the concentrated fortified drink as part of a recycling stage. An activated carbon pretreatment removes most organic molecules. Salinity of the initial liquid mix (urine plus other) is synergistically used to enhance the precipitation of organic molecules so that activated carbon can remove most of the organics. A functional osmotic bag is then used to remove inorganic contaminants. If a contaminant is processed for which the saline content is different than optimal for precipitating organic molecules, the saline content of the liquid should be adjusted toward the optimal value for that contaminant. A first urine treatment method converts urine into a fortified sports drink, resembling Gatorade, using a first urine cell.

  11. 'GREENER' SOLVENT-FREE CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS USING MICROWAVE IRRADIATION

    EPA Science Inventory

    Solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) irradiation of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of less-expensive and recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or 'doped' surfaces is presented which is applicable to a wide range of cleavage...

  12. GREENER CHEMICAL SYNTHESES USING ALTERNATIVE REACTION CONDITIONS AND MEDIA

    EPA Science Inventory

    A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or 'doped' surfaces is presented which is applicable to a wide range of cleavage, condensation, cycl...

  13. CHEMICAL SYNTHESES AND TRANSFORMATIONS UNDER NON-TRADITIONAL CONDITIONS

    EPA Science Inventory

    A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or 'doped' surfaces is presented which is applicable to a wide range of cleavage, condensation, cycl...

  14. ‘Greener’ Chemical Syntheses Using Mechanochemical Mixing or Microwave and Ultrasound Irradiation

    EPA Science Inventory

    Various emerging ‘greener’ strategic pathways researched primarily in the author’s own laboratory are summarized. They include solvent-free mechanochemical methods and microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of less-expensive and recyclabl...

  15. Seasonal variation in natural abundance of 2H and 18O in urine samples from rural Nigeria

    PubMed Central

    Dugas, Lara R.; Brieger, William; Tayo, Bamidele O.; Alabi, Tunrayo; Schoeller, Dale A.; Luke, Amy

    2015-01-01

    The doubly labeled water (DLW) method is used to measure free-living energy expenditure in humans. Inherent to this technique is the assumption that natural abundances of stable isotopes 2H and 18O in body water remain constant over the course of the measurement period and after elimination of the loading dose of DLW will return to the same predose level. To determine variability in the natural abundances of 2H and 18O in humans living in a region with seasonal shifts in rain patterns and sources of drinking water, over the course of 12 mo we collected weekly urine samples from four individuals living in southwest Nigeria as well as samples of their drinking water. From ongoing regional studies of hypertension, obesity, and energy expenditure, we estimated average water turnover rate, urine volumes, and sodium and potassium excretion. Results suggest that 2H and 18O in urine, mean concentrations of urinary sodium and potassium, urine volume, and total body turnover differed significantly from dry to rainy season. Additionally, seasonal weather variables (mean monthly maximum temperatures, total monthly rainfall, and minimum relative humidity) were all significantly associated with natural abundances in urine. No seasonal difference was observed in drinking water samples. Findings suggest that natural abundances in urine may not remain constant as assumed, and studies incorporating DLW measurements across the transition of seasons should interpret results with caution unless appropriate doses of the tracers are used. PMID:25977450

  16. Methyl malondialdehyde is not suitable as an internal standard for malondialdehyde detection in urine after derivatisation with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine.

    PubMed

    Korchazhkina, Olga; Yang, Ying

    2004-07-05

    A previously described method of measurement of malondialdehyde (MDA) in human urine after derivatisation with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) was tested for a possibility of using methyl malondialdehyde (MeMDA) as an internal standard. Despite structural similarity, those compounds were found to produce different yields of derivatisation under the same conditions depending on urine matrix. We conclude, that MeMDA is not suitable as an internal standard for the measurement of MDA in urine under previously reported conditions when DNPH is used as a deriviatising agent.

  17. Characterization of the Human Proteomic Response to Hydrocodone: A Preliminary Study

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-03-01

    expression in the urine and blood of human subjects administered hydrocodone. An opioid is prescribed as a pain medication to the patient to minimize... pain . Hydrocodone will be administered to healthy volunteers. Urine and blood will be collected prior to and following administration of the drug...FL, Aug 2012 11 o Bebarta, VS, Varney, SM, Potter, J, Ramirez, S, Ganem, V, Martinez, J. "Misuse of prescribed pain medication in a military

  18. Determination of a PDE4 inhibitor Hemay005 in human plasma and urine by UPLC-MS/MS and its application to a PK study.

    PubMed

    Liu, Xuemei; Chen, Rui; Zeng, Guanghuai; Gao, Ying; Liu, Xiuping; Zhang, Donglei; Hu, Pei; Wang, Hongyun; Jiang, Ji

    2018-06-04

    Hemay005 is a novel small-molecule inhibitor of phosphodiesterase-4 developed for the treatment of psoriasis. Measurement of Hemay005 in biological samples is critical for evaluation of its pharmacokinetics in clinical studies. Methodology & results: Plasma and urine samples were extracted and then chromatographed on an Acquity UPLC HSS T3 column with a gradient elution. Detection was performed on a Xevo TQ-S tandem mass spectrometer using negative ESI. For the first time, a sensitive and robust ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was established and validated for the quantitative determination of Hemay005 in human plasma and urine, and it was successfully applied to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of Hemay005 in healthy subjects in a first-in-human study.

  19. Simultaneous Determination of Potassium Clavulanate and Amoxicillin Trihydrate in Bulk, Pharmaceutical Formulations and in Human Urine Samples by UV Spectrophotometry

    PubMed Central

    Gujral, Rajinder Singh; Haque, Sk Manirul

    2010-01-01

    A simple and sensitive UV spectrophotometric method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of Potassium Clavulanate (PC) and Amoxicillin Trihydrate (AT) in bulk, pharmaceutical formulations and in human urine samples. The method was linear in the range of 0.2–8.5 μg/ml for PC and 6.4–33.6 μg/ml for AT. The absorbance was measured at 205 and 271 nm for PC and AT respectively. The method was validated with respect to accuracy, precision, specificity, ruggedness, robustness, limit of detection and limit of quantitation. This method was used successfully for the quality assessment of four PC and AT drug products and in human urine samples with good precision and accuracy. This is found to be simple, specific, precise, accurate, reproducible and low cost UV Spectrophotometric method. PMID:23675211

  20. The hydrogen sulfide metabolite trimethylsulfonium is found in human urine

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lajin, Bassam; Francesconi, Kevin A.

    2016-06-01

    Hydrogen sulfide is the third and most recently discovered gaseous signaling molecule following nitric oxide and carbon monoxide, playing important roles both in normal physiological conditions and disease progression. The trimethylsulfonium ion (TMS) can result from successive methylation reactions of hydrogen sulfide. No report exists so far about the presence or quantities of TMS in human urine. We developed a method for determining TMS in urine using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-QQQ), and applied the method to establish the urinary levels of TMS in a group of human volunteers. The measured urinary levels of TMS were in the nanomolar range, which is commensurate with the steady-state tissue concentrations of hydrogen sulfide previously reported in the literature. The developed method can be used in future studies for the quantification of urinary TMS as a potential biomarker for hydrogen sulfide body pools.

  1. An exploratory study on seawater-catalysed urine phosphorus recovery (SUPR).

    PubMed

    Dai, Ji; Tang, Wen-Tao; Zheng, Yi-Se; Mackey, Hamish R; Chui, Ho Kwong; van Loosdrecht, Mark C M; Chen, Guang-Hao

    2014-12-01

    Phosphorus (P) is a crucial and non-renewable resource, while it is excessively discharged via sewage, significant amounts originating from human urine. Recovery of P from source-separated urine presents an opportunity not only to recover this precious resource but also to improve downstream sewage treatment works. This paper proposes a simple and economic method to recover urine derived P by using seawater as a low-cost precipitant to form struvite, as Hong Kong has practised seawater toilet flushing as an alternative water resource since 1958. Chemical reactions, process conditions and precipitate composition for P precipitation in urine have been investigated to develop this new urine P recovery approach. This study concluded that ureolysis extent in a urine-seawater mixture determines the reaction pH that in turn influences the P recovery efficiency significantly; 98% of urine P can precipitate with seawater within 10 min when 40-75% of the urea in urine is ureolysed; the urine to seawater ratio alters the composition of the precipitates. The P content in the precipitates was found to be more than 9% when the urine fraction was 40% or higher. Magnesium ammonium phosphate (MAP) was confirmed to be the predominant component of the precipitates. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Relative effectiveness of kinetic analysis vs single point readings for classifying environmental samples based on community-level physiological profiles (CLPP)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Garland, J. L.; Mills, A. L.; Young, J. S.

    2001-01-01

    The relative effectiveness of average-well-color-development-normalized single-point absorbance readings (AWCD) vs the kinetic parameters mu(m), lambda, A, and integral (AREA) of the modified Gompertz equation fit to the color development curve resulting from reduction of a redox sensitive dye from microbial respiration of 95 separate sole carbon sources in microplate wells was compared for a dilution series of rhizosphere samples from hydroponically grown wheat and potato ranging in inoculum densities of 1 x 10(4)-4 x 10(6) cells ml-1. Patterns generated with each parameter were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant function analysis (DFA) to test relative resolving power. Samples of equivalent cell density (undiluted samples) were correctly classified by rhizosphere type for all parameters based on DFA analysis of the first five PC scores. Analysis of undiluted and 1:4 diluted samples resulted in misclassification of at least two of the wheat samples for all parameters except the AWCD normalized (0.50 abs. units) data, and analysis of undiluted, 1:4, and 1:16 diluted samples resulted in misclassification for all parameter types. Ordination of samples along the first principal component (PC) was correlated to inoculum density in analyses performed on all of the kinetic parameters, but no such influence was seen for AWCD-derived results. The carbon sources responsible for classification differed among the variable types with the exception of AREA and A, which were strongly correlated. These results indicate that the use of kinetic parameters for pattern analysis in CLPP may provide some additional information, but only if the influence of inoculum density is carefully considered. c2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Timescale of silver nanoparticle transformation in neural cell cultures impacts measured cell response

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hume, Stephanie L.; Chiaramonti, Ann N.; Rice, Katherine P.; Schwindt, Rani K.; MacCuspie, Robert I.; Jeerage, Kavita M.

    2015-07-01

    Both serum protein concentration and ionic strength are important factors in nanoparticle transformation within cell culture environments. However, silver nanoparticles are not routinely tracked at their working concentration in the specific medium used for in vitro toxicology studies. Here we evaluated the transformation of electrostatically stabilized citrate nanoparticles (C-AgNPs) and sterically stabilized polyvinylpyrrolidone nanoparticles (PVP-AgNPs) in a low-serum ( 0.2 mg/mL bovine serum albumin) culture medium, while measuring the response of rat cortex neural progenitor cells, which differentiate in this culture environment. After 24 h, silver nanoparticles at concentrations up to 10 µg/mL did not affect adenosine triphosphate levels, whereas silver ions decreased adenosine triphosphate levels at concentrations of 1.1 µg/mL or higher. After 240 h, both silver nanoparticles, as well as silver ion, unambiguously decreased adenosine triphosphate levels at concentrations of 1 and 1.1 µg/mL, respectively, suggesting particle dissolution. Particle transformation was investigated in 1:10 diluted, 1:2 diluted, or undiluted differentiation medium, all having an identical protein concentration, to separate the effect of serum protein stabilization from ionic strength destabilization. Transmission electron microscopy images indicated that particles in 1:10 medium were not surrounded by proteins, whereas particles became clustered within a non-crystalline protein matrix after 24 h in 1:2 medium and at 0 h in undiluted medium. Despite evidence for a protein corona, particles were rapidly destabilized by high ionic strength media. Polyvinylpyrrolidone increased the stability of singly dispersed particles compared to citrate ligands; however, differences were negligible after 4 h in 1:2 medium or after 1 h in undiluted medium. Thus low-serum culture environments do not provide sufficient colloidal stability for long-term toxicology studies with citrate- or polyvinylpyrrolidone-stabilized silver nanoparticles.

  4. Effects of octenidine HCl on liver tissue: could it be an alternative scolicidal for Hidatid disease?

    PubMed

    Arikan, Yüksel; Akbulut, Gökhan; Sahin, Dursun Ali; Dilek, Fatma Hüsniye; Saykol, Volkan; Dilek, Osman Nuri

    2007-06-01

    Octenidine HCl is new topical antiseptic solution for wounds and abdominal washing that has been found to be highly effective for inactivating scolices in an in vitro study. However, the effects of octenidine HCl on the liver are not yet known. The aim of this study was to determine if there are any histopathologic changes after injecting octenidine HCl into the liver. A group of 50 male Sprague-Dawley rats were included in the study and randomly divided into five groups of 10 rats each, as follows: sham group; 0.09% NaCl group; 20% NaCl group; undiluted octenidine HCl group; 1% octenidine HCl group. The scolicidal agents (0.3 ml) were directly injected into the left lobe of the liver (except in the sham group). At 3 and 7 days after the injection, the rats were sacrificed, and the left lobe of the liver was harvested. Liver tissue was scored for degree of necrosis and the diameter of the necrosis examined under light microscopy. The highest scores were found in the undiluted octenidine HCl group, although a similar effect was observed in the 20% NaCl group. There was no necrosis in the sham group, the 0.09% NaCl group, or the 1% octenidine HCl group. All of the injury was coagulation-type necrosis. No mortality was observed throughout the study. The 1% octenidine HCl solution could thus be used as a scolicidal agent in liver tissue, whereas the undiluted form of octenidine and 20% NaCl solutions were shown to cause necrosis when directly injected into liver tissue in our animal model.

  5. High viral abundance as a consequence of low viral decay in the Baltic Sea redoxcline

    PubMed Central

    Scharnreitner, Lisa; Jürgens, Klaus; Labrenz, Matthias; Herndl, Gerhard J.; Winter, Christian

    2017-01-01

    Throughout the Baltic Sea redoxcline, virus production and the frequency of lytically-infected prokaryotic cells were estimated from parallel incubations of undiluted seawater and seawater that contained prokaryotes with substantially reduced numbers of viruses (virus dilution approach), effectively preventing viral reinfection during the incubation period. Undiluted seawater incubations resulted in much higher estimates of virus production (6–35×104 mL-1 h-1) and the frequency of infected cells (5–84%) than the virus dilution approach (virus production: 1–3×104 mL-1 h-1; frequency of infected cells: 1–11%). Viral production and the frequency of infected cells from both approaches, however, cannot be directly compared, as data obtained from undiluted incubations were biased by viral reinfection and other uncontrollable processes during the incubation period. High in situ viral abundance (1–2×107 mL-1) together with low virus production rates based on the virus dilution approach resulted in some of the longest viral turnover times (24–84 d) ever reported for the epipelagial. Throughout a wide range of environmental conditions, viral turnover time and burst size were negatively correlated. Given that viral decay estimated in ultra-filtered water was below the detection limit and the burst size was low (1–17), we conclude that prokaryotic viruses in the Baltic Sea redoxcline are investing most of their resources into stress defense (strong capsids) rather than proliferation (high burst size). In summary, the Baltic Sea redoxcline constitutes an environment where low virus production is found in combination with low viral decay, resulting in high viral abundance. PMID:28594863

  6. Diagnostic efficacy of cell block method for vitreoretinal lymphoma.

    PubMed

    Kase, Satoru; Namba, Kenichi; Iwata, Daiju; Mizuuchi, Kazuomi; Kitaichi, Nobuyoshi; Tagawa, Yoshiaki; Okada-Kanno, Hiromi; Matsuno, Yoshihiro; Ishida, Susumu

    2016-03-17

    Vitreoretinal lymphoma (VRL) is a life- and sight-threatening disorder. The aim of this study was to analyze the usefulness of the cell block method for diagnosis of VRL. Sixteen eyes in 12 patients with VRL, and 4 eyes in 4 patients with idiopathic uveitis presenting with vitreous opacity were enrolled in this study. Both undiluted vitreous and diluted fluids were isolated during micro-incision vitrectomy. Cell block specimens were prepared in 19 eyes from diluted fluid containing shredding vitreous. These specimens were then submitted for HE staining as well as immunocytological analyses with antibodies against the B-cell marker CD20, the T-cell marker CD3, and cell proliferation marker Ki67. Conventional smear cytology was applied in 14 eyes with VRL using undiluted vitreous samples. The diagnosis of VRL was made based on the results of cytology, concentrations of interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-6 in undiluted vitreous, and immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement analysis. Atypical lymphoid cells were identified in 14 out of 15 cell block specimens of VRL (positive rate: 93.3 %), but in 5 out of 14 eyes in conventional smear cytology (positive rate: 35.7 %). Atypical lymphoid cells showed immunoreactivity for CD20 and Ki67. Seven cell block specimens were smear cytology-negative and cell block-positive. The cell block method showed no atypical lymphoid cells in any patient with idiopathic uveitis. Cell block specimens using diluted vitreous fluid demonstrated a high diagnostic sensitivity and a low pseudo-positive rate for the cytological diagnosis of VRL. The cell block method contributed to clear differentiation between VRL and idiopathic uveitis with vitreous opacity.

  7. Two low-cost digital camera-based platforms for quantitative creatinine analysis in urine.

    PubMed

    Debus, Bruno; Kirsanov, Dmitry; Yaroshenko, Irina; Sidorova, Alla; Piven, Alena; Legin, Andrey

    2015-10-01

    In clinical analysis creatinine is a routine biomarker for the assessment of renal and muscular dysfunctions. Although several techniques have been proposed for a fast and accurate quantification of creatinine in human serum or urine, most of them require expensive or complex apparatus, advanced sample preparation or skilled operators. To circumvent these issues, we propose two home-made platforms based on a CD Spectroscope (CDS) and Computer Screen Photo-assisted Technique (CSPT) for the rapid assessment of creatinine level in human urine. Both systems display a linear range (r(2) = 0.9967 and 0.9972, respectively) from 160 μmol L(-1) to 1.6 mmol L(-1) for standard creatinine solutions (n = 15) with respective detection limits of 89 μmol L(-1) and 111 μmol L(-1). Good repeatability was observed for intra-day (1.7-2.9%) and inter-day (3.6-6.5%) measurements evaluated on three consecutive days. The performance of CDS and CSPT was also validated in real human urine samples (n = 26) using capillary electrophoresis data as reference. Corresponding Partial Least-Squares (PLS) regression models provided for mean relative errors below 10% in creatinine quantification. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Development and application of a robust speciation method for determination of six arsenic compounds present in human urine.

    PubMed Central

    Milstein, Lisa S; Essader, Amal; Pellizzari, Edo D; Fernando, Reshan A; Raymer, James H; Levine, Keith E; Akinbo, Olujide

    2003-01-01

    Six arsenic species [arsenate, arsenite, arsenocholine, arsenobetaine, monomethyl arsonic acid, and dimethyl arsinic acid] present in human urine were determined using ion-exchange chromatography combined with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (IC-ICP-MS). Baseline separation was achieved for all six species as well as for the internal standard (potassium hexahydroxy antimonate V) in a single chromatographic run of less than 30 min, using an ammonium carbonate buffer gradient (between 10 and 50 mM) at ambient temperature, in conjunction with cation- and anion-exchange columns in series. The performance of the method was evaluated with respect to linearity, precision, accuracy, and detection limits. This method was applied to determine the concentration of these six arsenic species in human urine samples (n = 251) collected from a population-based exposure assessment survey. Method precision was demonstrated by the analysis of duplicate samples that were prepared over a 2-year analysis period. Total arsenic was also determined for the urine samples using flow injection analysis coupled to ICP-MS. The summed concentration of the arsenic species was compared with the measured arsenic total to demonstrate mass balance. PMID:12611657

  9. Analysis of phenoxyacetic acid herbicides as biomarkers in human urine using liquid chromatography/triple quadrupole mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Lindh, Christian H; Littorin, Margareta; Amilon, Asa; Jönsson, Bo A G

    2008-01-01

    Phenoxyacetic acids are widely used herbicides. The toxicity of phenoxyacetic acids is debated, but high-level exposure has been shown to be hepatotoxic as well as nephrotoxic in animal studies. An inter-species difference in toxic effects has been found, with dogs particularly susceptible. In this study a method using liquid chromatography/triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) is described for the analysis of 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA), and its metabolite 4-chloro-2-hydroxymethylphenoxyacetic acid (HMCPA), 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) in human urine. The urine samples were treated by acid hydrolysis to degrade possible conjugations. The sample preparation was performed using solid-phase extraction. Analysis was carried out using selected reaction monitoring (SRM) in the negative ion mode. Quantification of the phenoxyacetic acids was performed using [(2)H(3)]-labeled MCPA and 2,4-D as internal standards. The method was linear in the range 0.05-310 ng/mL urine and has a within-run precision of 2-5%. The between-run precision in lower concentration ranges was between 6-15% and between 2-8% in higher concentration ranges. The limit of detection was determined to 0.05 ng/mL. The metabolites in urine were found to be stable during storage at -20 degrees C. To validate the phenoxyacetic acids as biomarkers of exposure, the method was applied in a human experimental oral exposure to MCPA, 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. Two healthy volunteers received 200 microg of each phenoxyacetic acid in a single oral dose followed by urine sampling for 72 h post-exposure. After exposure, between 90 and 101% of the dose was recovered in the urine. In the female subject, 23%, and in the male subject 17%, of MCPA was excreted as HMCPA. Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  10. Tandem derivatization combined with salting-out assisted liquid-liquid microextraction for determination of biothiols in urine by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Tsai, Chia-Ju; Liao, Fang-Yi; Weng, Jing-Ru; Feng, Chia-Hsien

    2017-11-17

    Detection of polar organic compounds (POCs) using gas chromatography (GC) is not straightforward due to high polarity, hydrophilicity, and low volatility of POCs. In this study, we report a tandem microwave-assisted derivatization method combined with salting-out assisted liquid-liquid microextraction (SALLME) to modify successively the polar groups of POCs in protic and aprotic solvents. Biothiols (cysteine and homocysteine) served as a proof of concept for this method because they possess three polar groups (thiol, amine, and carboxyl); the derivatizing reagent was 3,4,5-trifluorobenzyl bromide (Br-TFB) for alkylation. The solubility of the POCs in the protic or aprotic reaction medium affected the number of TFB molecules attached. Using the tandem derivatization with Br-TFB, the thiol and amine groups of biothiols were alkylated in the protic system, and the carboxylic groups of biothiols were alkylated in the aprotic system. The developed method was then successfully applied to measure biothiols in human urine. Because of the complex urine matrix and the lack of urine samples without endogenous biothiols, the standard addition method was utilized to avoid the matrix effect, check the recovery, and calculate the initial biothiol content in the urine. Regarding the linearity of the standard addition curves, the coefficient of determination was >0.996, and the linear regression showed satisfactory reproducibility with a relative standard deviation <3.9% for the slope and <8.8% for the intercept. The levels of cysteine and homocysteine in healthy human urine ranged from 28.8 to 111μmolL -1 and from 1.28 to 3.73μmolL -1 , respectively. The proposed method effectively increased the sensitivity of GC-MS assays of water-soluble compounds in human urine. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Nanocoating cellulose paper based microextraction combined with nanospray mass spectrometry for rapid and facile quantitation of ribonucleosides in human urine.

    PubMed

    Wan, Lingzhong; Zhu, Haijing; Guan, Yafeng; Huang, Guangming

    2017-07-01

    A rapid and facile analytical method for quantification of ribonucleosides in human urine was developed by the combination of nanocoating cellulose paper based microextraction and nanoelectrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (nESI-MS/MS). Cellulose paper used for microextraction was modified by nano-precision deposition of uniform ultrathin zirconia gel film using a sol-gel process. Due to the large surface area of the cellulose paper and the strong affinity between zirconia and the cis-diol compounds, the target analytes were selectively extracted from the complex matrix. Thus, the detection sensitivity was greatly improved. Typically, the nanocoating cellulose paper was immersed into the diluted urine for selective extraction of target analytes, then the extracted analytes were subjected to nESI-MS/MS detection. The whole analytical procedure could be completed within 10min. The method was evaluated by the determination of ribonucleosides (adenosine, cytidine, uridine, guanosine) in urine sample. The signal intensities of the ribonuclesides extracted by the nanocoating cellulose paper were greatly enhanced by 136-459-folds compared with the one of the unmodified cellulose paper based microextraction. The limits of detection (LODs) and the limits of quantification (LOQs) of the four ribonucleosides were in the range of 0.0136-1.258μgL -1 and 0.0454-4.194μgL -1 , respectively. The recoveries of the target nucleosides from spiked human urine were in the range of 75.64-103.49% with the relative standard deviations (RSDs) less than 9.36%. The results demonstrate the potential of the proposed method for rapid and facile determination of endogenous ribonucleosides in urine sample. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  12. A novel method for the quantitation of gingerol glucuronides in human plasma or urine based on stable isotope dilution assays.

    PubMed

    Schoenknecht, Carola; Andersen, Gaby; Schieberle, Peter

    2016-11-15

    The bio-active compounds of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe), the gingerols, are gaining considerable attention due to their numerous beneficial health effects. In order to elucidate the physiological relevance of the ascribed effects their bioavailability has to be determined taking their metabolization into account. To quantitate in vivo generated [6]-, [8]- and [10]-gingerol glucuronides in human plasma and urine after ginger tea consumption, a simultaneous and direct liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method based on stable isotope dilution assays was established and validated. The respective references as well as the isotopically labeled substances were synthesized and characterized by mass spectrometry and NMR. Selective isolation of gingerol glucuronides from human plasma and urine by a mixed-phase anion-exchange SPE method led to recovery rates between 80.8 and 98.2%. LC-MS/MS analyses in selected reaction monitoring modus enabled a highly sensitive quantitation of gingerol glucuronides with LoQs between 3.9-9.8nmol/L in plasma and 39.3-161.1nmol/L in urine. The method precision in plasma and urine varied in the range±15%, whereas the intra-day accuracy in plasma and urine showed values between 78 and 122%. The developed method was then applied to a pilot study in which two volunteers consumed one liter ginger tea. Pharmacokinetic parameters like the maximum concentration (c max ), the time to reach c max (t max ), area under the curve (AUC), elimination rate constant (k el ) and elimination half-life (t 1/2 ) were calculated from the concentration-time curve of each gingerol glucuronide. The obtained results will enable more detailed investigation of gingerol glucuronides as bioactives in their physiologically relevant concentrations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Comparison of hormone and electrolyte circadian rhythms in male and female humans

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Vernikos-Danellis, J.; Winget, C. M.; Goodwin, A. E.; Reilly, T.

    1977-01-01

    Circadian rhythm characteristics in healthy male and female humans were studied at 4-hour intervals for urine volume, cortisol, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), Na, K, Na/K ratios in the urine, as well as plasma cortisol. While plasma and urinary cortisol rhythms were very similar in both sexes, the described rhythms in urine volume, electrolyte, and 5-HIAA excretion differ for the two sexes. The results suggest that sex differences exist in the circadian patterns of important hormone and metabolic functions and that the internal synchrony of circadian rhythms differs for the two sexes. The results seem to indicate that the rhythmical secretion of cortisol does not account for the pattern of Na and K excretion.

  14. GREENER CHEMICAL SYNTHESES USING ALTERNATIVE REACTION CONDITIONS AND MEDIA (MARCH 2006)

    EPA Science Inventory

    A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or ‘doped’ surfaces is presented which is applicable to a wide range of cleavage, conden...

  15. CHEMISTRY UNDER 'GREENER' CONDITIONS: SOLVENT-FREE SYNTHESIS USING MICROWAVE IRRADIATION

    EPA Science Inventory

    Solvent-free approach is emphasized that involves microwave (MW) irradiation of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of less-expensive and recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or 'doped' surfaces which is applicable to a wide range of cleavag...

  16. "GREENER" CHEMICAL SYNTHESES USING AN ALTERNATE REACTION CONDITIONS OR AQUEOUS MEDIA

    EPA Science Inventory

    A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or 'doped' surfaces is presented which is applicable to a wide range of cleavage, condensation, cycl...

  17. GREENER CHEMICAL SYNTHESES USING ALTERNATIVE REACTION CONDITIONS AND MEDIA (BRAZIL 2006)

    EPA Science Inventory

    A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or 'doped' surfaces is presented which is applicable to a wide range of cleavage, condensation, cycl...

  18. MICROWAVES: FROM MYTH, MYSTERY AND MAGIC TO A FAST-MOVING FRONTIER

    EPA Science Inventory

    A historical account of the utility of microwaves in a variety of chemical applications will be highlighted including solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of recyclable mineral supports such as alumina...

  19. ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLIER SYNTHESES USING MICROWAVES AND ALTERNATIVE REACTION MEDIA

    EPA Science Inventory

    A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of less-expensive and recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or "doped" surfaces is presented which is applicable to a wide range of cleavage,...

  20. ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLIER SYNTHESES USING MICROWAVES AND ALTERNATIVE REACTION CONDITIONS

    EPA Science Inventory

    A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of less-expensive and recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or doped surfaces is presented which is applicable to a wide range of cleavage, c...

  1. ORGANIC SYNTHESES IN SOLVENT-FREE AND AQUEOUS MEDIA USING MICROWAVES

    EPA Science Inventory

    A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or 'doped' surfaces is presented which is applicable to a wide range of cleavage, condensation, cycl...

  2. ‘GREENER’ ORGANIC SYNTHESES UNDER NON-TRADITIONAL CONDITIONS

    EPA Science Inventory

    A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of less-expensive and recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or ‘doped’ surfaces is presented which is applicable to a wide range of cleavage,...

  3. Why does tropical convective available potential energy (CAPE) increase with warming?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Seeley, Jacob T.; Romps, David M.

    2015-12-01

    Recent work has produced a theory for tropical convective available potential energy (CAPE) that highlights the Clausius-Clapeyron (CC) scaling of the atmosphere's saturation deficit as a driver of increases in CAPE with warming. Here we test this so-called "zero-buoyancy" theory for CAPE by modulating the saturation deficit of cloud-resolving simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium in two ways: changing the sea surface temperature (SST) and changing the environmental relative humidity (RH). For earthlike and warmer SSTs, undilute parcel buoyancy in the lower troposphere is insensitive to increasing SST because of a countervailing CC scaling that balances the increase in the saturation deficit; however, buoyancy increases dramatically with SST in the upper troposphere. Conversely, in the RH experiment, undilute buoyancy throughout the troposphere increases monotonically with decreasing RH. We show that the zero-buoyancy theory successfully predicts these contrasting behaviors, building confidence that it describes the fundamental physics of CAPE and its response to warming.

  4. Xenopus egg cytoplasm with intact actin.

    PubMed

    Field, Christine M; Nguyen, Phuong A; Ishihara, Keisuke; Groen, Aaron C; Mitchison, Timothy J

    2014-01-01

    We report optimized methods for preparing Xenopus egg extracts without cytochalasin D, that we term "actin-intact egg extract." These are undiluted egg cytoplasm that contains abundant organelles, and glycogen which supplies energy, and represents the least perturbed cell-free cytoplasm preparation we know of. We used this system to probe cell cycle regulation of actin and myosin-II dynamics (Field et al., 2011), and to reconstitute the large, interphase asters that organize early Xenopus embryos (Mitchison et al., 2012; Wühr, Tan, Parker, Detrich, & Mitchison, 2010). Actin-intact Xenopus egg extracts are useful for analysis of actin dynamics, and interaction of actin with other cytoplasmic systems, in a cell-free system that closely mimics egg physiology, and more generally for probing the biochemistry and biophysics of the egg, zygote, and early embryo. Detailed protocols are provided along with assays used to check cell cycle state and tips for handling and storing undiluted egg extracts. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Continuous, Real-Time Monitoring of Cocaine in Undiluted Blood Serum via a Microfluidic, Electrochemical Aptamer-Based Sensor

    PubMed Central

    Swensen, James S.; Xiao, Yi; Ferguson, Brian S.; Lubin, Arica A.; Lai, Rebecca Y.; Heeger, Alan J.; Plaxco, Kevin W.; Soh, H. Tom.

    2009-01-01

    The development of a biosensor system capable of continuous, real-time measurement of small-molecule analytes directly in complex, unprocessed aqueous samples has been a significant challenge, and successful implementation has been achieved for only a limited number of targets. Towards a general solution to this problem, we report here the Microfluidic Electrochemical Aptamer-based Sensor (MECAS) chip wherein we integrate target-specific DNA aptamers that fold, and thus generate an electrochemical signal, in response to the analyte with a microfluidic detection system. As a model, we demonstrate the continuous, real-time (~1 minute time resolution) detection of the small molecule drug cocaine at near physiological, low micromolar concentrations directly in undiluted, otherwise unmodified blood serum. We believe our approach of integrating folding-based electrochemical sensors with miniaturized detection systems may lay the ground work for the real-time, point-of-care detection of a wide variety of molecular targets. PMID:19271708

  6. Viability and morphological changes of Acanthamoeba spp. cysts after treatment with Effective microorganisms (EM).

    PubMed

    Sampaotong, Tanitta; Lek-Uthai, Usa; Roongruangchai, Jantima; Roongruangchai, Kosol

    2016-06-01

    Acanthamoeba is a free-living opportunistic protozoan parasite that is found in diverse environments. It can cause keratitis, mostly related to inappropriate use of contact lenses, as well as life threatening diseases including encephalitis, disseminated sinusitis, and skin ulcers. This study investigated morphological changes and fine structures of the cyst form of Acanthamoeba spp. after treatment with effective microorganisms (EM™) using light and scanning electron microscopies. Acanthamoeba cysts treated with 1:2, 1:4, 1:6, and undiluted EM™ showed higher percentages of non-viable cysts than those treated with 1:8, 1:10, 1:100, 1:200, and 1:400 EM™ and at 5 days post-treatment developed from cystic stage to trophozoite stage. Acanthamoeba cysts treated at concentrations of 1:2, 1:4, 1:6, and undiluted EM™ exhibited cytoplasmic clumping and shrinkage of amoeba cells away from cyst walls. The effective EM™ concentration lethal to Acanthamoeba spp. cyst could provide information to monitor the environmental control system.

  7. Liquid chromatography/quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry with metabolic profiling of human urine as a tool for environmental analysis of dextromethorphan.

    PubMed

    Thurman, E Michael; Ferrer, Imma

    2012-10-12

    We use the combination of liquid chromatography/quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/Q-TOF-MS) and urine metabolic profiling to find and identify the metabolites of dextromethorphan, a common over-the-counter (OTC) cough suppressant. Next, we use the combination of ion masses, their MS/MS fragmentation, and retention times to determine dextromethorphan and its metabolites in surface water impacted by wastewater. Prior to this study, neither dextromethorphan nor its metabolites have been reported in surface water; in spite of its common use in over 100 various OTC medications. We found that the concentration of the dextrorphan metabolite in surface water greatly exceeded the parent compound by factors of 5-10 times, which reflects the urine profile, where parent compound is approximately <2% of the total excreted drug based on ion intensities. Urine profiling also indicated that glucuronide metabolites are major phase 2 products (92% of the total) in urine and then are completely hydrolyzed in wastewater to dextrorphan and N-demethyldextrorphan, which are phase 1 metabolites-a "kind of reversal" of human metabolism. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Measurement of natural carbon isotopic composition of acetone in human urine.

    PubMed

    Yamada, Keita; Ohishi, Kazuki; Gilbert, Alexis; Akasaka, Mai; Yoshida, Naohiro; Yoshimura, Ryoko

    2016-02-01

    The natural carbon isotopic composition of acetone in urine was measured in healthy subjects using gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry combined with headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME-GC-C-IRMS). Before applying the technique to a urine sample, we optimized the measurement conditions of HS-SPME-GC-C-IRMS using aqueous solutions of commercial acetone reagents. The optimization enabled us to determine the carbon isotopic compositions within ±0.2 ‰ of precision and ±0.3‰ of error using 0.05 or 0.2 mL of aqueous solutions with acetone concentrations of 0.3-121 mg/L. For several days, we monitored the carbon isotopic compositions and concentrations of acetone in urine from three subjects who lived a daily life with no restrictions. We also monitored one subject for 3 days including a fasting period of 24 h. These results suggest that changes in the availability of glucose in the liver are reflected in changes in the carbon isotopic compositions of urine acetone. Results demonstrate that carbon isotopic measurement of metabolites in human biological samples at natural abundance levels has great potential as a tool for detecting metabolic changes caused by changes in physiological states and disease.

  9. S-phenyl-N-acetylcysteine in urine of rats and workers after exposure to benzene

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jongeneelen, F.J.; Dirven, H.A.; Leijdekkers, C.M.

    1987-05-01

    An HPLC method for the determination of S-phenyl-N-acetylcysteine in urine is described. The sensitivity is 6 mumol/L (CV = 9%) urine. Exposure of rats to six different concentrations of benzene, ranging from 0-30 ppm, was highly associated with urinary excretion of S-phenyl-N-acetylcysteine (r = 0.86) and with total phenol (r = 0.81). A background level of phenol was found in urine of both non-exposed rats and of non-exposed referents. However, no background excretion of S-phenyl-N-acetylcysteine was found, either in rats or in humans. In urine of exposed rats, the level of S-phenyl-N-acetylcysteine was approximately five times lower than the phenolmore » level. Workers occupationally exposed to benzene, showing high levels of urinary phenol, revealed low concentrations of urinary S-phenyl-N-acetylcysteine. The biological monitoring of industrial exposure to benzene by determination of S-phenyl-N-acetylcysteine in urine is not better than the determination of phenol in urine.« less

  10. Characterization of the Human Proteomic Response to Hydrocodone: A Preliminary Study

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-03-01

    expression in the urine and blood of human subjects administered hydrocodone. An opioid is prescribed as a pain medication to the patient to...minimize pain . Hydrocodone will be administered to healthy volunteers. Urine and blood will be collected prior to and following administration of the drug...involved club- and street-based populations, Pain Med 8 (2007) 171-183. [9) R.F. Forman, G.E. Woody, T. Mclellan, K.G. Lynch, The availability of web

  11. Magnetic porous carbon derived from a metal-organic framework as a magnetic solid-phase extraction adsorbent for the extraction of sex hormones from water and human urine.

    PubMed

    Ma, Ruiyang; Hao, Lin; Wang, Junmin; Wang, Chun; Wu, Qiuhua; Wang, Zhi

    2016-09-01

    An iron-embedded porous carbon material (MIL-53-C) was fabricated by the direct carbonization of MIL-53. The MIL-53-C possesses a high surface area and good magnetic behavior. The structure, morphology, magnetic property, and porosity of the MIL-53-C were studied by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, and N2 adsorption. With the use of MIL-53-C as the magnetic solid-phase extraction adsorbent, a simple and efficient method was developed for the magnetic solid-phase extraction of three hormones from water and human urine samples before high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. The developed method exhibits a good linear response in the range of 0.02-100 ng/mL for water and 0.5-100 ng/mL for human urine samples, respectively. The limit of detection (S/N = 3) for the analytes was 0.005-0.01 ng/mL for water sample and 0.1-0.3 ng/mL for human urine sample. The limit of quantification (S/N = 10) of the analytes were in the range of 0.015-0.030 and 0.3-0.9 ng/mL, respectively. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  12. Simultaneous determination of mushroom toxins α-amanitin, β-amanitin and muscarine in human urine by solid-phase extraction and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultra-high-resolution TOF mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Tomková, Jana; Ondra, Peter; Válka, Ivo

    2015-06-01

    This paper presents a method for the simultaneous determination of α-amanitin, β-amanitin and muscarine in human urine by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultra-high-resolution TOF mass spectrometry. The method can be used for a diagnostics of mushroom poisonings. Different SPE cartridges were tested for sample preparation, namely hydrophilic modified reversed-phase (Oasis HLB) and polymeric weak cation phase (Strata X-CW). The latter gave better results and therefore it was chosen for the subsequent method optimization and partial validation. In the course of validation, limits of detection, linearity, intraday and interday precisions and recoveries were evaluated. The obtained LOD values of α-amanitin and β-amanitin were 1ng/mL and of muscarine 0.09ng/mL. The intraday and interday precisions of human urine spiked with α-amanitin (10ng/mL), β-amanitin (10ng/mL) and muscarine (1ng/mL) ranged from 6% to 10% and from 7% to 13%, respectively. The developed method was proved to be a relevant tool for the simultaneous determination of the studied mushroom toxins in human urine after mushroom poisoning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Magnetic graphene oxide as adsorbent for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites in human urine.

    PubMed

    Zhu, Linli; Xu, Hui

    2014-09-01

    Detection of monohydroxy polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons metabolites in urine is an advisable and valid method to assess human environmental exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In this work, novel Fe3O4/graphene oxide composites were prepared and their application in the magnetic solid-phase extraction of monohydroxy polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urine was investigated by coupling with liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. In the hybrid material, superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles provide fast separation to simplify the analytical process and graphene oxide provides a large functional surface for the adsorption. The prepared magnetic nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometry. The experimental conditions were optimized systematically. Under the optimal conditions, the recoveries of these compounds were in the range of 98.3-125.2%, the relative standard deviations ranged between 6.8 and 15.5%, and the limits of detection were in the range of 0.01-0.15 ng/mL. The simple, quick, and affordable method was successfully used in the analysis of human urinary monohydroxy polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in two different cities. The results indicated that the monohydroxy polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons level in human urine can provide useful information for environmental exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  14. Excretion of endogenous boldione in human urine: influence of phytosterol consumption.

    PubMed

    Verheyden, Karolien; Noppe, Herlinde; Vanhaecke, Lynn; Wille, Klaas; Bussche, Julie Vanden; Bekaert, Karen; Thas, Olivier; Janssen, Colin R; De Brabander, Hubert F

    2009-10-01

    Boldenone (17-hydroxy-androsta-1,4-diene-3-one, Bol) and boldione (androst-1,4-diene-3,17-dione, ADD), are currently listed as exogenous anabolic steroids by the World Anti-Doping Agency. However, it has been reported that these analytes can be produced endogenously. Interestingly, only for Bol a comment is included in the list on its potential endogenous origin. In this study, the endogenous origin of ADD in human urine was investigated, and the potential influence of phytosterol consumption was evaluated. We carried out a 5-week in vivo trial with both men (n=6) and women (n=6) and measured alpha-boldenone, beta-boldenone, boldione, androstenedione, beta-testosterone and alpha-testosterone in their urine using gas chromatography coupled to multiple mass spectrometry (GC-MS-MS). The results demonstrate that endogenous ADD is sporadically produced at concentrations ranging from 0.751 ng mL(-1) to 1.73 ng mL(-1), whereas endogenous Bol could not be proven. We also tested the effect of the daily consumption of a commercially available phytosterol-enriched yogurt drink on the presence of these analytes in human urine. Results from this study could not indicate a relation of ADD-excretion with the consumption of phytosterols at the recommended dose. The correlations between ADD and other steroids were consistently stronger for volunteers consuming phytosterols (test) than for those refraining from phytosterol consumption (control). Excretion of AED, bT and aT did not appear to be dependent on the consumption of phytosterols. This preliminary in vivo trial indicates the endogenous origin of boldione or ADD in human urine, independent on the presence of any structural related analytes such as phytosterols.

  15. Analysis of lysergic acid amide in human serum and urine after ingestion of Argyreia nervosa seeds.

    PubMed

    Paulke, Alexander; Kremer, Christian; Wunder, Cora; Toennes, Stefan W

    2012-08-01

    The ergot alkaloid lysergic acid amide (LSA) is a secondary plant constituent in a number of plants, but it is mainly present in considerable amounts in Convolvulaceae, like Argyreia nervosa. Due to its close structural similarity to lysergic acid diethylamide, LSA is considered as psychedelic and therefore promoted as so-called "legal high" in various internet forums. During a human behavioral study with orally administered seeds of A. nervosa, blood and urine samples were obtained. The present study describes the validation of a sensitive and robust high performance liquid chromatography method with fluorescence detection, which was applied to the study samples. The limit of detection (LOD) and lower limit of quantification in human serum were 0.05 and 0.17 ng/mL, respectively, and in urine, the LOD was 0.15 ng/mL. Intra- and interday precision and accuracy were below 15 % relative standard deviation with a bias better than ±15 %. No conversion of LSA to its epimer iso-LSA was noted during analyses. The LSA concentrations in the authentic human serum samples were in the range of 0.66 to 3.15 ng/mL approximately 2 h after ingestion. In urine, LSA could be found 1-24 h after ingestion; after 48 h, no LSA could be detected. The LSA epimer iso-LSA was also detected in serum and urine in varying ratios. In conclusion, LSA serum levels in the low nanogram per milliliter range correlated with severe vegetative adverse effects (nausea, weakness, fatigue, tremor, blood pressure elevation) and a psychosis-like state, which led to study termination.

  16. A Preliminary Study of Biomonitoring for Bisphenol-A in Human Sweat.

    PubMed

    Porucznik, Christina A; Cox, Kyley J; Wilkins, Diana G; Anderson, David J; Bailey, Nicole M; Szczotka, Kathryn M; Stanford, Joseph B

    2015-09-01

    Measurement of human exposure to the endocrine disruptor bisphenol-A (BPA) is hampered by the ubiquitous but transient exposure for most individuals, coupled with a short metabolic half-life which leads to high inter- and intra-individual variability. We investigated the possibility of measuring multiday exposure to BPA in human sweat among volunteer participants with the goal of identifying an exposure assessment method less affected by temporal variability. We recruited 50 participants to wear a sweat collection patch (PharmChek(®)) for 7 days with concurrent collection of daily first-morning urine. Urines and sweat patch extracts were analyzed with quantitative LC-MS-MS using a method we previously validated. In addition, a human volunteer consumed one can of commercially available soup (16 oz, 473 cm(3)) daily for 3 days and collected urine. Sweat patches (n = 2, 1 per arm) were worn for the 3 days of the study. BPA was detected in quality control specimens prepared by fortification of BPA to sweat patches, but was only detected at 5× above average background on three participant patches. Although the highest measured urine BPA concentration was 195 ng/mL for an individual with deliberate exposure, no BPA was detected above background in the corresponding sweat patches. In this preliminary investigation, the use of sweat patches primarily worn on the upper-outer arm did not detect BPA exposures that were documented by urine monitoring. The absence of BPA in sweat patches may be due to several factors, including insufficient quantity of specimen per patch, or extremely low concentrations of BPA in naturally occurring sweat, among others. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  17. Escherichia coli global gene expression in urine from women with urinary tract infection.

    PubMed

    Hagan, Erin C; Lloyd, Amanda L; Rasko, David A; Faerber, Gary J; Mobley, Harry L T

    2010-11-11

    Murine models of urinary tract infection (UTI) have provided substantial data identifying uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) virulence factors and assessing their expression in vivo. However, it is unclear how gene expression in these animal models compares to UPEC gene expression during UTI in humans. To address this, we used a UPEC strain CFT073-specific microarray to measure global gene expression in eight E. coli isolates monitored directly from the urine of eight women presenting at a clinic with bacteriuria. The resulting gene expression profiles were compared to those of the same E. coli isolates cultured statically to exponential phase in pooled, sterilized human urine ex vivo. Known fitness factors, including iron acquisition and peptide transport systems, were highly expressed during human UTI and support a model in which UPEC replicates rapidly in vivo. While these findings were often consistent with previous data obtained from the murine UTI model, host-specific differences were observed. Most strikingly, expression of type 1 fimbrial genes, which are among the most highly expressed genes during murine experimental UTI and encode an essential virulence factor for this experimental model, was undetectable in six of the eight E. coli strains from women with UTI. Despite the lack of type 1 fimbrial expression in the urine samples, these E. coli isolates were generally capable of expressing type 1 fimbriae in vitro and highly upregulated fimA upon experimental murine infection. The findings presented here provide insight into the metabolic and pathogenic profile of UPEC in urine from women with UTI and represent the first transcriptome analysis for any pathogenic E. coli during a naturally occurring infection in humans.

  18. Determination of the 4-monohydroxy metabolites of perhexiline in human plasma, urine and liver microsomes by liquid chromatography.

    PubMed

    Davies, Benjamin J; Herbert, Megan K; Coller, Janet K; Somogyi, Andrew A; Milne, Robert W; Sallustio, Benedetta C

    2006-11-07

    The use of perhexiline (PHX) is limited by hepatic and neurological toxicity associated with elevated concentrations in plasma that are the result of polymorphism of the cytochrome P450 2D6 isoform (CYP2D6). PHX is cleared by hepatic oxidation that produces three 4-monohydroxy metabolites: cis-OH-PHX, trans1-OH-PHX and trans2-OH-PHX. The current study describes an HPLC-fluorescent method utilising pre-column derivatization with dansyl chloride. Following derivatization, the metabolites were resolved on a C18 column with a gradient elution using a mobile phase composed of methanol and water. The method described is suitable for the quantification of the metabolites in human plasma and urine following clinical doses and for kinetic studies using human liver microsomes. The method demonstrates sufficient sensitivity, accuracy and precision between 5.0 and 0.01, 50.0 and 0.2 and 1.0 and 0.005 mg/l in human plasma, urine and liver microsomes, respectively, with intra-assay coefficients of variation and bias <15%, except at the lowest limit of quantification (<20%). The inter-assay coefficients of variation and bias were <15%. The application of this method to plasma and urine samples of five CYP2D6 extensive metaboliser (EM) patients at steady state with respect to PHX dosing determined that the mean (+/-S.D.) renal clearances of trans1-OH-PHX and cis-OH-PHX were 1.58+/-0.35 and 0.16+/-0.06l/h, respectively. The mean (+/-S.D.) dose recovered in urine as free and glucuronidated 4-monohydroxy PHX metabolites was 20.6+/-11.6%.

  19. Validation of reliable and selective methods for direct determination of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid in milk and urine using LC-MS/MS.

    PubMed

    Jensen, Pamela K; Wujcik, Chad E; McGuire, Michelle K; McGuire, Mark A

    2016-01-01

    Simple high-throughput procedures were developed for the direct analysis of glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine] and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in human and bovine milk and human urine matrices. Samples were extracted with an acidified aqueous solution on a high-speed shaker. Stable isotope labeled internal standards were added with the extraction solvent to ensure accurate tracking and quantitation. An additional cleanup procedure using partitioning with methylene chloride was required for milk matrices to minimize the presence of matrix components that can impact the longevity of the analytical column. Both analytes were analyzed directly, without derivatization, by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry using two separate precursor-to-product transitions that ensure and confirm the accuracy of the measured results. Method performance was evaluated during validation through a series of assessments that included linearity, accuracy, precision, selectivity, ionization effects and carryover. Limits of quantitation (LOQ) were determined to be 0.1 and 10 µg/L (ppb) for urine and milk, respectively, for both glyphosate and AMPA. Mean recoveries for all matrices were within 89-107% at three separate fortification levels including the LOQ. Precision for replicates was ≤ 7.4% relative standard deviation (RSD) for milk and ≤ 11.4% RSD for urine across all fortification levels. All human and bovine milk samples used for selectivity and ionization effects assessments were free of any detectable levels of glyphosate and AMPA. Some of the human urine samples contained trace levels of glyphosate and AMPA, which were background subtracted for accuracy assessments. Ionization effects testing showed no significant biases from the matrix. A successful independent external validation was conducted using the more complicated milk matrices to demonstrate method transferability.

  20. Potential antiproliferative activity of polyphenol metabolites against human breast cancer cells and their urine excretion pattern in healthy subjects following acute intake of a polyphenol-rich juice of grumixama (Eugenia brasiliensis Lam.).

    PubMed

    Teixeira, L L; Costa, G R; Dörr, F A; Ong, T P; Pinto, E; Lajolo, F M; Hassimotto, N M A

    2017-06-21

    The bioavailability and metabolism of anthocyanins and ellagitannins following acute intake of grumixama fruit, native Brazilian cherry, by humans, and its in vitro antiproliferative activity against breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) were investigated. A single dose of grumixama juice was administered to healthy women (n = 10) and polyphenol metabolites were analyzed in urine and plasma samples collected over 24 h. The majority of the metabolites circulating and excreted in urine were phenolic acids and urolithin conjugates, the gut microbiota catabolites of both classes of polyphenols, respectively. According to pharmacokinetic parameters, the subjects were divided into two distinct groups, high and low urinary metabolite excretors. The pool of polyphenol metabolites found in urine samples showed a significant inhibition of cell proliferation and G2/M cell cycle arrest in MDA-MB-231 cells. Our findings demonstrate the large interindividual variability concerning the polyphenol metabolism, which possibly could reflect in health promotion.

  1. [Detection of West Nile virus in human samples: follow-up studies during the 2015 seasonal period].

    PubMed

    Nagy, Anna; Nagy, Orsolya; Bán, Enikő; Molnár, Eszter; Müller, Zsófia; Orbán, Márton; Kecskés, Borbála; Harsányi, Emese Henriett; Kővágó, Levente; Jobbágy, Lajos; Németh, Zoltán; Várnai, Zsuzsanna; Takács, Mária

    2017-05-01

    West Nile virus, a mosquito-borne viral zoonosis is responsible for human infections in Hungary. Laboratory diagnosis is based on serological tests, however the application of molecular methods has been appreciated. The aim of the study was to investigate blood, cerebrospinal-fluid and urine samples of acutely ill patients and to follow-up PCR positive cases to ascertain the length of virus excretion. Clinical specimens were examined by indirect-immunofluorescent, haemagglutination-inhibition, two PCR tests and Sanger-sequencing. Virus isolation in case of two patients was successful. A follow-up study could be carried out in case of 5 patients. Viral nucleic acid was detectable in urine even for several weeks after symptom onset and viral RNA was present at higher concentration compared with other samples. PCR analysis of urine could provide useful epidemiological and diagnostic information. Therefore, it is recommended to collect urine samples in order to supplement the serological diagnosis. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(20): 791-796.

  2. Stamping SERS for creatinine sensing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Ming; Du, Yong; Zhao, Fusheng; Zeng, Jianbo; Santos, Greggy M.; Mohan, Chandra; Shih, Wei-Chuan

    2015-03-01

    Urine can be obtained easily, readily and non-invasively. The analysis of urine can provide metabolic information of the body and the condition of renal function. Creatinine is one of the major components of human urine associated with muscle metabolism. Since the content of creatinine excreted into urine is relatively constant, it is used as an internal standard to normalize water variations. Moreover, the detection of creatinine concentration in urine is important for the renal clearance test, which can monitor the filtration function of kidney and health status. In more details, kidney failure can be imminent when the creatinine concentration in urine is high. A simple device and protocol for creatinine sensing in urine samples can be valuable for point-of-care applications. We reported quantitative analysis of creatinine in urine samples by using stamping surface enhanced Raman scattering (S-SERS) technique with nanoporous gold disk (NPGD) based SERS substrate. S-SERS technique enables label-free and multiplexed molecular sensing under dry condition, while NPGD provides a robust, controllable, and high-sensitivity SERS substrate. The performance of S-SERS with NGPDs is evaluated by the detection and quantification of pure creatinine and creatinine in artificial urine within physiologically relevant concentration ranges.

  3. The Basics of Bacteriuria: Strategies of Microbes for Persistence in Urine

    PubMed Central

    Ipe, Deepak S.; Horton, Ella; Ulett, Glen C.

    2016-01-01

    Bacteriuria, the presence of bacteria in urine, is associated with asymptomatic, as well as symptomatic, urinary tract infection (UTI). Bacteriuria underpins some of the dynamics of microbial colonization of the urinary tract, and probably impacts the progression and persistence of infection in some individuals. Recent molecular discoveries in vitro have elucidated how some key bacterial traits can enable organisms to survive and grow in human urine as a means of microbial fitness adaptation for UTI. Several microbial characteristics that confer bacteruric potential have been identified including de novo synthesis of guanine, relative resistance to D-serine, and catabolism of malic acid. Microbial characteristics such as these are increasingly being defined through the use of synthetic human urine (SHU) in vitro as a model to mimic the in vivo environment that bacteria encounter in the bladder. There is considerable variation in the SHU model systems that have been used to study bacteriuria to date, and this influences the utility of these models. In this review, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of bacteruric potential with a focus on the specific mechanisms underlying traits that promote the growth of bacteria in urine. We also review the application of SHU in research studies modeling UTI and discuss the chemical makeup, and benefits and limitations that are encountered in utilizing SHU to study bacterial growth in urine in vitro. PMID:26904513

  4. Simultaneous measurement of proguanil and its metabolites in human plasma and urine by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, and its preliminary application in relation to genetically determined S-mephenytoin 4'-hydroxylation status.

    PubMed

    Kusaka, M; Setiabudy, R; Chiba, K; Ishizaki, T

    1996-02-01

    A simple high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) assay method was developed for the measurement of proguanil (PG) and its major metabolites, cycloguanil (CG) and 4-chlorophenyl-biguanide (CPB), in human plasma and urine. The assay allowed the simultaneous determination of all analytes in 1 ml of plasma or 0.1 ml of urine. The detection limits of PG, CG, and CPB, defined as the signal-to-noise ratio of 3, were 1 and 5 ng/ml for plasma and urine samples, respectively. Recoveries of the analytes and the internal standard (pyrimethamine) were > 62% from plasma and > 77% from urine. Intra-assay and interassay coefficients of variation for all analytes in plasma and urine were < 10% except for the values of CG and CPB, which ranged from 10% to 15% at one or two concentrations among 4-5 concentrations studied. The clinical applicability of the method was assessed by the preliminary pharmacokinetic study of PG, CG, and CPB in six healthy volunteers with the individually known phenotypes (extensive and poor metabolizers) of S-mephenytoin 4'-hydroxylation, suggesting that individuals with a poor metabolizer phenotype of S-mephenytoin have a much lower capacity to bioactivate PG to CG compared with the extensive metabolizers.

  5. The Basics of Bacteriuria: Strategies of Microbes for Persistence in Urine.

    PubMed

    Ipe, Deepak S; Horton, Ella; Ulett, Glen C

    2016-01-01

    Bacteriuria, the presence of bacteria in urine, is associated with asymptomatic, as well as symptomatic, urinary tract infection (UTI). Bacteriuria underpins some of the dynamics of microbial colonization of the urinary tract, and probably impacts the progression and persistence of infection in some individuals. Recent molecular discoveries in vitro have elucidated how some key bacterial traits can enable organisms to survive and grow in human urine as a means of microbial fitness adaptation for UTI. Several microbial characteristics that confer bacteruric potential have been identified including de novo synthesis of guanine, relative resistance to D-serine, and catabolism of malic acid. Microbial characteristics such as these are increasingly being defined through the use of synthetic human urine (SHU) in vitro as a model to mimic the in vivo environment that bacteria encounter in the bladder. There is considerable variation in the SHU model systems that have been used to study bacteriuria to date, and this influences the utility of these models. In this review, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of bacteruric potential with a focus on the specific mechanisms underlying traits that promote the growth of bacteria in urine. We also review the application of SHU in research studies modeling UTI and discuss the chemical makeup, and benefits and limitations that are encountered in utilizing SHU to study bacterial growth in urine in vitro.

  6. Forgotten hardware: how to urinate in a spacesuit.

    PubMed

    Hollins, Hunter

    2013-06-01

    On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American to fly in space. Although National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had discounted the need for him to urinate, Shepard did, in his spacesuit, short circuiting his electronic biosensors. With the development of the pressure suit needed for high-altitude and space flight during the 1950s, technicians had developed the means for urine collection. However, cultural mores, combined with a lack of interagency communication, and the technical difficulties of spaceflight made human waste collection a difficult task. Despite the difficulties, technicians at NASA created a successful urine collection device that John Glenn wore on the first Mercury orbital flight on February 20, 1962. With minor modifications, male astronauts used this system to collect urine until the Space Shuttle program. John Glenn's urine collection device is at the National Air and Space Museum and has been on view to the public since 1976.

  7. Quantification of Modified Tyrosines in Healthy and Diabetic Human Urine using Liquid Chromatography/Tandem Mass Spectrometry

    PubMed Central

    Kato, Yoji; Dozaki, Natsuko; Nakamura, Toshiyuki; Kitamoto, Noritoshi; Yoshida, Akihiro; Naito, Michitaka; Kitamura, Masayasu; Osawa, Toshihiko

    2009-01-01

    The quantification of urinary oxidized tyrosines, dityrosine (DiY), nitrotyrosine (NY), bromotyrosine (BrY), and dibromotyrosine (DiBrY), was accomplished by quadruple liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). The sample was partially purified by solid phase extraction, and was then applied to the LC/MS/MS using multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) methods. The analysis for the DiY quantification was done first. The residual samples were further butylated with n-butanol/HCl, and the other modified tyrosines were then quantified with isotopic dilution methods. MRM peaks of the modified tyrosines (DiY, NY, BrY, and DiBrY) from human urine were measured and the elution times coincided with the authentic and isotopic standards. The amounts of modified tyrosines in healthy human urine (n = 23) were 8.8 ± 0.6 (DiY), 1.4 ± 0.4 (NY), 3.8 ± 0.3 (BrY), and 0.7 ± 0.1 (DiBrY) µmol/mol of creatinine, respectively. A comparison of the modified tyrosines with urinary 8-oxo-deoxyguanosine, pentosidine, and Nε-(hexanoyl)lysine was also performed. Almost all products, except for NY, showed good correlations with each other. The amounts of the modified tyrosines (NY, BrY, and DiBrY) in the diabetic urine were higher than those in the urine from healthy people. PMID:19177191

  8. The use of laser-induced fluorescence or ultraviolet detectors for sensitive and selective analysis of tobramycin or erythropoietin in complex samples.

    PubMed

    Ahmed, Hytham M; Ebeid, Wael B

    2015-05-15

    Complex samples analysis is a challenge in pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical analysis. In this work, tobramycin (TOB) analysis in human urine samples and recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) analysis in the presence of similar protein were selected as representative examples of such samples analysis. Assays of TOB in urine samples are difficult because of poor detectability. Therefore laser induced fluorescence detector (LIF) was combined with a separation technique, micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), to determine TOB through derivatization with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC). Borate was used as background electrolyte (BGE) with negative-charged mixed micelles as additive. The method was successively applied to urine samples. The LOD and LOQ for Tobramycin in urine were 90 and 200ng/ml respectively and recovery was >98% (n=5). All urine samples were analyzed by direct injection without sample pre-treatment. Another use of hyphenated analytical technique, capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) connected to ultraviolet (UV) detector was also used for sensitive analysis of rhEPO at low levels (2000IU) in the presence of large amount of human serum albumin (HSA). Analysis of rhEPO was achieved by the use of the electrokinetic injection (EI) with discontinuous buffers. Phosphate buffer was used as BGE with metal ions as additive. The proposed method can be used for the estimation of large number of quality control rhEPO samples in a short period. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Urine Bacterial Community Convergence through Fertilizer Production: Storage, Pasteurization, and Struvite Precipitation.

    PubMed

    Lahr, Rebecca H; Goetsch, Heather E; Haig, Sarah J; Noe-Hays, Abraham; Love, Nancy G; Aga, Diana S; Bott, Charles B; Foxman, Betsy; Jimenez, Jose; Luo, Ting; Nace, Kim; Ramadugu, Kirtana; Wigginton, Krista R

    2016-11-01

    Source-separated human urine was collected from six public events to study the impact of urine processing and storage on bacterial community composition and viability. Illumina 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed a complex community of bacteria in fresh urine that differed across collection events. Despite the harsh chemical conditions of stored urine (pH > 9 and total ammonia nitrogen > 4000 mg N/L), bacteria consistently grew to 5 ± 2 × 10 8 cells/mL. Storing hydrolyzed urine for any amount of time significantly reduced the number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) to 130 ± 70, increased Pielou evenness to 0.60 ± 0.06, and produced communities dominated by Clostridiales and Lactobacillales. After 80 days of storage, all six urine samples from different starting materials converged to these characteristics. Urine pasteurization or struvite precipitation did not change the microbial community, even when pasteurized urine was stored for an additional 70 days. Pasteurization decreased metabolic activity by 50 ± 10% and additional storage after pasteurization did not lead to recovery of metabolic activity. Urine-derived fertilizers consistently contained 16S rRNA genes belonging to Tissierella, Erysipelothrix, Atopostipes, Bacteroides, and many Clostridiales OTUs; additional experiments must determine whether pathogenic species are present, responsible for observed metabolic activity, or regrow when applied.

  10. The Rapid-Heat LAMPellet Method: A Potential Diagnostic Method for Human Urogenital Schistosomiasis

    PubMed Central

    Carranza-Rodríguez, Cristina; Pérez-Arellano, José Luis; Vicente, Belén; López-Abán, Julio; Muro, Antonio

    2015-01-01

    Background Urogenital schistosomiasis due to Schistosoma haematobium is a serious underestimated public health problem affecting 112 million people - particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Microscopic examination of urine samples to detect parasite eggs still remains as definitive diagnosis. This work was focussed on developing a novel loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for detection of S. haematobium DNA in human urine samples as a high-throughput, simple, accurate and affordable diagnostic tool to use in diagnosis of urogenital schistosomiasis. Methodology/Principal Findings A LAMP assay targeting a species specific sequence of S. haematobium ribosomal intergenic spacer was designed. The effectiveness of our LAMP was assessed in a number of patients´ urine samples with microscopy confirmed S. haematobium infection. For potentially large-scale application in field conditions, different DNA extraction methods, including a commercial kit, a modified NaOH extraction method and a rapid heating method were tested using small volumes of urine fractions (whole urine, supernatants and pellets). The heating of pellets from clinical samples was the most efficient method to obtain good-quality DNA detectable by LAMP. The detection limit of our LAMP was 1 fg/µL of S. haematobium DNA in urine samples. When testing all patients´ urine samples included in our study, diagnostic parameters for sensitivity and specificity were calculated for LAMP assay, 100% sensitivity (95% CI: 81.32%-100%) and 86.67% specificity (95% CI: 75.40%-94.05%), and also for microscopy detection of eggs in urine samples, 69.23% sensitivity (95% CI: 48.21% -85.63%) and 100% specificity (95% CI: 93.08%-100%). Conclusions/Significance We have developed and evaluated, for the first time, a LAMP assay for detection of S. haematobium DNA in heated pellets from patients´ urine samples using no complicated requirement procedure for DNA extraction. The procedure has been named the Rapid-Heat LAMPellet method and has the potential to be developed further as a field diagnostic tool for use in urogenital schistosomiasis-endemic areas. PMID:26230990

  11. A Simple and Sensitive LC-MS/MS Method for the Determination of Free 8-Hydroxy-2'-Deoxyguanosine in Human Urine

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wang, Zuwei; Smith, Scott M.

    2016-01-01

    Urinary free 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8OHdG), an oxidized product of DNA, and is frequently chosen as a biomarker of oxidative stress in humans, including studies of oxidative DNA damage during space flight. It is challenging to accurately and efficiently quantify urinary free 8OHdG in large scale human studies. LC-MS/MS is emerging as a preferable analytical technique owing its high sensitivity, selectivity and efficiency, compared to some traditional methods such as ELISA and HPLC. A simple and sensitive LC-MS/MS method has been developed for the determination of free 8OHdG in human urine. Sample preparation was done by solid phase extraction with a Waters Oasis HLB 96 well plate. A Waters Alliance 2795 HT Separation Module combined with a Quattro Micro tandem mass spectrometer was used as the LC-MS/MS system. The runtime of one injection can be less than 5 minutes using a reversed phase C18 column and an isocratic flow of methanol/water. ESI positive ions were quantified in the multiple reaction modes (MRM) using m/z 284 yields 168 for 8OHdG and m/z 289 yields173 for stable isotope labeled internal standard [(15)N5] 8OHdG. With this method for 8OHdG, a lower limit of quantitation of 1.0 nM (0.28 ng/mL) has been achieved using 100 microliter urine sample. The analytical range is between 1.0 and 100 nM with a correlation coefficient greater than or equal to 0.99. Good reproducibility can be obtained with intra-assay and inter-assay CVs less than or equal to 10% for 8OHdG spiked urine QC samples. This method can be used in high-throughput routine analysis of free 8OHdG in human urine.

  12. Fabric phase sorptive extraction-high performance liquid chromatography-photo diode array detection method for simultaneous monitoring of three inflammatory bowel disease treatment drugs in whole blood, plasma and urine.

    PubMed

    Kabir, Abuzar; Furton, Kenneth G; Tinari, Nicola; Grossi, Laurino; Innosa, Denise; Macerola, Daniela; Tartaglia, Angela; Di Donato, Valentina; D'Ovidio, Cristian; Locatelli, Marcello

    2018-05-01

    This paper reports a novel fabric phase sorptive extraction-high performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detection (FPSE-HPLC-PDA) method for the simultaneous extraction and analysis of three drug residues (ciprofloxacin, sulfasalazine, and cortisone) in human whole blood, plasma, and urine samples, generally administered in human patients to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The drugs of interest were well resolved using a Luna C 18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm; 5 μm particle size) in gradient elution mode within 20 min. The analytical method was optimized and validated in the range 0.05-10 μg/mL for whole blood, 0.25-10 μg/mL for human plasma, and 0.10-10 μg/mL for human urine. Blank human whole blood, plasma, and urine were used as the sample matrix for the method development and validation; while methyl-p-hydroxybenzoate was used as the internal standard (IS). Weighted-matrix matched standard calibration curves showed a good linearity up to a concentration of 10 μg/mL. The intra- and inter-day accuracy values (precision and trueness) were found in the range from -10.9% to 12.3%, and the performances of the validated FPSE-HPLC-PDA were further tested on real IBD patient samples. This is the first FPSE procedure applied simultaneously to whole blood, plasma, and urine samples for the determination of residual IBD drugs, which possess a wide range of polarity (logP values ranging from 2.30 for Ciprofloxacin, to 1.66 for Cortisone, and 2.92 for Sulfasalazine). The new approach exhibits high potential for immediate adoptation as a rapid, robust and green analytical tool for future clinical and pharmaceutical applications. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. SELECTED PESTICIDE RESIDUES AND METABOLITES IN URINE FROM A SURVEY OF THE U.S. GENERAL POPULATION

    EPA Science Inventory

    Residues of toxic chemicals in human tissues and fluids can be important indicators of exposure. Urine collected from a subsample of the second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was analyzed for organochlorine, organophosphorus, and chlorophenoxy pesticides or the...

  14. CHEMISTRY UNDER NON-TRADITIONAL CONDITIONS: SOLVENT-FREE SYNTHESIS USING MICROWAVE IRRADIATION

    EPA Science Inventory

    A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) irradiation of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of less-expensive and recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or "doped" surfaces is presented which is applicable to a wide range of cleava...

  15. Rathayibacter iranicus isolated from asymptomatic wheat seeds in Turkey

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Asymptomatic wheat seeds collected from 799 farmers in six central provinces of Turkey were checked for the presence of Rathayibacter species by plating 100 µl of the diluted and undiluted seed wash suspension onto modified 523 agar. Of the 25 isolated strains presumptively identified as Rathayibac...

  16. 'GREENER' CHEMICAL SYNTHESES USING MICROWAVES UNDER SOLVENT-FREE CONDITIONS OR AQUEOUS MEDIA

    EPA Science Inventory

    A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or 'doped' surfaces is presented which is applicable to a wide range of cleavage, condensation, cycl...

  17. A fluid-structure interaction (FSI)-based numerical investigation of peristalsis in an obstructed human ureter.

    PubMed

    Takaddus, Ahmed Tasnub; Gautam, Prashanta; Chandy, Abhilash J

    2018-05-08

    Urine moves from the kidney to the bladder through the ureter. A series of compression waves facilitates this transport. Due to the highly concentrated mineral deposits in urine, stones are formed in the kidney and travel down through the urinary tract. While passing, a larger stone can get stuck and cause severe damage to ureter wall. Also, stones in the ureter obstructing the urine flow can cause pain and backflow of urine which in turn might require surgical intervention. The current study develops a 2D axisymmetric numerical model to gain an understanding of the ureter obstruction and its effects on the flow, which are critical in assessing the different treatment options. Transient computational analysis involving a two-way fully coupled fluid-structure interaction with the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian method between the ureteral wall and urine flow is conducted with an obstruction in the ureter. The ureter wall is modeled as an anisotropic hyperelastic material, data of which, is based on biaxial tests on human ureter from previous literature, while the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved to calculate urine flow. A finite element-based monolithic solver is used for the simulations here. The obstruction is placed in the fluid domain as a circular stone at the proximal part of the ureter. One of the objectives of this study is to quantify the effect of the ureteral obstruction. A sharp jump in pressure gradient and wall shear stress, as well as retrograde urine flow, is observed as a result of the obstruction. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  18. Copper Is a Host Effector Mobilized to Urine during Urinary Tract Infection To Impair Bacterial Colonization

    PubMed Central

    Hyre, Amanda N.; Kavanagh, Kylie; Kock, Nancy D.; Donati, George L.

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a major global infectious disease affecting millions of people annually. Human urinary copper (Cu) content is elevated during UTI caused by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC). UPEC upregulates the expression of Cu efflux genes during clinical UTI in patients as an adaptive response to host-derived Cu. Whether Cu is mobilized to urine as a host response to UTI and its role in protection against UTI remain unresolved. To address these questions, we tested the hypothesis that Cu is a host effector mobilized to urine during UTI to limit bacterial growth. Our results reveal that Cu is mobilized to urine during UTI caused by the major uropathogens Proteus mirabilis and Klebsiella pneumoniae, in addition to UPEC, in humans. Ceruloplasmin, a Cu-containing ferroxidase, is found at higher levels in UTI urine than in healthy control urine and serves as the molecular source of urinary Cu during UTI. Our results demonstrate that ceruloplasmin decreases the bioavailability of iron in urine by a transferrin-dependent mechanism. Experimental UTI with UPEC in nonhuman primates recapitulates the increased urinary Cu content observed during clinical UTI. Furthermore, Cu-deficient mice are highly colonized by UPEC, indicating that Cu is involved in the limiting of bacterial growth within the urinary tract. Collectively, our results indicate that Cu is a host effector that is involved in protection against pathogen colonization of the urinary tract. Because urinary Cu levels are amenable to modulation, augmentation of the Cu-based host defense against UTI represents a novel approach to limiting bacterial colonization during UTI. PMID:28031261

  19. Simultaneous determination of morphine, codeine and 6-acetyl morphine in human urine and blood samples using direct aqueous derivatisation: validation and application to real cases.

    PubMed

    Chericoni, S; Stefanelli, F; Iannella, V; Giusiani, M

    2014-02-15

    Opiates play a relevant role in forensic toxicology and their assay in urine or blood is usually performed for example in workplace drug-testing or toxicological investigation of drug impaired driving. The present work describes two new methods for detecting morphine, codeine and 6-monoacethyl morphine in human urine or blood using a single step derivatisation in aqueous phase. Propyl chloroformate is used as the dramatizing agent followed by liquid-liquid extraction and gas-chromatography-mass spectroscopy to detect the derivatives. The methods have been validated both for hydrolysed and unhydrolysed urine. For hydrolysed urine, the LOD and LOQ were 2.5ng/ml and 8.5ng/ml for codeine, and 5.2ng/ml and 15.1ng/ml for morphine, respectively. For unhydrolysed urine, the LOD and LOQ were 3.0ng/ml and 10.1ng/ml for codeine, 2.7ng/ml and 8.1ng/ml for morphine, 0.8ng/ml and 1.5ng/ml for 6-monoacetyl morphine, respectively. In blood, the LOD and LOQ were 0.44ng/ml and 1.46ng/ml for codeine, 0.29ng/ml and 0.98ng/ml for morphine, 0.15ng/ml and 0.51ng/ml for 6-monoacetyl morphine, respectively. The validated methods have been applied to 50 urine samples and 40 blood samples (both positive and negative) and they can be used in routine analyses. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Seasonal variation in natural abundance of 2H and 18O in urine samples from rural Nigeria.

    PubMed

    Harbison, Justin E; Dugas, Lara R; Brieger, William; Tayo, Bamidele O; Alabi, Tunrayo; Schoeller, Dale A; Luke, Amy

    2015-07-01

    The doubly labeled water (DLW) method is used to measure free-living energy expenditure in humans. Inherent to this technique is the assumption that natural abundances of stable isotopes (2)H and (18)O in body water remain constant over the course of the measurement period and after elimination of the loading dose of DLW will return to the same predose level. To determine variability in the natural abundances of (2)H and (18)O in humans living in a region with seasonal shifts in rain patterns and sources of drinking water, over the course of 12 mo we collected weekly urine samples from four individuals living in southwest Nigeria as well as samples of their drinking water. From ongoing regional studies of hypertension, obesity, and energy expenditure, we estimated average water turnover rate, urine volumes, and sodium and potassium excretion. Results suggest that (2)H and (18)O in urine, mean concentrations of urinary sodium and potassium, urine volume, and total body turnover differed significantly from dry to rainy season. Additionally, seasonal weather variables (mean monthly maximum temperatures, total monthly rainfall, and minimum relative humidity) were all significantly associated with natural abundances in urine. No seasonal difference was observed in drinking water samples. Findings suggest that natural abundances in urine may not remain constant as assumed, and studies incorporating DLW measurements across the transition of seasons should interpret results with caution unless appropriate doses of the tracers are used. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

  1. [A study of urine concentrating mechanism--a molecular biological approach].

    PubMed

    Marumo, F

    1994-07-01

    Human urine can be concentrated up to four times higher than that of the plasma. Urine concentrating mechanism has attracted for a long time. However, studies in the field are now picking up momentum due to recent breakthrough discoveries using molecular biology techniques. Vasopressin-regulated water channel in the apical membrane of the collecting duct and water channel in the basolateral side of the membrane were cloned. cloned. Osmolality-dependent chloride channel in the thin ascending limb of Henle was also cloned. In addition, vasopressin-regulated urea transporter was found in the collecting duct. These newly discovered channels and transporter should be playing important physiological roles in urine concentrating mechanism. Furthermore, recent findings on osmolytes and their transporters also add to the list of urine concentrating mechanisms.

  2. Metabolism of a new positive inotropic agent, 3,4-dihydro-6-[4-(3,4-dimethoxybenzoyl)-1-piperazinyl]-2(1H)- quinolinone (OPC-8212) in the rat, mouse, dog, monkey and human.

    PubMed

    Miyamoto, G; Sasabe, H; Tominaga, N; Uegaki, N; Tominaga, M; Shimizu, T

    1988-10-01

    1. After OPC-8212 was orally given to rats, mice, dogs, monkeys and humans, its metabolites were identified by n.m.r. and mass spectrometry, and their concentrations in the plasma, urine and faeces of these species were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (h.p.l.c.). 2. Hydrolysis of the amide group, oxidation and cleavage of the piperazine ring, O-demethylation of the methoxy group, and conjugation were proposed as metabolic pathways of OPC-8212. 3. In rats, mice and monkeys given OPC-8212 orally, metabolites M-1 to M-6 were detected in the plasma, urine and faeces, while M-1, -4, -5 and M-6 were detected in dogs, and M-1, M-3, M-4, M-5 and M-6 were detected in humans. 4. Conjugates of metabolites M-6 and M-7, with glucuronic acid and sulphuric acid, were observed in the urine of rats and humans.

  3. Human Metabolome-derived Cofactors Are Required for the Antibacterial Activity of Siderocalin in Urine*

    PubMed Central

    Shields-Cutler, Robin R.; Crowley, Jan R.; Miller, Connelly D.; Stapleton, Ann E.; Cui, Weidong; Henderson, Jeffrey P.

    2016-01-01

    In human urinary tract infections, host cells release the antimicrobial protein siderocalin (SCN; also known as lipocalin-2, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, or 24p3) into the urinary tract. By binding to ferric catechol complexes, SCN can sequester iron, a growth-limiting nutrient for most bacterial pathogens. Recent evidence links the antibacterial activity of SCN in human urine to iron sequestration and metabolomic variation between individuals. To determine whether these metabolomic associations correspond to functional Fe(III)-binding SCN ligands, we devised a biophysical protein binding screen to identify SCN ligands through direct analysis of human urine. This screen revealed a series of physiologic unconjugated urinary catechols that were able to function as SCN ligands of which pyrogallol in particular was positively associated with high urinary SCN activity. In a purified, defined culture system, these physiologic SCN ligands were sufficient to activate SCN antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli. In the presence of multiple SCN ligands, native mass spectrometry demonstrated that SCN may preferentially combine different ligands to coordinate iron, suggesting that availability of specific ligand combinations affects in vivo SCN antibacterial activity. These results support a mechanistic link between the human urinary metabolome and innate immune function. PMID:27780864

  4. Microdevice for plasma separation from whole human blood using bio-physical and geometrical effects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tripathi, Siddhartha; Kumar, Y. V. Balavarun; Agrawal, Amit; Prabhakar, Amit; Joshi, Suhas S.

    2016-06-01

    In this research work, we present a simple and efficient passive microfluidic device for plasma separation from pure blood. The microdevice has been fabricated using conventional photolithography technique on a single layer of polydimethylsiloxane, and has been extensively tested on whole blood and enhanced (upto 62%) hematocrit levels of human blood. The microdevice employs elevated dimensions of about 100 μm such elevated dimensions ensure clog-free operation of the microdevice and is relatively easy to fabricate. We show that our microdevice achieves almost 100% separation efficiency on undiluted blood in the flow rate range of 0.3 to 0.5 ml/min. Detailed biological characterization of the plasma obtained from the microdevice is carried out by testing: proteins by ultra-violet spectrophotometric method, hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) hormone, and conducting random blood glucose test. Additionally, flow cytometry study has also been carried on the separated plasma. These tests attest to the high quality of plasma recovered. The microdevice developed in this work is an outcome of extensive experimental research on understanding the flow behavior and separation phenomenon of blood in microchannels. The microdevice is compact, economical and effective, and is particularly suited in continuous flow operations.

  5. Biodegradable mucus-penetrating nanoparticles composed of diblock copolymers of polyethylene glycol and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)

    PubMed Central

    Yu, Tao; Wang, Ying-Ying; Yang, Ming; Schneider, Craig; Zhong, Weixi; Pulicare, Sarah; Choi, Woo-Jin; Mert, Olcay; Fu, Jie; Lai, Samuel K.; Hanes, Justin

    2013-01-01

    Mucus secretions coating entry points to the human body that are not covered by skin efficiently trap and clear conventional drug carriers, limiting controlled drug delivery at mucosal surfaces. To overcome this challenge, we recently engineered nanoparticles that readily penetrate a variety of human mucus secretions, which we termed mucus-penetrating particles (MPP). Here, we report a new biodegradable MPP formulation based on diblock copolymers of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PLGA-PEG). PLGA-PEG nanoparticles prepared by a solvent diffusion method rapidly diffused through fresh, undiluted human cervicovaginal mucus (CVM) with an average speed only eightfold lower than their theoretical speed in water. In contrast, PLGA nanoparticles were slowed more than 12,000-fold in the same CVM secretions. Based on the measured diffusivities, as much as 75% of the PLGA-PEG nanoparticles are expected to penetrate a 10-μm-thick mucus layer within 30 min, whereas virtually no PLGA nanoparticles are expected to do so over the same duration. These results encourage further development of PLGA-PEG nanoparticles as mucus-penetrating drug carriers for improved drug and gene delivery to mucosal surfaces. PMID:24205449

  6. In Vitro and In Vivo Human Metabolism of Synthetic Cannabinoids FDU-PB-22 and FUB-PB-22.

    PubMed

    Diao, Xingxing; Scheidweiler, Karl B; Wohlfarth, Ariane; Pang, Shaokun; Kronstrand, Robert; Huestis, Marilyn A

    2016-03-01

    In 2014, FDU-PB-22 and FUB-PB-22, two novel synthetic cannabinoids, were detected in herbal blends in Japan, Russia, and Germany and were quickly added to their scheduled drugs list. Unfortunately, no human metabolism data are currently available, making it challenging to confirm their intake. The present study aims to identify appropriate analytical markers by investigating FDU-PB-22 and FUB-PB-22 metabolism in human hepatocytes and confirm the results in authentic urine specimens. For metabolic stability, 1 μM FDU-PB-22 and FUB-PB-22 was incubated with human liver microsomes for up to 1 h; for metabolite profiling, 10 μM was incubated with human hepatocytes for 3 h. Two authentic urine specimens from FDU-PB-22 and FUB-PB-22 positive cases were analyzed after β-glucuronidase hydrolysis. Metabolite identification in hepatocyte samples and urine specimens was accomplished by high-resolution mass spectrometry using information-dependent acquisition. Both FDU-PB-22 and FUB-PB-22 were rapidly metabolized in HLM with half-lives of 12.4 and 11.5 min, respectively. In human hepatocyte samples, we identified seven metabolites for both compounds, generated by ester hydrolysis and further hydroxylation and/or glucuronidation. After ester hydrolysis, FDU-PB-22 and FUB-PB-22 yielded the same metabolite M7, fluorobenzylindole-3-carboxylic acid (FBI-COOH). M7 and M6 (hydroxylated FBI-COOH) were the major metabolites. In authentic urine specimens after β-glucuronidase hydrolysis, M6 and M7 also were the predominant metabolites. Based on our study, we recommend M6 (hydroxylated FBI-COOH) and M7 (FBI-COOH) as suitable urinary markers for documenting FDU-PB-22 and/or FUB-PB-22 intake.

  7. Lactic acid fermentation of human urine to improve its fertilizing value and reduce odour emissions.

    PubMed

    Andreev, N; Ronteltap, M; Boincean, B; Wernli, M; Zubcov, E; Bagrin, N; Borodin, N; Lens, P N L

    2017-08-01

    During storage of urine, urea is biologically decomposed to ammonia, which can be lost through volatilization and in turn causes significant unpleasant smell. In response, lactic acid fermentation of urine is a cost-effective technique to decrease nitrogen volatilization and reduce odour emissions. Fresh urine (pH = 5.2-5.3 and NH 4 + -N = 1.2-1.3 g L -1 ) was lacto-fermented for 36 days in closed glass jars with a lactic acid bacterial inoculum from sauerkraut juice and compared to untreated, stored urine. In the lacto-fermented urine, the pH was reduced to 3.8-4.7 and the ammonium content by 22-30%, while the pH of the untreated urine rose to 6.1 and its ammonium content increased by 32% due to urea hydrolysis. The concentration of lactic acid bacteria in lacto-fermented urine was 7.3 CFU ml -1 , suggesting that urine is a suitable growth medium for lactic acid bacteria. The odour of the stored urine was subjectively perceived by four people to be twice as strong as that of lacto-fermented samples. Lacto-fermented urine induced increased radish germination compared to stored urine (74-86% versus 2-31%). Adding a lactic acid bacterial inoculum to one week old urine in the storage tanks in a urine-diverting dry toilet reduced the pH from 8.9 to 7.7 after one month, while the ammonium content increased by 35%, probably due to the high initial pH of the urine. Given that the hydrolyzed stale urine has a high buffering capacity, the lactic acid bacterial inoculum should be added to the urine storage tank of a UDDT before urine starts to accumulate there to increase the efficiency of the lactic acid fermentation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. A short review of applications of liquid chromatography mass spectrometry based metabolomics techniques to the analysis of human urine.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Tong; Watson, David G

    2015-05-07

    The applications of metabolomics as a methodology for providing better treatment and understanding human disease continue to expand rapidly. In this review, covering the last two years, the focus is on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) profiling of metabolites in urine. In LC-MS based metabolomics there are still problems with regard to: chromatographic separation, peak picking and alignment, metabolite identification, metabolite coverage, instrument sensitivity and data interpretation and in the case of urine sample normalisation. Progress has been made with regard to all of these issues during the period of the review. Of particular interest are the increasing use of orthogonal chromatographic methods for optimal metabolite coverage and the increasing adoption of receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves for biomarker validation.

  9. SEPARATION OF TOXICOLOGICALLY RELEVANT ARSENICALS IN URINE USING A NEW SOLID PHASE EXTRACTION TECHNIQUE

    EPA Science Inventory

    Abstract - Metabolism and toxicity of arsenicals are critically influenced by the oxidation state of As. In human urine, inorganic and methylated arsenicals contain both As(III) and As(V). Because As(III) is easily oxidized, a method is needed to preserve the native oxidation sta...

  10. Automated solid-phase extraction-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis of 6-acetylmorphine in human urine specimens: application for a high-throughput urine analysis laboratory.

    PubMed

    Robandt, P V; Bui, H M; Scancella, J M; Klette, K L

    2010-10-01

    An automated solid-phase extraction-liquid chromatography- tandem mass spectrometry (SPE-LC-MS-MS) method using the Spark Holland Symbiosis Pharma SPE-LC coupled to a Waters Quattro Micro MS-MS was developed for the analysis of 6-acetylmorphine (6-AM) in human urine specimens. The method was linear (R² = 0.9983) to 100 ng/mL, with no carryover at 200 ng/mL. Limits of quantification and detection were found to be 2 ng/mL. Interrun precision calculated as percent coefficient of variation (%CV) and evaluated by analyzing five specimens at 10 ng/mL over nine batches (n = 45) was 3.6%. Intrarun precision evaluated from 0 to 100 ng/mL ranged from 1.0 to 4.4%CV. Other opioids (codeine, morphine, oxycodone, oxymorphone, hydromorphone, hydrocodone, and norcodeine) did not interfere in the detection, quantification, or chromatography of 6-AM or the deuterated internal standard. The quantified values for 41 authentic human urine specimens previously found to contain 6-AM by a validated gas chromatography (GC)-MS method were compared to those obtained by the SPE-LC-MS-MS method. The SPE-LC-MS-MS procedure eliminates the human factors of specimen handling, extraction, and derivatization, thereby reducing labor costs and rework resulting from human error or technique issues. The time required for extraction and analysis was reduced by approximately 50% when compared to a validated 6-AM procedure using manual SPE and GC-MS analysis.

  11. A pilot study on the use of natural calcium isotope (44Ca/40Ca) fractionation in urine as a proxy for the human body calcium balance.

    PubMed

    Heuser, Alexander; Eisenhauer, Anton

    2010-04-01

    We explored the possibility of using natural calcium (Ca) isotope variations in the urine (delta(44/40)Ca(urine)) as a proxy for the Ca balance in the human body. We chose two test persons extremely different in their health status, gender and age (4-year-old healthy boy and a 60-year-old woman known to suffer from osteoporosis). During a 5 day interval the Ca isotope composition of the individual diet (delta(44/40)Ca(diet)) was monitored for both test persons to be in general agreement to the Ca isotope composition of the normal western European diet ( approximately -1.02+/-0.1 per thousand). However, measurements showed that (1) delta(44/40)Ca(urine) of both test persons are approximately 1.37 and approximately 2.49 per thousand, respectively, heavier than delta(44/40)Ca(diet) and that (2) the delta(44/40)Ca(urine-boy) is approximately 1.1 per thousand heavier when compared to the value of the woman. The individual offset between diet and test persons is interpreted to reflect individual Ca reabsorption rates in the kidneys being the result of Rayleigh type Ca isotope fractionation related to the partitioning of Ca between the glomerular filtrate and filtered residue. The relative difference between delta(44/40)Ca(urine-boy) and delta(44/40)Ca(urine-woman) of approximately 1.1 per thousand may reflect individual differences in the balance of bone mineralization and demineralization processes related to age, gender and health status. By arbitrarily defining an equilibrium value for Delta(44/40)Ca(diet-urine) of -1.93 per thousand being the arithmetic mean of delta(44/40)Ca(urine) for both test persons the measured delta(44/40)Ca(urine) values may be applied to model the individual bone mineralization and demineralization processes in a qualitative way. Note, second order influences of intestinal Ca absorption during sequestration of Ca between intestine and blood have to be subject of further studies. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Human Elimination of Organochlorine Pesticides: Blood, Urine, and Sweat Study

    PubMed Central

    Lane, Kevin; Birkholz, Detlef

    2016-01-01

    Background. Many individuals have been exposed to organochlorinated pesticides (OCPs) through food, water, air, dermal exposure, and/or vertical transmission. Due to enterohepatic reabsorption and affinity to adipose tissue, OCPs are not efficiently eliminated from the human body and may accrue in tissues. Many epidemiological studies demonstrate significant exposure-disease relationships suggesting OCPs can alter metabolic function and potentially lead to illness. There is limited study of interventions to facilitate OCP elimination from the human body. This study explored the efficacy of induced perspiration as a means to eliminate OCPs. Methods. Blood, urine, and sweat (BUS) were collected from 20 individuals. Analysis of 23 OCPs was performed using dual-column gas chromatography with electron-capture detectors. Results. Various OCPs and metabolites, including DDT, DDE, methoxychlor, endrin, and endosulfan sulfate, were excreted into perspiration. Generally, sweat samples showed more frequent OCP detection than serum or urine analysis. Many OCPs were not readily detected in blood testing while still being excreted and identified in sweat. No direct correlation was found among OCP concentrations in the blood, urine, or sweat compartments. Conclusions. Sweat analysis may be useful in detecting some accrued OCPs not found in regular serum testing. Induced perspiration may be a viable clinical tool for eliminating some OCPs. PMID:27800487

  13. Metabolic fate of neutral human milk oligosaccharides in exclusively breast-fed infants.

    PubMed

    Dotz, Viktoria; Rudloff, Silvia; Meyer, Christina; Lochnit, Günter; Kunz, Clemens

    2015-02-01

    Various biological effects have been postulated for human milk oligosaccharides (HMO), as deduced from in vitro, animal, and epidemiological studies. Little is known about their metabolic fate in vivo in the breast-fed infant, which is presented here. Human milk and infant urine and feces were collected from ten mother-child pairs and analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS (/MS), accompanied by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection. Previously, we detected intact small and complex HMO in infant urine, which had been absorbed from gut, as verified via intrinsic (13) C-labeling. Our current work reveals the presence of novel HMO metabolites in urine and feces of breast-fed infants. The novel metabolites were identified as acetylated HMOs and other HMO-like structures, produced by the infants or by their gut microbiota. The finding of secretor- or Lewis-specific HMO in the feces/urine of infants fed with nonsecretor or Lewis-negative milk suggested a correspondent modification in the infant. Our study reveals new insights into the metabolism of neutral HMO in exclusively breast-fed infants and provides further indications for multiple factors influencing HMO metabolism and functions that should be considered in future in vivo investigations. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  14. Human Elimination of Organochlorine Pesticides: Blood, Urine, and Sweat Study.

    PubMed

    Genuis, Stephen J; Lane, Kevin; Birkholz, Detlef

    2016-01-01

    Background . Many individuals have been exposed to organochlorinated pesticides (OCPs) through food, water, air, dermal exposure, and/or vertical transmission. Due to enterohepatic reabsorption and affinity to adipose tissue, OCPs are not efficiently eliminated from the human body and may accrue in tissues. Many epidemiological studies demonstrate significant exposure-disease relationships suggesting OCPs can alter metabolic function and potentially lead to illness. There is limited study of interventions to facilitate OCP elimination from the human body. This study explored the efficacy of induced perspiration as a means to eliminate OCPs. Methods . Blood, urine, and sweat (BUS) were collected from 20 individuals. Analysis of 23 OCPs was performed using dual-column gas chromatography with electron-capture detectors. Results . Various OCPs and metabolites, including DDT, DDE, methoxychlor, endrin, and endosulfan sulfate, were excreted into perspiration. Generally, sweat samples showed more frequent OCP detection than serum or urine analysis. Many OCPs were not readily detected in blood testing while still being excreted and identified in sweat. No direct correlation was found among OCP concentrations in the blood, urine, or sweat compartments. Conclusions . Sweat analysis may be useful in detecting some accrued OCPs not found in regular serum testing. Induced perspiration may be a viable clinical tool for eliminating some OCPs.

  15. Quantitative Monitoring of Cefradine in Human Urine Using a Luminol/Sulfobutylether-β-Cyclodextrin Chemiluminescence System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shen, M. X.; Tan, X. J.; Song, Zh. H.

    2018-05-01

    In this paper, a sensitive, rapid, and simple flow-injection chemiluminescence (FI-CL) technique is described for determining cefradine in human urine and capsule samples at the picogram level. The results show that cefradine within 0.1-100.0 nmol/L quantitatively quenches the CL intensity of the luminol/sulfo butylether-β-cyclodextrin (SBE-β-CD) system, with a relative correlation coefficient r of 0.9931. Subsequently, the possible mechanism for the quenching phenomenon is discussed in detail using the FI-CL and molecular docking methods. The proposed CL method, with a detection limit of 0.03 nmol/L (3σ) and relative standard deviations <3.0% (N = 7), is then implemented to monitor the excretion of cefradine in human urine. After orally administration, the cefradine reaches a maximum value of 1.37 ± 0.02 mg/mL at 2.0 h in urine, and the total excretion is 4.41 ± 0.03 mg/mL within 8.0 h. The absorption rate constant ka, the elimination rate constant ke, and the half-life t1/2 are 0.670 ± 0.008 h-1, 0.744 ± 0.005 h-1, and 0.93 ± 0.05 h, respectively.

  16. [Monograph on di-2-propylheptyl phthalate (DPHP) - human biomonitoring (HBM) values for the sum of metabolites oxo-mono-propylheptyl phthalate (oxo-MPHP) and hydroxy-mono-propylheptyl phthalate (OH MPHP) in adult and child urine. Opinion of the Commission "Human Biomonitoring" of the Federal Environment Agency, Germany].

    PubMed

    2015-07-01

    1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, bis(2-propylheptyl)ester (bis(2-propylheptyl)phthalate, DPHP) is used as plasticizer for the manufacture of plastics, i.e. mainly polyvinylchloride (PVC). A subchronic feeding study with rats revealed a NOAEL (no observed adverse effect level) of 40 mg/(kg bw · d), which can be used as a point of departure (POD) for the derivation of an HBM-I value. Application of a total assessment factor of 200 leads to an estimation of 200 µg/kg bw as a tolerable daily intake of DPHP. On the basis of the results of metabolism studies with humans it is possible to calculate from the tolerable daily intake of DPHP to the tolerable concentration of specific metabolites in urine. Thus an HBM-I value of 1 mg/L morning urine for children and 1.5 mg/L morning urine for adults was derived for the sum of the oxidized monoesters oxo-MPHP and OH-MPHP, which were identified as robust and conclusive biomarkers for DPHP.

  17. 'GREENER' ORGANIC SYNTHESES AND TRANSFORMATIONS USING MICROWAVES UNDER SOLVENT-FREE CONDITIONS OR AQUEOUS MEDIA

    EPA Science Inventory

    A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of recyclable mineral supports such as alumina, silica, clay, or 'doped' surfaces is presented which is applicable to a wide range of cleavage, condensation, cycl...

  18. A high-throughput LC-MS/MS screen for GHRP in equine and human urine, featuring peptide derivatization for improved chromatography.

    PubMed

    Timms, Mark; Hall, Nikki; Levina, Vita; Vine, John; Steel, Rohan

    2014-10-01

    The growth hormone releasing peptides (GHRPs) hexarelin, ipamorelin, alexamorelin, GHRP-1, GHRP-2, GHRP-4, GHRP-5, and GHRP-6 are all synthetic met-enkephalin analogues that include unnatural D-amino acids. They were designed specifically for their ability to stimulate growth hormone release and may serve as performance enhancing drugs. To regulate the use of these peptides within the horse racing industry and by human athletes, a method is presented for the extraction, derivatization, and detection of GHRPs from equine and human urine. This method takes advantage of a highly specific solid-phase extraction combined with a novel derivatization method to improve the chromatography of basic peptides. The method was validated with respect to linearity, repeatability, intermediate precision, specificity, limits of detection, limits of confirmation, ion suppression, and stability. As proof of principle, all eight GHRPs or their metabolites could be detected in urine collected from rats after intravenous administration. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  19. Flavonoid Metabolites in Human Urine during Blueberry Anthocyanin Intake.

    PubMed

    Kalt, Wilhelmina; McDonald, Jane E; Liu, Yan; Fillmore, Sherry A E

    2017-03-01

    The human health benefits of anthocyanins (Anc) and other flavonoids are widely recognized. However, the flavonoid-based urinary metabolites arising in vivo after Anc intake are not well described. Human (n = 17) urine was collected while blueberry juice (BJ) was consumed daily for 28 days and once after a 7 day washout. MS/MS scanning of 664 urine samples for 18 parent Anc (PAnc) and 42 predicted Anc metabolites (AncM) yielded 371 products (i.e., MS/MS × retention time (RT)). Flavonoid-based AncM, which were likely underestimated, were almost 20 times more abundant than PAnc. Together, PAnc and AncM accounted for about 1% of the daily Anc dose. Aglycone forms were >94% of the total. Cluster analysis of the 371 Anc identified about 55 major Anc that contributed about 80% to the total Anc. The abundance of flavonoid-based Anc-derived products in the gastrointestinal tract could contribute to the health benefits of Anc-rich berries.

  20. Absorption and metabolism of milk thistle flavanolignans in humans.

    PubMed

    Calani, Luca; Brighenti, Furio; Bruni, Renato; Del Rio, Daniele

    2012-12-15

    This study evaluated the absorption and metabolism of milk thistle flavonolignans silychristin, silydianin, silybin and isosilybin isomers (all together known as silymarin) in humans. Fourteen volunteers consumed an extract of milk thistle and urine was collected up to 48 h after consumption. Thirty-one metabolites were identified in urine by means of HPLC-MS/MS, monoglucuronides being the most common excreted form, followed by sulphate-glucuronides and diglucuronides, respectively. The excretion of monoglucuronides peaked 2 h after consumption, whereas sulphate-glucuronide and diglucuronide excretion peaked at 8 h. The bioavailability of milk thistle flavanolignans was 0.45±0.28% (mean±SD). In conclusion, milk thistle flavonolignans are extensively modified after ingestion and recovered in urine as sulpho- and glucuronyl-conjugates, indicating a strong affinity for hepatic phase II enzymes. All future studies (in vitro and in vivo) dealing with the effects of milk thistle should start by considering the modification of its flavonolignans after ingestion by humans. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  1. ECLSS Sustaining Compatibility Testing on Urine Processor Assembly Nonmetallic Materials for Reformulation of Pretreated Urine Solution

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wingard, C. D.

    2015-01-01

    On International Space Station (ISS), the Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) converts human urine and flush water into potable water. The urine is acid-pretreated primarily to control microbial growth. In recent years, the sulfuric acid (H2SO4) pretreatment was believed to be largely responsible for producing salt crystals capable of plugging filters in UPA components and significantly reducing the percentage of water recovery from urine. In 2012, ISS management decided to change the acid pretreatment for urine from sulfuric to phosphoric with the goal of eliminating or minimizing formation of salt crystals. In 2013-2014, as part of the qualification of the phosphoric acid (H3PO4) formulation, samples of 12 nonmetallic materials used in UPA components were immersed for up to one year in pretreated urine and brine solutions made with the new H3PO4 formulation. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was used to measure modulus (stiffness) of the immersed samples compared to virgin control samples. Such compatibility data obtained by DMA for the H3PO4-based solutions were compared to DMA data obtained for the H2SO4-based solutions in 2002-2003.

  2. Use of diluted urine for cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris.

    PubMed

    Jaatinen, Sanna; Lakaniemi, Aino-Maija; Rintala, Jukka

    2016-01-01

    Our aim was to study the biomass growth of microalga Chlorella vulgaris using diluted human urine as a sole nutrient source. Batch cultivations (21 days) were conducted in five different urine dilutions (1:25-1:300), in 1:100-diluted urine as such and with added trace elements, and as a reference, in artificial growth medium. The highest biomass density was obtained in 1:100-diluted urine with and without additional trace elements (0.73 and 0.60 g L(-1), respectively). Similar biomass growth trends and densities were obtained with 1:25- and 1:300-diluted urine (0.52 vs. 0.48 gVSS L(-1)) indicating that urine at dilution 1:25 can be used to cultivate microalgal based biomass. Interestingly, even 1:300-diluted urine contained sufficiently nutrients and trace elements to support biomass growth. Biomass production was similar despite pH-variation from < 5 to 9 in different incubations indicating robustness of the biomass growth. Ammonium formation did not inhibit overall biomass growth. At the beginning of cultivation, the majority of the biomass consisted of living algal cells, while towards the end, their share decreased and the estimated share of bacteria and cell debris increased.

  3. Albumin adsorption onto surfaces of urine collection and analysis containers☆

    PubMed Central

    Robinson, Mary K.; Caudill, Samuel P.; Koch, David D.; Ritchie, James; Hortin, Glen; Eckfeldt, John H.; Sandberg, Sverre; Williams, Desmond; Myers, Gary; Miller, W. Greg

    2017-01-01

    Background Adsorption of albumin onto urine collection and analysis containers may cause falsely low concentrations. Methods We added 125I-labeled human serum albumin to urine and to phosphate buffered solutions, incubated them with 22 plastic container materials and measured adsorption by liquid scintillation counting. Results Adsorption of urine albumin (UA) at 5–6 mg/l was <0.9%; and at 90 mg/l was <0.4%. Adsorption was generally less at pH 8 than pH 5 but only 3 cases had p <0.05. Adsorption from 11 unaltered urine samples with albumin 5–333 mg/l was <0.8%. Albumin adsorption for the material with greatest binding was extrapolated to the surface areas of 100 ml and 2 l collection containers, and to instrument sample cups and showed <1% change in concentration at 5 mg/l and <0.5% change at 20 mg/l or higher concentrations. Adsorption of albumin from phosphate buffered solutions (2–28%) was larger than that from urine. Conclusions Albumin adsorption differed among urine samples and plastic materials, but the total influence of adsorption was <1% for all materials and urine samples tested. Adsorption of albumin from phosphate buffered solutions was larger than that from urine and could be a limitation for preparations used as calibrators. PMID:24513540

  4. Albumin adsorption onto surfaces of urine collection and analysis containers.

    PubMed

    Robinson, Mary K; Caudill, Samuel P; Koch, David D; Ritchie, James; Hortin, Glen; Eckfeldt, John H; Sandberg, Sverre; Williams, Desmond; Myers, Gary; Miller, W Greg

    2014-04-20

    Adsorption of albumin onto urine collection and analysis containers may cause falsely low concentrations. We added (125)I-labeled human serum albumin to urine and to phosphate buffered solutions, incubated them with 22 plastic container materials and measured adsorption by liquid scintillation counting. Adsorption of urine albumin (UA) at 5-6 mg/l was <0.9%; and at 90 mg/l was <0.4%. Adsorption was generally less at pH8 than pH5 but only 3 cases had p<0.05. Adsorption from 11 unaltered urine samples with albumin 5-333 mg/l was <0.8%. Albumin adsorption for the material with greatest binding was extrapolated to the surface areas of 100 ml and 2l collection containers, and to instrument sample cups and showed <1% change in concentration at 5 mg/l and <0.5% change at 20 mg/l or higher concentrations. Adsorption of albumin from phosphate buffered solutions (2-28%) was larger than that from urine. Albumin adsorption differed among urine samples and plastic materials, but the total influence of adsorption was <1% for all materials and urine samples tested. Adsorption of albumin from phosphate buffered solutions was larger than that from urine and could be a limitation for preparations used as calibrators. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Isotope Dilution nanoLC/ESI+-HRMS3 Quantitation of Urinary N7-(1-Hydroxy-3-buten-2-yl) Guanine Adducts in Humans and Their Use as Biomarkers of Exposure to 1,3-Butadiene.

    PubMed

    Sangaraju, Dewakar; Boldry, Emily J; Patel, Yesha M; Walker, Vernon; Stepanov, Irina; Stram, Daniel; Hatsukami, Dorothy; Tretyakova, Natalia

    2017-02-20

    1,3-Butadiene (BD) is an important industrial and environmental chemical classified as a known human carcinogen. Occupational exposure to BD in the polymer and monomer industries is associated with an increased incidence of lymphoma. BD is present in automobile exhaust, cigarette smoke, and forest fires, raising concern about potential exposure of the general population to this carcinogen. Following inhalation exposure, BD is bioactivated to 3,4-epoxy-1-butene (EB). If not detoxified, EB is capable of modifying guanine and adenine bases of DNA to form nucleobase adducts, which interfere with accurate DNA replication and cause cancer-initiating mutations. We have developed a nanoLC/ESI + -HRMS 3 methodology for N7-(1-hydroxy-3-buten-2-yl) guanine (EB-GII) adducts in human urine (limit of detection: 0.25 fmol/mL urine; limit of quantitation: 1.0 fmol/mL urine). This new method was successfully used to quantify EB-GII in urine of F344 rats treated with 0-200 ppm of BD, occupationally exposed workers, and smokers belonging to two different ethnic groups. EB-GII amounts increased in a dose-dependent manner in urine of laboratory rats exposed to 0, 62.5, or 200 ppm of BD. Urinary EB-GII levels were significantly increased in workers occupationally exposed to 0.1-2.2 ppm of BD (1.25 ± 0.51 pg/mg of creatinine) as compared to administrative controls exposed to <0.01 ppm of BD (0.22 ± 0.08 and pg/mg of creatinine) (p = 0.0024), validating the use of EB-GII as a biomarker of human exposure to BD. EB-GII was also detected in smokers' urine with European American smokers excreting significantly higher amounts of EB-GII than African American smokers (0.48 ± 0.09 vs 0.12 ± 0.02 pg/mg of creatinine, p = 3.1 × 10 -7 ). Interestingly, small amounts of EB-GII were observed in animals and humans with no known exposure to BD, providing preliminary evidence for its endogenous formation. Urinary EB-GII adduct levels and urinary mercapturic acids of BD (MHBMA, DHBMA) were compared in a genotyped multiethnic smoker cohort.

  6. Investigation of magnetic nanoparticles for the rapid extraction and assay of alpha-emitting radionuclides from urine: Demonstration of a novel radiobioassay method

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    O'Hara, Matthew J.; Carter, Jennifer C.; Maclellan, Jay A.

    2011-08-01

    In the event of an accidental or intentional release of radionuclides into a populated area, three things must occur in a timely manner: food and drinking water supplies must be determined to be safe to eat / drink, civilians and/or military personnel must be surveyed to ensure that they do not have external contamination, and they must be screened to ensure that significant ingestion or inhalation of radionuclides has not occurred (this paper is concerned with the latter). In the event of such a disaster, the volume of radiobioassays to be performed would be tremendous. If the event released significantmore » levels of β- or α-emitting radionuclides, in vivo assays would be ineffective. Therefore, highly efficient and rapid analytical methods for radionuclide detection from submitted spot urine samples (≤ 50 mL) would be required. At present, the quantitative determination of α-emitting radionuclides from urine samples is highly labor intensive, and requires significant sample preparation and analysis time. Sorbent materials that provide effective collection and enable rapid assay could significantly streamline the radioanalytical process. We have demonstrated the use of paramagnetic nanoparticles as a novel class of extracting media for four α-emitting radionuclides of concern (Po, Ra, Am, and U) from chemically unmodified and pH 2 human urine. Herein the initial experimental sorption results are presented along with a novel method that utilizes paramagnetic nanoparticles for the extraction of radionuclides from unmodified human urine followed by the magnetic field-induced collection of the particles for subsequent α-counting-source preparation. Additionally, we construct a versatile human dose model that determines the detector count times required to estimate internal human dose at specific protective action thresholds. The model provides a means to assess a method’s detection capabilities and use fundamental health physics parameters and actual experimental data as core variables. The modeling shows that with effective sorbent materials, rapid screening for internalized α-emitters is possible from a 50 mL spot urine sample volume collected within one week of exposure/intake.« less

  7. Lipid mobilising factors specifically associated with cancer cachexia.

    PubMed Central

    Beck, S. A.; Tisdale, M. J.

    1991-01-01

    Both urine and plasma from mice and humans with cancer cachexia have been shown to contain higher levels of lipid mobilising activity than normal controls, even after acute starvation. There was no significant increase in the urinary lipid mobilising activity of either mice or humans after acute starvation, suggesting that the material in the cachectic situation was probably not due to an elevation of hormones normally associated with the catabolic state in starvation. Further characterisation of the lipid mobilising activity in the urine of cachectic mice using Sephadex G50 exclusion chromatography showed four distinct peaks of activity of apparent molecular weights of greater than 20, 3, 1.5 and less than 0.7 kDa. No comparable peaks of activity were found in the urine of a non tumour-bearing mouse. The high molecular weight activity was probably formed by aggregation of low molecular weight material, since treatment with 0.5 M NaCl caused dissociation to material with a broad spectrum of molecular weights between 3 and 0.7 kDa. Lipolytic species of similar molecular weights were also found in the urine of cachectic cancer patients, but not in normal urine even after 24 h starvation. The lipid mobilising species may be responsible for catabolism of host adipose tissue in the cachectic state. PMID:2069843

  8. An assessment of the effect of human faeces and urine on maize production and water productivity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guzha, Edward; Nhapi, Innocent; Rockstrom, Johan

    The key challenge facing many catchment authorities in Zimbabwe and elsewhere is the challenge of feeding the growing populations within their catchment boundaries. Modern agricultural practices continue to mine valuable crop nutrients through increased food production to satisfy ever-increasing food demand. In recent diagnostic survey of smallholder agricultural sector in the Manyame catchments of Zimbabwe it was revealed that exhausted soils depleted of their natural mineral and organic constituents by many years of cropping with little fertilization or manuring were the major factors contributing to low yields and poor food security in this sector in Zimbabwe. The objective of the study was to assess the effect of using sanitized human excreta on maize production and water productivity. The study involved six volunteer farmers with four 10 m × 10 m trial plots each with the following treatments the control, commercial fertilizer treatment urine only plot, and the feacal matter and urine plot. Harvest determination was carried by weighing the yield from each of the treatment plots and comparisons done. Water productivity was computed by calculating the amount of water used to produce a tone of maize per ha. The study showed that human excreta improves maize crop production and water productivity in rain-fed agriculture. The study recommends that the ecological sanitation concept and the reuse of human excreta both humanure and (ecofert) urine can be considered as alternative excreta management options in catchment areas.

  9. Quantitation of biomarkers of exposure to nitrogen mustards in urine from rats dosed with nitrogen mustards and from an unexposed human population.

    PubMed

    Lemire, Sharon W; Barr, John R; Ashley, David L; Olson, Carl T; Hayes, Timothy L

    2004-01-01

    The nitrogen mustards bis(2-chloroethyl)ethylamine (HN1), bis(2-chloroethyl)methylamine (HN2), and tris(2-chloroethyl)amine (HN3) have the potential to be used as chemical terrorism agents because of their extreme vesicant properties. We modified a previously reported method to incorporate automated solid-phase extraction, improve chromatography, and include the urinary metabolite for HN3. The improved method was used to measure levels of the urinary metabolites N-ethyldiethanolamine (EDEA), N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), and triethanolamine (TEA) in rats dosed with HN1, HN2, and HN3, respectively, and to establish background levels of EDEA, MDEA, and TEA in human urine samples from a population with no known exposure to nitrogen mustards. Rat dosing experiments confirmed that EDEA, MDEA, and TEA could be detected in urine for at least 48 h after exposure to HN1, HN2, and HN3, respectively. Substantial amounts of EDEA (89 ng/mL), MDEA (170 ng/mL), and TEA (1105 ng/mL) were measured in the urine of rats exposed to 10 mg HN1, HN2, and HN3, respectively, 48 h after exposure. The background concentrations for TEA in the human population ranged from below the limit of detection (LOD 3 ng/mL) to approximately 6500 ng/mL. Neither EDEA (LOD 0.4 ng/mL) nor MDEA (LOD 0.8 ng/mL) was detected above the LOD in the human samples.

  10. Simultaneous quantitation of seven pyrethroid metabolites in human urine by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Tao, Lin; Chen, Mei; Collins, Erin; Lu, Chensheng

    2013-02-01

    Pyrethroid insecticides are applied in the residential environment, as well as in agricultural crops, for insect control purpose. We developed and validated an accurate, sensitive, and reproducible analytical method to simultaneously detect seven pyrethroid metabolites, namely, 3-(2,2-dichlorovinyl)-2,2-dimethyl-(1-cyclopropane) carboxylic acid, 3-(2,2-dibromovinyl)-2,2-dimethyl-(1-cyclopropane) carboxylic acid, 3-phenoxybenzoic acid, 4-fluoro-3-phenoxybenzoic acid, 2-methyl-3-phenylbenzoic acid, 4-chloro-α-isoproply benzeneacetic acid, and 3-(2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoroprop-1-enyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylic acid, in human urine. This method employs deconjugation with enzyme, SPE using Agilent C18 cartridges on a RapidTrace SPE workstation, derivatization using hexafluoro isopropanol and N,N'-diisopropylcarbodiimide, and compounds separation and identification on GC-MS. The detection limits of seven metabolites were 0.02-0.08 ng/mL in urine. The recoveries of seven metabolites were 81-104%, 85-99%, and 83-99% in urine specimens fortified at 0.1, 0.4, and 3.2 ng/mL concentrations, respectively. The overall coefficient of variation was 4.3-10.8% in two quality control specimens which were repeatedly measured during a period of 2 months. This method was applied to urine samples collected from children living in Boston, MA. The median concentrations of six detected pyrethroid metabolites ranged from 0.06 to 0.86 ng/mL in urine. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  11. Monolithic silica spin column extraction and simultaneous derivatization of amphetamines and 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamines in human urine for gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric detection.

    PubMed

    Nakamoto, Akihiro; Nishida, Manami; Saito, Takeshi; Kishiyama, Izumi; Miyazaki, Shota; Murakami, Katsunori; Nagao, Masataka; Namura, Akira

    2010-02-19

    A simple, sensitive, and specific method with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was developed for simultaneous extraction and derivatization of amphetamines (APs) and 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamines (MDAs) in human urine by using a monolithic silica spin column. All the procedures, such as sample loading, washing, and elution were performed by centrifugation. APs and MDAs in urine were adsorbed on the monolithic silica and derivatized with propyl chloroformate in the column. Methamphetamine-d(5) was used as an internal standard. The linear ranges were 0.01-5.0 microg mL(-1) for methamphetamine (MA) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and 0.02-5.0 microg mL(-1) for amphetamine (AP) and 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) (coefficient of correlation > or = 0.995). The recovery of APs and MDAs in urine was 84-94%, and the relative standard deviation of the intra- and interday reproducibility for urine samples containing 0.1, 1.0, and 4.0 microg mL(-1) of APs and MDAs ranged from 1.4% to 13.6%. The lowest detection limit (signal-to-noise ratio > or = 3) in urine was 5 ng mL(-1) for MA and MDMA and 10 ng mL(-1) for AP and MDA. The proposed method can be used to perform simultaneous extraction and derivatization on spin columns that have been loaded with a small quantity of solvent by using centrifugation. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Translocation of mineralo-organic nanoparticles from blood to urine: a new mechanism for the formation of kidney stones?

    PubMed

    Martel, Jan; Wu, Cheng-Yeu; Young, John D

    2016-09-01

    Recent studies indicate that mineralo-organic nanoparticles form in various human body fluids, including blood and urine. These nanoparticles may form within renal tubules and increase in size in supersaturated urine, eventually leading to the formation of kidney stones. Here, we present observations suggesting that mineralo-organic nanoparticles found in blood may induce kidney stone formation via an alternative mechanism in which the particles translocate through endothelial and renal epithelial cells to reach urine. We propose that this alternative mechanism of kidney stone formation and the study of mineralo-organic nanoparticles in general may provide novel strategies for the early detection and treatment of ectopic calcifications and kidney stones.

  13. Artificial Urine for Teaching Urinalysis Concepts and Diagnosis of Urinary Tract Infection in the Medical Microbiology Laboratory.

    PubMed

    Khan, Latifa B; Read, Hannah M; Ritchie, Stephen R; Proft, Thomas

    2017-01-01

    Dipstick urinalysis is an informative, quick, cost-effective and non-invasive diagnostic tool that is useful in clinical practice for the diagnosis of urinary tract infections (UTIs), kidney diseases, and diabetes. We used dipstick urinalysis as a hands-on microbiology laboratory exercise to reinforce student learning about UTIs with a particular focus on cystitis, which is a common bacterial infection. To avoid exposure to potentially contaminated human urine samples, we prepared artificial urine using easily acquired and affordable ingredients, which allowed less-experienced students to perform urinalysis without the risk of exposure to pathogenic organisms and ensured reliable availability of the urine samples. This practical class taught medical students how to use urinalysis data in conjunction with medical history to diagnose diseases from urine samples and to determine a treatment plan for clinical scenarios.

  14. Metabolism of bepridil in laboratory animals and humans.

    PubMed

    Wu, W N; Hills, J F; Chang, S Y; Ng, K T

    1988-01-01

    The metabolism of bepridil was studied in the Swiss mouse, Sprague-Dawley rat, New Zealand rabbit, rhesus monkey, and healthy human. After oral administration of bepridil-14C-hydrochloride, recoveries of total radioactivity in urine and feces (7 days) were greater than or equal to 80% of the administered dose in all five species. Bepridil and 25 metabolites have been isolated by HPLC and TLC from representative plasma, urine, and fecal extract pools from all species and identified on the basis of TLC, HPLC, and mass spectrometry. The identified metabolites explained 60-99% of the total radioactivity in each sample for rabbit plasma, in which only 17% of the total radioactivity was characterized. Metabolic pathways involving oxidative reactions at seven sites on the bepridil molecule are proposed for each species. Metabolite formation in the five species is described by four interrelated pathways. The metabolic pathway involving aromatic hydroxylation followed by N-dealkylation, N-debenzylation, and N-acetylation was important in all species. Major metabolites produced by this pathway included 4-hydroxy(at N-phenyl)-bepridil (Ia), N-benzyl-4-amino-phenol (IV), and N-acetyl-4-aminophenol (Vy). Metabolite Ia was isolated in significant amounts (greater than or equal to 5% of sample) in all fecal and urine samples except rat urine. Metabolite IV was a major circulating metabolite in all species and a major urinary metabolite in humans. Metabolite Vy was present in significant quantities in urine in all species except rabbit. Other important pathways involved primary reactions such as iso-butyl hydroxylation, pyrrolidine ring oxidation, and N-debenzylation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

  15. Acute and Chronic Deficits in the Urinary Bladder after Spinal Contusion Injury in the Adult Rat

    PubMed Central

    Herrera, Juan J.; Haywood-Watson, Ricky J.L.

    2010-01-01

    Abstract Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) permanently alters bladder function in humans. Hematuria and cystitis occur in both human SCI as well as in rodent models of SCI. Others have reported early SCI-dependent disruption to bladder uroepithelial integrity that results in increased permeability to urine and urine-borne substances. This can result in cystitis, or inflammation of the bladder, an ongoing pathological condition present throughout the chronic phase of SCI in humans. The goals of our study were twofold: (1) to begin to examine the inflammatory and molecular changes that occur within the bladder uroepithelium using a clinically-relevant spinal contusion model of injury, and (2) to assess whether these alterations continue into the chronic phase of SCI. Rats received either moderate SCI or sham surgery. Urine was collected from SCI and sham subjects over 7 days or at 7 months to assess levels of excreted proteins. Inflammation in the bladder wall was assessed via biochemical and immunohistochemical methods. Bladder tight junction proteins, mediators of uroepithelial integrity, were also measured in both the acute and chronic phases of SCI. Urine protein and hemoglobin levels rapidly increase following SCI. An SCI-dependent elevation in numbers of neutrophils within the bladder wall peaked at 48 h. Bladder tight junction proteins demonstrate a rapid but transient decrease as early as 2 h post-SCI. Surprisingly, elevated levels of urine proteins and significant deficits in bladder tight junction proteins could be detected in chronic SCI, suggesting that early pathological changes to the bladder may continue throughout the chronic phase of injury. PMID:19891526

  16. Effect of acute dietary standardization on the urinary, plasma, and salivary metabolomic profiles of healthy humans.

    PubMed

    Walsh, Marianne C; Brennan, Lorraine; Malthouse, J Paul G; Roche, Helen M; Gibney, Michael J

    2006-09-01

    Metabolomics in human nutrition research is faced with the challenge that changes in metabolic profiles resulting from diet may be difficult to differentiate from normal physiologic variation. We assessed the extent of intra- and interindividual variation in normal human metabolic profiles and investigated the effect of standardizing diet on reducing variation. Urine, plasma, and saliva were collected from 30 healthy volunteers (23 females, 7 males) on 4 separate mornings. For visits 1 and 2, free food choice was permitted on the day before biofluid collection. Food choice on the day before visit 3 was intended to mimic that for visit 2, and all foods were standardized on the day before visit 4. Samples were analyzed by using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy followed by multivariate data analysis. Intra- and interindividual variations were considerable for each biofluid. Visual inspection of the principal components analysis scores plots indicated a reduction in interindividual variation in urine, but not in plasma or saliva, after the standard diet. Partial least-squares discriminant analysis indicated time-dependent changes in urinary and salivary samples, mainly resulting from creatinine in urine and acetate in saliva. The predictive power of each model to classify the samples as either night or morning was 85% for urine and 75% for saliva. Urine represented a sensitive metabolic profile that reflected acute dietary intake, whereas plasma and saliva did not. Future metabolomics studies should consider recent dietary intake and time of sample collection as a means of reducing normal physiologic variation.

  17. In vitro selection of single-stranded DNA molecular recognition elements against S. aureus alpha toxin and sensitive detection in human serum.

    PubMed

    Hong, Ka L; Battistella, Luisa; Salva, Alysia D; Williams, Ryan M; Sooter, Letha J

    2015-01-27

    Alpha toxin is one of the major virulence factors secreted by Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium that is responsible for a wide variety of infections in both community and hospital settings. Due to the prevalence of S. aureus related infections and the emergence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus, rapid and accurate diagnosis of S. aureus infections is crucial in benefiting patient health outcomes. In this study, a rigorous Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX) variant previously developed by our laboratory was utilized to select a single-stranded DNA molecular recognition element (MRE) targeting alpha toxin with high affinity and specificity. At the end of the 12-round selection, the selected MRE had an equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd) of 93.7 ± 7.0 nM. Additionally, a modified sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed by using the selected ssDNA MRE as the toxin-capturing element and a sensitive detection of 200 nM alpha toxin in undiluted human serum samples was achieved.

  18. Recovery of Drug Delivery Nanoparticles from Human Plasma using an Electrokinetic Platform Technology

    PubMed Central

    Ibsen, Stuart; Sonnenberg, Avery; Schutt, Carolyn; Mukthavaram, Rajesh; Yeh, Yasan; Ortac, Inanc; Manouchehri, Sareh; Kesari, Santosh; Esener, Sadik

    2015-01-01

    The effect of complex biological fluids on the surface and structure of nanoparticles is a rapidly expanding field of study. One of the challenges holding back this research is the difficulty of recovering therapeutic nanoparticles from biological samples due to their small size, low density, and stealth surface coatings. Here we present the first demonstration of the recovery and analysis of drug delivery nanoparticles from undiluted human plasma samples through the use of a new electrokinetic platform technology. The particles are recovered from plasma through a dielectrophoresis separation force that is created by innate differences in the dielectric properties between the unaltered nanoparticles and the surrounding plasma. We show this can be applied to a wide range of drug delivery nanoparticles of different morphologies and materials, including low density nano-liposomes. These recovered particles can then be analyzed using different methods including scanning electron microscopy to monitor surface and structural changes that result from plasma exposure. We believe that this new recovery technique is broadly applicable to the recovery of nanoparticles from high conductance fluids in a wide range of applications. PMID:26274918

  19. Generation of Mesenchymal-Like Stem Cells From Urine in Pediatric Patients.

    PubMed

    He, W; Zhu, W; Cao, Q; Shen, Y; Zhou, Q; Yu, P; Liu, X; Ma, J; Li, Y; Hong, K

    2016-01-01

    Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been widely used for regenerative medicine. Traditionally, the procedures of MSC isolation are usually invasive and time-consuming. Urine is merely a body waste, and recent studies have suggested that urine represents an alternative source of stem cells. We, therefore, determined whether the possibility of isolating mesenchymal-like stem cells was practical from human urine. A total of 16 urine samples were collected from pediatric patients. Urine-derived cells were isolated, expanded, and identified for specific cell surface markers using flow cytometry. Cell morphology was observed by microscopy. Osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation potential were determinded by culturing cells in specific induction medium, and assessed by alkaline phosphatase and oil red O stainings, respectively. Clones were established and passaged successfully from primary cultures of urine cells. Cultured urine-derived cells at passage 3 were fusiform and arranged with certain directionality. Urine-derived cells at passage 5 displayed expressions of cell surface markers (CD29, CD105, CD166, CD90, and CD13). There was no expression of the general hematopoietic cell markers (CD45, CD34, and HLA-DR). Under in vitro induction conditions, urine-derived cells at passage 5 were able to differentiate into osteoblasts, but not adipocytes. Urine may be a noninvasive source for mesenchymal-like stem cells. These cells could potentially provide a new source of autologous stem cells for regenerative medicine and cell therapy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Sensitive and simple determination of zwitterionic morphine in human urine based on liquid-liquid micro-extraction coupled with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

    PubMed

    Yu, Borong; Cao, Chentai; Li, Pan; Mao, Mei; Xie, Qiwen; Yang, Liangbao

    2018-08-15

    Morphine, a kind of illicit drugs, is also one of the main heroin metabolites. In consideration of a noninvasive way to monitor and identify drug abuse during forensic cases, the urine samples are usually detected. Here, colloidal gold nanorods (Au NRs) were introduced to act as active substrate, because of the strong optical extinction and spectral tunability of the longitudinal surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Thus, well surface-enhanced Raman spectra of morphine even at low concentrations could be obtained by portable Raman spectrometer. For the complex matrix environment of urine, liquid-liquid micro-extraction (LLME), a simple and inexpensive pretreatment, was employed to avoid the interferences. And then, the coupled surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) can give full play to the advantages of high sensitivity and unique spectroscopic fingerprint. According to the zwitterionic structure and physicochemical parameters of morphine molecules, the pH value of urine sample was adjusted to about 9 by buffer solution (KOH/NaB 4 O 7 ) and the mixture of chloroform and isopropyl alcohol (V/V=9:1) was chosen as extractant. Moreover, such pretreatment was proved to be appropriate for separation and concentration of morphine from urine. The developed LLME-SERS method could provide a detection limit less than 1 ppm in the human urine environment and the whole process of detection just needed take 5-6 min. What's more, the results of urine samples from heroin users exhibited application value of the proposed technique. The excellent performance makes it promising to become a rapid, reliable, and on-spot analyzer, especially for public safety and healthcare. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Copper Is a Host Effector Mobilized to Urine during Urinary Tract Infection To Impair Bacterial Colonization.

    PubMed

    Hyre, Amanda N; Kavanagh, Kylie; Kock, Nancy D; Donati, George L; Subashchandrabose, Sargurunathan

    2017-03-01

    Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a major global infectious disease affecting millions of people annually. Human urinary copper (Cu) content is elevated during UTI caused by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC). UPEC upregulates the expression of Cu efflux genes during clinical UTI in patients as an adaptive response to host-derived Cu. Whether Cu is mobilized to urine as a host response to UTI and its role in protection against UTI remain unresolved. To address these questions, we tested the hypothesis that Cu is a host effector mobilized to urine during UTI to limit bacterial growth. Our results reveal that Cu is mobilized to urine during UTI caused by the major uropathogens Proteus mirabilis and Klebsiella pneumoniae , in addition to UPEC, in humans. Ceruloplasmin, a Cu-containing ferroxidase, is found at higher levels in UTI urine than in healthy control urine and serves as the molecular source of urinary Cu during UTI. Our results demonstrate that ceruloplasmin decreases the bioavailability of iron in urine by a transferrin-dependent mechanism. Experimental UTI with UPEC in nonhuman primates recapitulates the increased urinary Cu content observed during clinical UTI. Furthermore, Cu-deficient mice are highly colonized by UPEC, indicating that Cu is involved in the limiting of bacterial growth within the urinary tract. Collectively, our results indicate that Cu is a host effector that is involved in protection against pathogen colonization of the urinary tract. Because urinary Cu levels are amenable to modulation, augmentation of the Cu-based host defense against UTI represents a novel approach to limiting bacterial colonization during UTI. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

  2. Estimation of D-Arabinose by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry as Surrogate for Mycobacterial Lipoarabinomannan in Human Urine

    PubMed Central

    De, Prithwiraj; Amin, Anita G.; Valli, Eloise; Perkins, Mark D.; McNeil, Michael; Chatterjee, Delphi

    2015-01-01

    Globally, tuberculosis is slowly declining each year and it is estimated that 37 million lives were saved between 2000 and 2013 through effective diagnosis and treatment. Currently, diagnosis relies on demonstration of the bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), in clinical specimens by serial sputum microscopy, culture and molecular testing. Commercial immunoassay lateral flow kits developed to detect Mtb lipoglycan lipoarabinomannan (LAM) in urine as a marker of active TB exhibit poor sensitivity, especially in immunocompetent individuals, perhaps due to low abundance of the analyte. Our present study was designed to develop methods to validate the presence of LAM in a quantitative fashion in human urine samples obtained from culture-confirmed TB patients. Herein we describe, a consolidated approach for isolating LAM from the urine and quantifying D-arabinose as a proxy for LAM, using Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry. 298 urine samples obtained from a repository were rigorously analyzed and shown to contain varying amounts of LAM-equivalent ranging between ~10–40 ng/mL. To further substantiate that D-arabinose detected in the samples originated from LAM, tuberculostearic acid, the unique 10-methyloctadecanoic acid present at the phosphatidylinositol end of LAM was also analyzed in a set of samples and found to be present confirming that the D-arabinose was indeed derived from LAM. Among the 144 samples from culture-negative TB suspects, 30 showed presence of D-arabinose suggesting another source of the analyte, such as disseminated TB or from non-tuberculosis mycobacterium. Our work validates that LAM is present in the urine samples of culture-positive patients in small but readily detectable amounts. The study further substantiates LAM in urine as a powerful biomarker for active tuberculosis. PMID:26633829

  3. Development of an Inline Urine Monitoring System for the International Space Station

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Broyan, James Lee, Jr.; Cibuzar, Banelle R.

    2008-01-01

    Human exposure to microgravity during spaceflight causes bone loss. Calcium and other metabolic byproducts are excreted in urine voids. Frequent and accurate measurement of urine void volume and constituents is essential to determining crew bone loss and the effectiveness of countermeasures. Previous US Space Shuttle (SS) Urine Monitoring System (UMS) technology was unable to accurately measure urine void volumes due to cross contamination between users and fluid system instabilities. Currently, urine voids must be collected manually in a flexible plastic bag containing a known tracer quantity. The crew member must completely mix the bag then withdraw a representative syringe sample for later ground analysis. The current bag system accuracy is highly dependent on mixing technique. The International Space Station (ISS) UMS has been developed as an automated device that collects urine from the Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) urinal funnel interface, separates the urine, measures the void volume, and allows for syringe sampling. After operations, the ISS UMS delivers the urine to the WHC for normal processing then flushes its plumbing with a small water volume. The current ISS UMS design incorporates an innovative rotary separator that minimizes foaming, greatly reduces cross contamination between urine voids (< 0.5 ml urine), and provides accurate volume measurements (< +/- 2% error for 100 to 1000 ml void volumes). The system performance has been validated with extensive ground tests and reduced gravity aircraft flights. The lockersized ISS UMS is currently being modified to interface with the ISS Node 3 WHC Russian ACY hardware. The operation principles, characteristics, and results are outlined in the paper.

  4. A surrogate analyte-based LC-MS/MS method for the determination of γ-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) in human urine and variation of endogenous urinary concentrations of GHB.

    PubMed

    Kang, Soyoung; Oh, Seung Min; Chung, Kyu Hyuck; Lee, Sooyeun

    2014-09-01

    γ-Hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is a drug of abuse with a strong anesthetic effect; however, proving its ingestion through the quantification of GHB in biological specimens is not straightforward due to the endogenous presence of GHB in human blood, urine, saliva, etc. In the present study, a surrogate analyte approach was applied to accurate quantitative determination of GHB in human urine using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in order to overcome this issue. For this, (2)H6-GHB and (13)C2-dl-3-hydroxybutyrate were used as a surrogate standard and as an internal standard, respectively, and parallelism between the surrogate analyte approach and standard addition was investigated at the initial step. The validation results proved the method to be selective, accurate, and precise, with acceptable linearity within calibration ranges (0.1-1μg/ml). The limit of detection and the limit of quantification of (2)H6-GHB were 0.05 and 0.1μg/ml, respectively. No significant variations were observed among urine matrices from different sources. The stability of (2)H6-GHB was satisfactory under sample storage and in-process conditions. However, in vitro production of endogenous GHB was observed when the urine sample was kept under the in-process condition for 4h and under the storage conditions of 4 and -20°C. In order to facilitate the practical interpretation of urinary GHB, endogenous GHB was accurately measured in urine samples from 79 healthy volunteers using the surrogate analyte-based LC-MS/MS method developed in the present study. The unadjusted and creatinine-adjusted GHB concentrations in 74 urine samples with quantitative results ranged from 0.09 to 1.8μg/ml and from 4.5 to 530μg/mmol creatinine, respectively. No significant correlation was observed between the unadjusted and creatinine-adjusted GHB concentrations. The urinary endogenous GHB concentrations were affected by gender and age while they were not significantly influenced by habitual smoking, alcohol drinking, or caffeine-containing beverage drinking. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. High-throughput determination of faropenem in human plasma and urine by on-line solid-phase extraction coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection and its application to the pharmacokinetic study.

    PubMed

    Xie, Rui; Wen, Jun; Wei, Hua; Fan, Guorong; Zhang, Dabing

    2010-05-01

    An automated system using on-line solid-phase extraction and HPLC with UV detection was developed for the determination of faropenem in human plasma and urine. Analytical process was performed isocratically with two reversed-phase columns connected by a switching valve. After simple pretreatment for plasma and urine with acetonitrile, a volume of 100microl upper layer of the plasma or urine samples was injected for on-line SPE column switching HPLC-UV analysis. The analytes were retained on the self-made trap column (Lichrospher C(18), 4.6mmx37mm, 25microm) with the loading solvent (20mM NaH(2)PO(4) adjusted pH 3.5) at flow rate of 2mlmin(-1), and most matrix materials were removed from the column to waste. After 0.5min washing, the valve was switched to another position so that the target analytes could be eluted from trap column to analytical column in the back-flush mode by the mobile phase (acetonitrile-20mM NaH(2)PO(4) adjusted pH 3.5, 16:84, v/v) at flow rate of 1.5mlmin(-1), and then separated on the analytical column (Ultimate XB-C(18), 4.6mmx50mm, 5microm).The complete cycle of the on-line SPE preconcentration purification and HPLC separation of the analytes was 5min. Calibration curves with good linearities (r=0.9994 for plasma sample and r=0.9988 for urine sample) were obtained in the range 0.02-5microgml(-1) in plasma and 0.05-10microg ml(-1) in urine for faropenem. The optimized method showed good performance in terms of specificity, linearity, detection and quantification limits, precision and accuracy. The method was successfully utilized to quantify faropenem in human plasma and urine to support the clinical pharmacokinetic studies. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. EFFECTS OF PREDNISOLONE AND TRIAMCINOLONE ON CORTICOSTEROID LEVELS IN PAROTID FLUID, SERUM, AND URINE.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    A simultaneous determination was made of 17-OHCS in serum, urine, and parotid fluid, by the Porter-Silber reaction, after the oral administration of...prednisolone, triamcinolone, or placebo to 240 normal human subjects. The data clearly demonstrate the homology of serum and parotid fluid 17-OHCS

  7. COMPARISON OF METALS IN HUMAN MILK AND URINE USING TRACE MULTIELEMENT ANALYSES

    EPA Science Inventory

    Healthy, nonsmoking women from 18-38 years old twice donated milk and urine (2-7 weeks and 3-4 months postpartum) as part of the EPA's Methods Advancement for Milk Analysis study, a pilot for the National Children's Study (NCS). Our goals were to determine 1) if routine high thro...

  8. Biological Monitoring of 3-Phenoxybenzoic Acid in Urine by an Enzyme -Linked Immunosorbent Assay

    EPA Science Inventory

    An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was employed for determination of the pyrethroid biomarker, 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (3-PBA) in human urine samples. The optimized coating antigen concentration was 0.5 ng/mL with a dilution of 1:4000 for the 3-PBA antibody and 1:6...

  9. Method of simultaneous stir bar sorptive extraction of phenethylamines and THC metabolite from urine.

    PubMed

    Goto, Yoshiyuki; Takeda, Shiho; Araki, Toshinori; Fuchigami, Takayuki

    2011-10-01

    Stir bar sorptive extraction is a technique used for extracting target substances from various aqueous matrixes such as environmental water, food, and biological samples. This type of extraction is carried out by rotating a coated stir bar is rotated in the sample solution. In particular, Twister bar is a commercial stir bar that is coated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and used to perform sorptive extraction. In this study, we developed a method for simultaneous detection of amphetamine, methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, and a Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabiniol (THC) metabolite in human urine. For extracting the target analytes, the Twister bar was simply stirred in the sample in the presence of a derivatizing agent. Using this technique, phenethylamines and the acidic THC metabolite can be simultaneously extracted from human urine. This method also enables the extraction of trace amounts of these substances with good reproducibility and high selectivity. The proposed method offers many advantages over other extraction-based approaches and is therefore well suited for screening psychoactive substances in urine specimens.

  10. Sensitive spectrofluorimetric determination of tizanidine in pharmaceutical preparations, human plasma and urine through derivatization with dansyl chloride.

    PubMed

    Ulu, Sevgi Tatar

    2012-01-01

    A sensitive spectrofluorimetric method was developed for the determination of tizanidine in human plasma, urine and pharmaceutical preparations. The method is based on reaction of tizanidine with 1-dimethylaminonaphthalene-5-sulphonyl chloride (dansyl chloride) in an alkaline medium to form a highly fluorescent derivative that was measured at 511 nm after excitation at 383 nm. The different experimental parameters affecting the fluorescence intensity of tizanidine was carefully studied and optimized. The fluorescence-concentration plots were rectilinear over the ranges 50-500 and 20-300 ng/mL for plasma and urine, respectively, detection limits of 1.81 and 0.54 ng/mL and quantification limits of 5.43 and 1.62 ng/mL for plasma and urine, respectively. The method presents good performance in terms of linearity, detection and quantification limits, precision, accuracy and specificity. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of tizanidine in pharmaceutical preparations. The results obtained were compared with a reference method, using t- and F-tests. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  11. Separation and quantitation of debrisoquine and 4-hydroxydebrisoquine in human urine by capillary electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography.

    PubMed

    Cifuentes, A; Valencia, J; Sanz, E; Sánchez, M J; Rodríguez-Delgado, M A

    1997-08-22

    A comparative study on the use of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) for the determination of debrisoquine (D) and its metabolite, 4-hydroxydebrisoquine (4-HD), in human urine is presented. Four different urine pre-treatments are compared for purification of samples prior to their injection in HPLC and CE. The use of a solid-phase extraction with a C18 cartridge provides the best results for the urine sample treatment, with good recoveries, i.e., 94.5% for D and 93.4% for 4-HD, and high reproducibility, i.e., R.S.D. N = 10 values of 1.7% and 1.2%, respectively. Under our separation conditions it is shown that CE is twice as fast and provides slightly better analysis time reproducibility than HPLC for this type of sample. Both the sensitivity and peak area reproducibility are better when HPLC is used. The two techniques show good agreement when employed for determination of phenotypes for hydroxylation, which seems to corroborate the usefulness of CE for this type of study.

  12. Characterization of protein-bound gold in rat urine following aurothiomalate administration and of rat and human albumin-gold-thiomalate.

    PubMed

    Shaw, C F; Schaeffer-Memmel, N; Krawczak, D

    1986-03-01

    The metabolites of gold in the urine of rats given the antiarthritic drug aurothiomalate were investigated by gel permeation chromatography, electrophoresis, and chemical studies. Following a single dose of aurtothiomalate, the excreted gold was protein-bound in the high-molecular-weight (greater than or equal to 150,000 dalton) and serum albumin fractions. Electrophoresis confirmed the presence of albumin, but showed that the other proteins present differ from those in normal or in vitro aurothiomalate-incubated rat sera. The pattern of the proteins establishes that the proteinuria was of the glomerular type. The alterations in the gold distribution produced by incubation of the urine with the low-molecular-weight thiol penicillamine and with exogenously added aurothiomalate indicated the existence of a labile equilibrium of gold among protein binding sites in the urine. Incubation of rat and human sera and commercially prepared serum albumins with aurothiomalate increased the electrophoretic mobility of the albumin. The significance of this change in electrophoretic mobility with respect to two models of gold binding by serum albumin is discussed.

  13. Extraction and Determination of Cyproheptadine in Human Urine by DLLME-HPLC Method.

    PubMed

    Maham, Mehdi; Kiarostami, Vahid; Waqif-Husain, Syed; Abroomand-Azar, Parviz; Tehrani, Mohammad Saber; Khoeini Sharifabadi, Malihe; Afrouzi, Hossein; Shapouri, Mahmoudreza; Karami-Osboo, Rouhollah

    2013-01-01

    Novel dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME), coupled with high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection (HPLC-DAD) has been applied for the extraction and determination of cyproheptadine (CPH), an antihistamine, in human urine samples. In this method, 0.6 mL of acetonitrile (disperser solvent) containing 30 μL of carbon tetrachloride (extraction solvent) was rapidly injected by a syringe into 5 mL urine sample. After centrifugation, the sedimented phase containing enriched analyte was dissolved in acetonitrile and an aliquot of this solution injected into the HPLC system for analysis. Development of DLLME procedure includes optimization of some important parameters such as kind and volume of extraction and disperser solvent, pH and salt addition. The proposed method has good linearity in the range of 0.02-4.5 μg mL(-1) and low detection limit (13.1 ng mL(-1)). The repeatability of the method, expressed as relative standard deviation was 4.9% (n = 3). This method has also been applied to the analysis of real urine samples with satisfactory relative recoveries in the range of 91.6-101.0%.

  14. Biodegradable polymer nanoparticles that rapidly penetrate the human mucus barrier

    PubMed Central

    Tang, Benjamin C.; Dawson, Michelle; Lai, Samuel K.; Wang, Ying-Ying; Suk, Jung Soo; Yang, Ming; Zeitlin, Pamela; Boyle, Michael P.; Fu, Jie; Hanes, Justin

    2009-01-01

    Protective mucus coatings typically trap and rapidly remove foreign particles from the eyes, gastrointestinal tract, airways, nasopharynx, and female reproductive tract, thereby strongly limiting opportunities for controlled drug delivery at mucosal surfaces. No synthetic drug delivery system composed of biodegradable polymers has been shown to penetrate highly viscoelastic human mucus, such as non-ovulatory cervicovaginal mucus, at a significant rate. We prepared nanoparticles composed of a biodegradable diblock copolymer of poly(sebacic acid) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PSA-PEG), both of which are routinely used in humans. In fresh undiluted human cervicovaginal mucus (CVM), which has a bulk viscosity approximately 1,800-fold higher than water at low shear, PSA-PEG nanoparticles diffused at an average speed only 12-fold lower than the same particles in pure water. In contrast, similarly sized biodegradable nanoparticles composed of PSA or poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) diffused at least 3,300-fold slower in CVM than in water. PSA-PEG particles also rapidly penetrated sputum expectorated from the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis, a disease characterized by hyperviscoelastic mucus secretions. Rapid nanoparticle transport in mucus is made possible by the efficient partitioning of PEG to the particle surface during formulation. Biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles capable of overcoming human mucus barriers and providing sustained drug release open significant opportunities for improved drug and gene delivery at mucosal surfaces. PMID:19901335

  15. Long-Term Follow-up of HPV Infection Using Urine and Cervical Quantitative HPV DNA Testing

    PubMed Central

    Vorsters, Alex; Van Keer, Severien; Biesmans, Samantha; Hens, Annick; De Coster, Ilse; Goossens, Herman; Ieven, Margareta; Van Damme, Pierre

    2016-01-01

    The link between infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) and cervical cancer has been clearly demonstrated. Virological end-points showing the absence of persistent HPV infection are now accepted as a way of monitoring the impact of prophylactic vaccination programs and therapeutic vaccine trials. This study investigated the use of urine samples, which can be collected by self-sampling at home, instead of cervical samples for follow-up of an HPV intervention trial. Eighteen initially HPV DNA-positive women participating in an HPV therapeutic vaccine trial were monitored during a three-year follow-up period. A total of 172 urine samples and 85 cervical samples were collected. We obtained a paired urine sample for each of the 85 cervical samples by recovering urine samples from six monthly gynaecological examinations. We performed a small pilot study in which the participating women used a urine collection device at home and returned their urine sample to the laboratory by mail. All samples were analyzed using quantitative real-time HPV DNA PCR. A good association (κ value of 0.65) was found between the presence of HPV DNA in urine and a subsequent cervical sample. Comparisons of the number of HPV DNA copies in urine and paired cervical samples revealed a significant Spearman rho of 0.676. This correlation was superior in women with severe lesions. The HPV DNA results of the small pilot study based on self-collected urine samples at home are consistent with previous and subsequent urine and/or cervical results. We demonstrated that urine sampling may be a valid alternative to cervical samples for the follow-up of HPV intervention trials or programs. The potential clinical value of urine viral load monitoring should be further investigated. PMID:27196899

  16. Long-Term Follow-up of HPV Infection Using Urine and Cervical Quantitative HPV DNA Testing.

    PubMed

    Vorsters, Alex; Van Keer, Severien; Biesmans, Samantha; Hens, Annick; De Coster, Ilse; Goossens, Herman; Ieven, Margareta; Van Damme, Pierre

    2016-05-17

    The link between infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) and cervical cancer has been clearly demonstrated. Virological end-points showing the absence of persistent HPV infection are now accepted as a way of monitoring the impact of prophylactic vaccination programs and therapeutic vaccine trials. This study investigated the use of urine samples, which can be collected by self-sampling at home, instead of cervical samples for follow-up of an HPV intervention trial. Eighteen initially HPV DNA-positive women participating in an HPV therapeutic vaccine trial were monitored during a three-year follow-up period. A total of 172 urine samples and 85 cervical samples were collected. We obtained a paired urine sample for each of the 85 cervical samples by recovering urine samples from six monthly gynaecological examinations. We performed a small pilot study in which the participating women used a urine collection device at home and returned their urine sample to the laboratory by mail. All samples were analyzed using quantitative real-time HPV DNA PCR. A good association (κ value of 0.65) was found between the presence of HPV DNA in urine and a subsequent cervical sample. Comparisons of the number of HPV DNA copies in urine and paired cervical samples revealed a significant Spearman rho of 0.676. This correlation was superior in women with severe lesions. The HPV DNA results of the small pilot study based on self-collected urine samples at home are consistent with previous and subsequent urine and/or cervical results. We demonstrated that urine sampling may be a valid alternative to cervical samples for the follow-up of HPV intervention trials or programs. The potential clinical value of urine viral load monitoring should be further investigated.

  17. Biomarkers of Coordinate Metabolic Reprogramming in Colorectal Tumors in Mice and Humans

    PubMed Central

    Manna, Soumen K.; Tanaka, Naoki; Krausz, Kristopher W.; Haznadar, Majda; Xue, Xiang; Matsubara, Tsutomu; Bowman, Elise D.; Fearon, Eric R.; Harris, Curtis C.; Shah, Yatrik M.; Gonzalez, Frank J.

    2014-01-01

    BACKGROUND & AIMS There are no robust noninvasive methods for colorectal cancer screening and diagnosis. Metabolomic and gene expression analyses of urine and tissue samples from mice and humans were used to identify markers of colorectal carcinogenesis. METHODS Mass spectrometry-based metabolomic analyses of urine and tissues from wild-type C57BL/6J and ApcMin/+ mice, as well as from mice with azoxymethane-induced tumors, was employed in tandem with gene expression analysis. Metabolomics profiles were also determined on colon tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissues from 39 patients. The effects of β-catenin activity on metabolic profiles were assessed in mice with colon-specific disruption of Apc. RESULTS Thirteen markers were found in urine associated with development of colorectal tumors in ApcMin/+ mice. Metabolites related to polyamine metabolism, nucleic acid metabolism, and methylation, identified tumor-bearing mice with 100% accuracy, and also accurately identified mice with polyps. Changes in gene expression in tumor samples from mice reflected the observed changes in metabolic products detected in urine; similar changes were observed in mice with azoxymethane-induced tumors and mice with colon-specific activation of β-catenin. The metabolic alterations indicated by markers in urine therefore appear to occur during early stages of tumorigenesis, when cancer cells are proliferating. In tissues from patients, tumors had stage-dependent increases in 12 metabolites associated with the same metabolic pathways identified in mice (including amino acid metabolism and polyamine metabolism). Ten metabolites that were increased in tumor tissues, compared with non-tumor tissues (proline, threonine, glutamic acid, arginine, N1-acetylspermidine, xanthine, uracil, betaine, symmetric dimethylarginine, and asymmetric-dimethylarginine), were also increased in urine from tumor-bearing mice. CONCLUSIONS Gene expression and metabolomic profiles of urine and tissue samples from mice with colorectal tumors and of colorectal tumor samples from patients revealed metabolites associated with specific metabolic changes that are indicative of early-stage tumor development. These urine and tissue markers might be used in early detection of colorectal cancer. PMID:24440673

  18. Minimum urine flow rate during water deprivation: importance of the nonurea versus total osmolality in the inner medulla.

    PubMed

    Soroka, S D; Chayaraks, S; Cheema-Dhadli, S; Myers, J A; Rubin, S; Sonnenberg, H; Halperin, M L

    1997-06-01

    Antidiuretic hormone leads to an increase in the permeability for water and urea in the inner medullary collecting duct. Hence, urea may not be an "effective" osmole in the inner medulla during maximal renal water conservation. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to evaluate whether differences in the rate of urea excretion would influence maximum renal water conservation in humans. In water-deprived rats, the concentration of urea and total osmolality were somewhat higher in the urine exiting the inner medullary collecting duct than in interstitial fluid obtained from the entire papillary tip. Nevertheless, the "nonurea" (total osmolality minus urea in millimolar terms) osmolality was virtually identical in both locations. Chronically fasted human subjects that were water-deprived for 16 h had a lower rate of urea excretion (71 +/- 7 versus 225 +/- 14 mumol/min) and a somewhat lower urine osmolality (745 +/- 53 versus 918 +/- 20 mosmol/kg H2O). Nevertheless, they had identical urine flow rates (0.5 +/- 0.01 and 0.5 +/- 0.02 ml/min, respectively), and their nonurea osmolality also was similar (587 +/- 25 and 475 +/- 14 mosmol/kg H2O, respectively) to the water-deprived normal subjects. The composition of their urine differed in that the principal nonurea osmoles became NH4+ and beta-hydroxybutyrate rather than Na and C1. During water deprivation in normal subjects, the ingestion of urea caused a twofold rise in urine flow rate, a fall in the nonurea osmolality, and a rise in the rate of excretion of nonurea osmoles. The nonurea osmolality of the urine, and presumably the medullary interstitial fluid as well, was inversely related to the urea excretion rate. In chronic fasting, the nature, but not the quantity, of nonurea osmoles changed. The similar minimum urine volume was predictable from an analysis based on nonurea osmole considerations.

  19. Microanalyzer for Biomonitoring of Lead (Pb) in Blood and Urine

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Yantasee, Wassana; Timchalk, Chuck; Lin, Yuehe

    2007-01-01

    Biomonitoring of lead (Pb) in blood and urine enables quantitative evaluation of human occupational and environmental exposures to Pb. The state-of-the-art ICP-MS instruments analyze metals in laboratories, resulting in lengthy turn around time, and are expensive. In response to the growing need for metal analyzer for on-site, real-time monitoring of trace metals in individuals, we developed a portable microanalyzer based on flow-injection/adsorptive stripping voltammetry and used it to analyze Pb in rat blood and urine. Fouling of electrodes by proteins often prevents the effective use of electrochemical sensors in biological matrices. Minimization of such fouling was accomplished with the suitablemore » sample pretreatment and the turbulent flowing of Pb contained blood and urine onto the glassy electrode inside the microanalyzer, which resulted in no apparent electrode fouling even when the samples contained 50% urine or 10% blood by volume. There was no matrix effect on the voltammetric Pb signals even when the samples contained 10% blood or 10% urine. The microanalyzer offered linear concentration range relevant to Pb exposure levels in human (0-20 ppb in 10%-blood samples, 0-50 ppb in 50%-urine samples). The device had excellent sensitivity and reproducibility; Pb detection limits were 0.54 ppb and 0.42 ppb, and % RSDs were 4.9 and 2.4 in 50%-urine and 10%-blood samples, respectively. It offered a high throughput (3 min per sample) and had economical use of samples (60 ?L per measurement), making the collection of blood being less invasive especially to children, and had low reagent consumption (1 ?g of Hg per measurement), thus minimizing the health concerns of mercury use. Being miniaturized in size, the microanalyzer is portable and field-deployable. Thus, it has a great potential to be the next-generation analyzer for biomonitoring of toxic metals.« less

  20. Vitreous penetration of levofloxacin in the uninflamed phakic human eye

    PubMed Central

    Herbert, E N; Pearce, I A; McGalliard, J; Wong, D; Groenewald, C

    2002-01-01

    Aims: To assess the vitreous penetration of oral levofloxacin (a new fluoroquinolone antibiotic with improved Gram positive activity) in uninflamed phakic eyes. Methods: 15 patients for macula hole surgery were recruited to the study. 10 received a single 500 mg dose of levofloxacin by mouth preoperatively. Five acted as controls. Serum and undiluted vitreous samples were obtained at surgery and analysed by HPLC. Results: Levofloxacin was detectable 2.5 hours after administration in the vitreous. A peak concentration of 1.6 μg/ml (or mg/l) was measured between 2.5 and 4 hours post-dose. Conclusion: Oral levofloxacin reaches the vitreous rapidly in the uninflamed phakic eye. Levels did not reach MIC90 for the commonest infecting organisms. Nevertheless, levofloxacin would be expected to be active against a higher proportion of infecting organisms than either ciprofloxacin or ofloxacin. PMID:11914204

  1. A microfluidic biochip platform for electrical quantification of proteins.

    PubMed

    Valera, Enrique; Berger, Jacob; Hassan, Umer; Ghonge, Tanmay; Liu, Julia; Rappleye, Michael; Winter, Jackson; Abboud, Daniel; Haidry, Zeeshan; Healey, Ryan; Hung, Na-Teng; Leung, Nathaniel; Mansury, Naif; Hasnain, Alexander; Lannon, Christine; Price, Zachary; White, Karen; Bashir, Rashid

    2018-05-15

    Sepsis, an adverse auto-immune response to an infection often causing life-threatening complications, results in the highest mortality and treatment cost of any illness in US hospitals. Several immune biomarker levels, including Interleukin 6 (IL-6), have shown a high correlation to the onset and progression of sepsis. Currently, no technology diagnoses and stratifies sepsis progression using biomarker levels. This paper reports a microfluidic biochip platform to detect proteins in undiluted human plasma samples. The device uses a differential enumeration platform that integrates Coulter counting principles, antigen specific capture chambers, and micro size bead based immunodetection to quantify cytokines. This microfluidic biochip was validated as a potential point of care technology by quantifying IL-6 from plasma samples (n = 29) with good correlation (R2 = 0.81) and agreement (Bland-Altman) compared to controls. In combination with previous applications, this point of care platform can potentially detect cell and protein biomarkers simultaneously for sepsis stratification.

  2. Urine creatinine in treatment-naïve HIV subjects in eastern Nigeria

    PubMed Central

    Anyabolu, Ernest Ndukaife

    2016-01-01

    Introduction Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a global healthcare problem. Some diseases and physiological states may be altered in HIV-infected individuals. Our objective was to evaluate urine creatinine and factors that influence urine creatinine in treatment-naïve HIV subjects in Nigeria. Methods This was a cross-sectional study involving treatment-naïve HIV subjects in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. Creatinine in spot and 24-hour urine samples and other relevant investigations were performed. Low urine creatinine or dilute urine was defined as 24-hour urine creatinine (24HUCr) <300mg, normal urine creatinine as 24HUCr 300-3000mg and high urine creatinine or concentrated urine as 24HUCr>3000mg.Theassociation of low urine creatinine and high urine creatinine with potential risk factors was determined. Results The mean spot urine creatinine (SUCr) of the treatment-naïve HIV subjects was 137.21± 98.47(mg/dl), minimum value 13.3mg/dl, maximum value 533.3mg/dl and range of values 520.0mg/dl. The mean 24HUCr was 1507±781mg, minimum value 206mg, maximum value 4849mg and range of values 4643mg. Twenty four-hour urine creatinine<300mg was observed in 2(0.5%) subjects, normal 24HUCr 300-3000mgin 349(93.1%) subjects and 24HUCr>3000mg in 24(6.4%) subjects. There was significant association between 24HUCr and serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL),serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL). There was high correlation between 24HUCr>3000mg and 24-hour urine osmolality (24HUOsm) (r=0.95), body mass index (BMI) (r=0.74), CD4 cells count (r=-0.71), serum HDL (r=-0.73). Conclusion The prevalence of dilute urine and concentrated urine was low. Twenty-four hour urine osmolality. BMI, CD4 cells count and HDL were strong correlates of high urine creatinine. Lipid abnormalities were common in treatment-naïve HIV subjects with high urine creatinine. There is need for clinicians to routinely conduct urine creatinine and further search for abnormalities of serum lipids, weight changes, depressed immunity and anemia in HIV subjects with dilute or concentrated urine in the early stages of the infection. PMID:28292101

  3. Urine creatinine in treatment-naïve HIV subjects in eastern Nigeria.

    PubMed

    Anyabolu, Ernest Ndukaife

    2016-01-01

    Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a global healthcare problem. Some diseases and physiological states may be altered in HIV-infected individuals. Our objective was to evaluate urine creatinine and factors that influence urine creatinine in treatment-naïve HIV subjects in Nigeria. This was a cross-sectional study involving treatment-naïve HIV subjects in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. Creatinine in spot and 24-hour urine samples and other relevant investigations were performed. Low urine creatinine or dilute urine was defined as 24-hour urine creatinine (24HUCr) <300mg, normal urine creatinine as 24HUCr 300-3000mg and high urine creatinine or concentrated urine as 24HUCr>3000mg.Theassociation of low urine creatinine and high urine creatinine with potential risk factors was determined. The mean spot urine creatinine (SUCr) of the treatment-naïve HIV subjects was 137.21± 98.47(mg/dl), minimum value 13.3mg/dl, maximum value 533.3mg/dl and range of values 520.0mg/dl. The mean 24HUCr was 1507±781mg, minimum value 206mg, maximum value 4849mg and range of values 4643mg. Twenty four-hour urine creatinine<300mg was observed in 2(0.5%) subjects, normal 24HUCr 300-3000mgin 349(93.1%) subjects and 24HUCr>3000mg in 24(6.4%) subjects. There was significant association between 24HUCr and serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL),serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL). There was high correlation between 24HUCr>3000mg and 24-hour urine osmolality (24HUOsm) (r=0.95), body mass index (BMI) (r=0.74), CD4 cells count (r=-0.71), serum HDL (r=-0.73). The prevalence of dilute urine and concentrated urine was low. Twenty-four hour urine osmolality. BMI, CD4 cells count and HDL were strong correlates of high urine creatinine. Lipid abnormalities were common in treatment-naïve HIV subjects with high urine creatinine. There is need for clinicians to routinely conduct urine creatinine and further search for abnormalities of serum lipids, weight changes, depressed immunity and anemia in HIV subjects with dilute or concentrated urine in the early stages of the infection.

  4. Mass spectrometric characterization of the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) stabilizer drug candidate BAY 85-3934 (molidustat) and its glucuronidated metabolite BAY-348, and their implementation into routine doping controls.

    PubMed

    Dib, Josef; Mongongu, Cynthia; Buisson, Corinne; Molina, Adeline; Schänzer, Wilhelm; Thuss, Uwe; Thevis, Mario

    2017-01-01

    The development of new therapeutics potentially exhibiting performance-enhancing properties implicates the risk of their misuse by athletes in amateur and elite sports. Such drugs necessitate preventive anti-doping research for consideration in sports drug testing programmes. Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) stabilizers represent an emerging class of therapeutics that allows for increasing erythropoiesis in patients. BAY 85-3934 is a novel HIF stabilizer, which is currently undergoing phase-2 clinical trials. Consequently, the comprehensive characterization of BAY 85-3934 and human urinary metabolites as well as the implementation of these analytes into routine doping controls is of great importance. The mass spectrometric behaviour of the HIF stabilizer drug candidate BAY 85-3934 and a glucuronidated metabolite (BAY-348) were characterized by electrospray ionization-(tandem) mass spectrometry (ESI-MS(/MS)) and multiple-stage mass spectrometry (MS n ). Subsequently, two different laboratories established different analytical approaches (one each) enabling urine sample analyses by employing either direct urine injection or solid-phase extraction. The methods were cross-validated for the metabolite BAY-348 that is expected to represent an appropriate target analyte for human urine analysis. Two test methods allowing for the detection of BAY-348 in human urine were applied and cross-validated concerning the validation parameters specificity, linearity, lower limit of detection (LLOD; 1-5 ng/mL), ion suppression/enhancement (up to 78%), intra- and inter-day precision (3-21%), recovery (29-48%), and carryover. By means of ten spiked test urine samples sent blinded to one of the participating laboratories, the fitness-for-purpose of both assays was provided as all specimens were correctly identified applying both testing methods. As no post-administration study samples were available, analyses of authentic urine specimens remain desirable. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  5. Dioctophymatosis renalis in humans: first case report from India.

    PubMed

    Venkatrajaiah, N; Kalbande, Sanjay H; Rao, G Vamshi Nandan; Reddy, V Chenna; Reddy, S Hiran; Rao, P Ragini; Babu, Kartheek; Keerthi, A

    2014-10-01

    Dioctophymatosis is an infestation by Dioctophyma renalis (the giant kidney worm), a relatively uncommon parasitic roundworm that infects carnivorous mammals. Since the early 1900s, dioctophymatosis has been confirmed in < 20 humans worldwide. A 70-year-old man attended our Hospital, complaining of having expelled 2 large worms while urination along with haematuria 2 days post-admission. On MR UROGRAM we confirmed it as dioctophyma renale.wet mount preparation of urine under microscopy showed eggs specific for the parasite. On review of literature we found that this was the first case reported in india.

  6. Draft Genome Sequences of Lactobacillus equicursoris CIP 110162T and Lactobacillus sp. Strain CRBIP 24.137, Isolated from Thoroughbred Racehorse Feces and Human Urine, Respectively.

    PubMed

    Cousin, Sylvie; Loux, Valentin; Ma, Laurence; Creno, Sophie; Clermont, Dominique; Bizet, Chantal; Bouchier, Christiane

    2013-08-22

    We report the draft genome sequences of strain Lactobacillus equicursoris CIP 110162(T), isolated from racehorse breed feces, and Lactobacillus sp. strain CRBIP 24.137, isolated from human urine; the two strains are closely related. The total lengths of the 116 and 62 scaffolds are about 2.157 and 2.358 Mb, with G+C contents of 46 and 45% and 2,279 and 2,342 coding sequences (CDSs), respectively.

  7. Potential Impacts of Spilled Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Chemicals on Water Resources: Types, volumes, and physical-chemical properties of chemicals

    EPA Science Inventory

    Hydraulic fracturing (HF) fluid chemicals spilled on-site may impact drinking water resources. While chemicals generally make up <2% of the total injected fluid composition by mass, spills may have undiluted concentrations. HF fluids typically consist of a mixture of base flui...

  8. Growth optimisation of microalga mutant at high CO₂ concentration to purify undiluted anaerobic digestion effluent of swine manure.

    PubMed

    Cheng, Jun; Xu, Jiao; Huang, Yun; Li, Yuyou; Zhou, Junhu; Cen, Kefa

    2015-02-01

    Growth rate of the microalga Chlorella PY-ZU1 mutated by nuclear irradiation was optimised for use in the purification of undiluted anaerobic digestion effluent of swine manure (UADESM) with 3745 mg L(-1) chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 1135 mg L(-1) total nitrogen content. The problem of accessible carbon in UADESM was solved by continuous introduction of 15% (v/v) CO2. Adding phosphorus to UADESM and aeration of UADESM before inoculation both markedly reduced the lag phase of microalgal growth. In addition, the biomass yield and average growth rate of Chlorella PY-ZU1 increased significantly to 4.81 g L(-1) and 601.2 mg L(-1) d(-1), respectively, while the removal efficiencies of total phosphorus, COD and ammonia nitrogen increased to 95%, 79% and 73%, respectively. Thus, the findings indicate that Chlorella PY-ZU1 can be used for effective purification of UADESM, while the biomass can be safely used as animal feed supplement. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Dual-opposite multi-walled carbon nanotube modified carbon fiber microelectrode for microfluidic chip-capillary electrophoresis determination of methyl parathion metabolites in human urine.

    PubMed

    Du, Fuying; Fung, Ying-Sing

    2018-06-01

    Methyl parathion (MP) is a highly toxic organophosphate and its exposure may lead to substantial adverse effects to human health. The existence of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) in the form of free phenol, glucuronide (4-NP-G) or as a sulfate ester (4-NP-S) can be used as biomarkers to assess the duration and extent of MP exposure. In this work, a MC-CE device incorporating post-CE amperometric detection using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) modified carbon fiber microelectrode (CFME) was fabricated and assessed for simultaneous determination of 4-NP, 4-NP-G, and 4-NP-S in human urine. The detection sensitivity and stability was greatly enhanced by the modification of MWNTs. The capability of the MC-CE device with dual MWNTs modified CFME for detecting impurity was assessed and reliability established by high recoveries from 95 to 97% for spiked MP biomarkers. The method developed is shown to provide a simple, sensitive, and reliable means for monitoring 4-NP, 4-NP-G, and 4-NP-S in human urine. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  10. A simple high performance liquid chromatography method for determination of rebamipide in rat urine.

    PubMed

    Cooper, Dustin L; Harirforoosh, Sam

    2014-01-01

    Rebamipide is a mucoprotective agent commonly used to prevent nonsteriodal anti-inflammatory drug-induced gastrointenstinal side effects [1]. Human plasma and urine analysis of rebamipide utilizing high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) have been reported [2]. Recently, we reported on the plasma levels of rebamipide in presense or absence of celecoxib or diclofenac in rats [3] using a modified HPLC method of detection developed by Jeoung et al. [4]. To tailor the method towards use in urinary rebamipide extraction and analysis, the following modifications were made:•To compensate for high concentrations of rebamipide found in urine, a new rebamipide stock solution was prepared with a final concentration of 50,000 ng/mL.•Rat urine calibration standards were obtained within the range of 50-1000 ng/mL and 1000-50,000 ng/mL.•Plasma samples were replaced with urine samples.

  11. Human exposure to arsenic from drinking water in Vietnam.

    PubMed

    Agusa, Tetsuro; Trang, Pham Thi Kim; Lan, Vi Mai; Anh, Duong Hong; Tanabe, Shinsuke; Viet, Pham Hung; Berg, Michael

    2014-08-01

    Vietnam is an agricultural country with a population of about 88 million, with some 18 million inhabitants living in the Red River Delta in Northern Vietnam. The present study reports the chemical analyses of 68 water and 213 biological (human hair and urine) samples conducted to investigate arsenic contamination in tube well water and human arsenic exposure in four districts (Tu Liem, Dan Phuong, Ly Nhan, and Hoai Duc) in the Red River Delta. Arsenic concentrations in groundwater in these areas were in the range of <1 to 632 μg/L, with severe contamination found in the communities Ly Nhan, Hoai Duc, and Dan Phuong. Arsenic concentrations were markedly lowered in water treated with sand filters, except for groundwater from Hoai Duc. Human hair samples had arsenic levels in the range of 0.07-7.51 μg/g, and among residents exposed to arsenic levels ≥50 μg/L, 64% of them had hair arsenic concentrations higher than 1 μg/g, which is a level that can cause skin lesions. Urinary arsenic concentrations were 4-435 μg/g creatinine. Concentrations of arsenic in hair and urine increased significantly with increasing arsenic content in drinking water, indicating that drinking water is a significant source of arsenic exposure for these residents. The percentage of inorganic arsenic (IA) in urine decreased with age, whereas the opposite trend was observed for monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) in urine. Significant co-interactions of age and arsenic exposure status were also detected for concentrations of arsenic in hair and the sum of IA, MMA, and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) in urine and %MMA. In summary, this study demonstrates that a considerable proportion of the Vietnamese population is exposed to arsenic levels of chronic toxicity, even if sand filters reduce exposure in many households. Health problems caused by arsenic ingestion through drinking water are increasingly reported in Vietnam. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Quantitative analysis of unconjugated and total bisphenol A in human urine using solid-phase extraction and UPLC-MS/MS: method implementation, method qualification and troubleshooting.

    PubMed

    Buscher, Brigitte; van de Lagemaat, Dick; Gries, Wolfgang; Beyer, Dieter; Markham, Dan A; Budinsky, Robert A; Dimond, Stephen S; Nath, Rajesh V; Snyder, Stephanie A; Hentges, Steven G

    2015-11-15

    The aim of the presented investigation was to document challenges encountered during implementation and qualification of a method for bisphenol A (BPA) analysis and to develop and discuss precautions taken to avoid and to monitor contamination with BPA during sample handling and analysis. Previously developed and published HPLC-MS/MS methods for the determination of unconjugated BPA (Markham et al. Journal of Analytical Toxicology, 34 (2010) 293-303) [17] and total BPA (Markham et al. Journal of Analytical Toxicology, 38 (2014) 194-203) [20] in human urine were combined and transferred into another laboratory. The initial method for unconjugated BPA was developed and evaluated in two independent laboratories simultaneously. The second method for total BPA was developed and evaluated in one of these laboratories to conserve resources. Accurate analysis of BPA at sub-ppb levels is a challenging task as BPA is a widely used material and is ubiquitous in the environment at trace concentrations. Propensity for contamination of biological samples with BPA is reported in the literature during sample collection, storage, and/or analysis. Contamination by trace levels of BPA is so pervasive that even with extraordinary care, it is difficult to completely exclude the introduction of BPA into biological samples and, consequently, contamination might have an impact on BPA biomonitoring data. The applied UPLC-MS/MS method was calibrated from 0.05 to 25ng/ml. The limit of quantification was 0.1ng/ml for unconjugated BPA and 0.2ng/ml for total BPA, respectively, in human urine. Finally, the method was applied to urine samples derived from 20 volunteers. Overall, BPA can be analyzed in human urine with acceptable recovery and repeatability if sufficient measures are taken to avoid contamination throughout the procedure from sample collection until UPLC-MS/MS analysis. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Metabolite characterization of a novel sedative drug, remimazolam in human plasma and urine using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with synapt high-definition mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Zhou, Ying; Hu, Pei; Jiang, Ji

    2017-04-15

    Remimazolam is a new chemical entity belonging to the benzodiazepine class of sedative drugs, which shows faster-acting onset and recovery than currently available short-acting sedatives. In the present study, ultra high performance liquid chromatography with synapt high-definition mass spectrometry method combined with MassLynx software was established to characterize metabolites of remimazolam in human plasma and urine. In total, 5 human metabolites were detected, including 3 phase I and 2 phase II metabolites. There was no novel human metabolite detected compared to that in rat. Hydrolysis, glucuronidation and oxidation were the major metabolic reactions. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the human metabolic profile of remimazolam. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Fully electronic urine dipstick probe for combinatorial detection of inflammatory biomarkers

    PubMed Central

    Kamakoti, Vikramshankar; Kinnamon, David; Choi, Kang Hyeok; Jagannath, Badrinath; Prasad, Shalini

    2018-01-01

    Aim: An electrochemical urine dipstick probe biosensor has been demonstrated using molybdenum electrodes on nanoporous polyamide substrate for the quantitative detection of two inflammatory protein biomarkers, CRP and IL-6. Materials & methods: The electrode interface was characterized using ζ-potential and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Detection of biomarkers was demonstrated by measuring impedance changes associated with the dose concentrations of the two biomarkers. A proof of feasibility of point-of-care implementation of the biosensor was demonstrated using a portable electronics platform. Results & conclusion: Limit of detection of 1 pg/ml was achieved for CRP and IL-6 in human urine and synthetic urine buffers. The developed portable hardware demonstrated close correlation with benchtop equipment results. PMID:29796304

  15. Temporary Urine and Brine Stowage System (TUBSS) Development

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dries, Kevin; Carrigan, Caitlin

    2011-01-01

    International Space Station (ISS) crew liquid human waste is treated with chromic and sulfuric acids to maintain stability prior to processing to recover water. This pre-treated urine (PTU) and its processed by-product, brine, are highly toxic fluids that require special containment for on-orbit stowage. The temporary urine and brine stowage syste m (TUBSS) is an assembly used to store and transfer pre-treated urine (PTU) and brine for processing or disposal at a later date. This paper describes the development of the TUBSS, including design for two-fault tolerance and materials selection to maintain a soft, collapsible container. In addition, this paper will provide results of testing as well as lessons learned from the project, culminating in the successful launch of the hardware.

  16. Effects of conventional and new peritoneal dialysis solutions on human peritoneal mesothelial cell viability and proliferation.

    PubMed

    Ha, H; Yu, M R; Choi, H N; Cha, M K; Kang, H S; Kim, M H; Lee, H B

    2000-01-01

    To investigate the biocompatibility of "new" peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions with bicarbonate/lactate buffer, non glucose osmotic agents (icodextrin or amino acids), neutral pH, and low levels of glucose degradation products (GDPs). Using M199 culture medium as a control, we compared conventional and new PD solutions with respect to their effects on the viability of human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMCs) [using lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release], on DNA damage in HPMCs [using single-cell gel electrophoresis (Comet assay)], and on HPMC proliferation (using [3H]-thymidine incorporation). The experiments were performed after cell growth was synchronized by incubation with serum-free media for 24 hours. The PD solutions tested included commercial 1.5% glucose and 4.25% glucose solutions with 40 mmol/L lactate (D 1.5 and D 4.25, respectively), 7.5% icodextrin (E), 1.1% amino acid (N), 1.5% glucose solution in a triple-chambered bag (Bio 1.5), 1.5% glucose solution in a dual-chambered bag with neutral pH (Bal 1.5), and 1.5% glucose and 4.25% glucose solution containing 25 mmol/L bicarbonate and 15 mmol/L lactate (P 1.5 and P 4.25, respectively). When HPMCs were continuously exposed to undiluted PD solutions, D 1.5, D 4.25, P 4.25, and E increased LDH release by more than 60% at 24 hours. All PD solutions tested increased LDH release by more than 75% at 96 hours. With 2-fold diluted PD solutions, only D 4.25 significantly increased LDH release at 96 hours, though not at 24 hours. When cells were exposed to undiluted PD solutions for 60 min and allowed to recover in M199 for up to 96 hours, LDH release was significantly higher at 24-96 hours in E (55%-69%) and D 1.5 (48%-72%) as compared with control [M199 (18%)]. Release of LDH was significantly lower with PD solutions containing lower levels of GDPs than those in D 1.5, suggesting that GDPs may have a role in cell viability. The D solutions (D 1.5 and D 4.25) and E solution also induced significant DNA damage. Both LDH release and DNA damage by D and E were significantly attenuated by adjusting the solution pH to 7.4, suggesting that low pH may be implicated in PD solution-induced DNA damage and cell death. When diluted 2-fold, D 1.5, D 4.25, and P 4.25 decreased [3H]-thymidine incorporation to 43%, 34%, and 41% of control, respectively, at 24 hours and to 45%, 26%, and 35% of control, respectively, at 96 hours. When cells were exposed to undiluted PD solutions for 5 minutes and allowed to recover in M199 for up to 96 hours, D1.5 and P 4.25--but not D 4.25--significantly inhibited cell proliferation at 24 hours. This effect was sustained up to 96 hours. The present in vitro data demonstrate that PD solutions with low pH, or high levels of GDPs, or both, promote HPMC death and DNA damage, and that PD solutions with high osmolality inhibit cell proliferation. Solutions with neutral pH, amino acids, and "low GDPs" appear to be more biocompatible than conventional PD solutions. These results require confirmation in in vivo animal and clinical studies.

  17. Comparative urinary androstanes in the great apes.

    PubMed

    Hagey, L R; Czekala, N M

    2003-01-01

    Urinary androstanes from seven species of male great apes (human, bonobo, chimpanzee, lowland gorilla, mountain gorilla, Bornean orangutan, and Sumatran orangutan) were separated by HPLC and detected by RIA using two testosterone antibodies. All animals examined showed the presence of testosterone and six additional immunoreactive peaks. Although testosterone was the dominant peak (85%) in human urine, its proportion in urine was much less in the other apes, ranging from a high of 59% in the bonobo and chimpanzee to a low of 24% in the mountain gorilla. Urinary androstanes were also directly visualized using nano-spray mass spectrometry (nanoESI-MS). Although the RIA can qualitatively produce a strong signal for testosterone in unchromatographed urine, it is quantitatively present only as a trace metabolite, as demonstrated by nanoESI-MS. The combination of the two techniques showed large differences in androstane metabolism between the seven species. A previously undescribed testosterone metabolite (tentatively identified as either delta1- or delta6-testosterone sulfate) was present in significant proportions in all of the non-human apes examined. We conclude that in the great apes, testosterone is only a trace metabolite in urine, and as a consequence, its measurement may not produce results that parallel the levels of serum testosterone. The RIA measurement of urinary testosterone in part records additional androstane metabolites, which vary even between closely related genera, making the results neither equivalent with nor comparable to different species.

  18. Quality assurance in the pre-analytical phase of human urine samples by (1)H NMR spectroscopy.

    PubMed

    Budde, Kathrin; Gök, Ömer-Necmi; Pietzner, Maik; Meisinger, Christine; Leitzmann, Michael; Nauck, Matthias; Köttgen, Anna; Friedrich, Nele

    2016-01-01

    Metabolomic approaches investigate changes in metabolite profiles, which may reflect changes in metabolic pathways and provide information correlated with a specific biological process or pathophysiology. High-resolution (1)H NMR spectroscopy is used to identify metabolites in biofluids and tissue samples qualitatively and quantitatively. This pre-analytical study evaluated the effects of storage time and temperature on (1)H NMR spectra from human urine in two settings. Firstly, to evaluate short time effects probably due to acute delay in sample handling and secondly, the effect of prolonged storage up to one month to find markers of sample miss-handling. A number of statistical procedures were used to assess the differences between samples stored under different conditions, including Projection to Latent Structure Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA), non-parametric testing as well as mixed effect linear regression analysis. The results indicate that human urine samples can be stored at 10 °C for 24 h or at -80 °C for 1 month, as no relevant changes in (1)H NMR fingerprints were observed during these time periods and temperature conditions. However, some metabolites most likely of microbial origin showed alterations during prolonged storage but without facilitating classification. In conclusion, the presented protocol for urine sample handling and semi-automatic metabolite quantification is suitable for large-scale epidemiological studies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Preparation of a molecularly imprinted sensor based on quartz crystal microbalance for specific recognition of sialic acid in human urine.

    PubMed

    Qiu, Xiuzhen; Xu, Xian-Yan; Chen, Xuncai; Wu, Yiyong; Guo, Huishi

    2018-05-08

    A novel molecularly imprinted quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor was successfully prepared for selective determination of sialic acid (SA) in human urine samples. To obtain the QCM sensor, we first modified the gold surface of the QCM chip by self-assembling of allylmercaptane to introduce polymerizable double bonds on the chip surface. Then, SA molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) nanofilm was attached to the modified QCM chip surface. For comparison, we have also characterized the nonmodified and improved surfaces of the QCM sensor by using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. We then tested the selectivity and detection limit of the imprinted QCM sensor via a series of adsorption experiments. The results show a linear response in the range of 0.025-0.50 μmol L -1 for sialic acid. Moreover, the limit of detection (LOD) of the prepared imprinted QCM sensor was found to be 1.0 nmol L -1 for sialic acid, and high recovery values range from 87.6 to 108.5% with RSD < 8.7 (n = 5) for the spiked urine sample obtained. Overall, this work presents how a novel QCM sensor was developed and used to detect sialic acid in human urine samples. Graphical abstract Specific recognition of sialic acid by the MIP-QCM sensor system.

  20. Investigation of anti-Hepatitis C virus, sofosbuvir and daclatasvir, in pure form, human plasma and human urine using micellar monolithic HPLC-UV method and application to pharmacokinetic study.

    PubMed

    Zidan, Dalia W; Hassan, Wafaa S; Elmasry, Manal S; Shalaby, Abdalla A

    2018-06-01

    Simultaneous determination of sofosbuvir (SOF), and daclatasvir (DAC) in their dosage forms, human urine and human plasma using simple and rapid micellar high performance liquid chromatographic method coupled with UV detection (HPLC-UV) had been developed and validated. These drugs are described as co-administered for treatment of Hepatitis C virus (HCV). HCV is the cause of Hepatitis C and some cancers such as liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) and lymphomas in humans. Separation and quantitation were carried out on anonyx™ C 8 monolithic (100 × 4.6 mm (i.d.) analytical column maintained at 25 °C. The mobile phase consisted of 0.1 M sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution containing 20% (V/V) n-propanolol and 0.3% (V/V) triethylamine and pH was adjusted to 6.5 using 0.02 M phosphoric acid, respectively. The retention times of SOF and DAC were 4.8 min, and 6.5 min, respectively. Measurements were made at flow rate of 0.5 mL/min with injection volume of 20 μL and ultraviolet (UV) detection at 226 nm. Linearity of SOF and DAC was obtained over concentration ranges of 50-400, and 40-400 ng/mL, respectively in pure form, 60-300 and 50-300 ng/mL, respectively for human plasma and over 50-400, and 40-400 ng/mL, respectively for human urine with correlation coefficient >0.999. The proposed method demonstrated excellent intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy. The suggested method was applied for determination of the drugs in pure, dosage form, and in real human plasma, real human urine and drug-dissolution test of their tablets. The obtained results have been statistically compared to reported method to give a conclusion that there is no significant differences. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. 75 FR 22150 - Current List of Laboratories Which Meet Minimum Standards To Engage in Urine Drug Testing for...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-04-27

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Current List of Laboratories Which Meet Minimum Standards To Engage in Urine Drug Testing for Federal Agencies Correction In notice document 2010-7170 beginning on page 16813 in the issue of Friday, April 2...

  2. Simultaneous determination of TPN729 and its five metabolites in human plasma and urine by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Liu, Yang; Shao, Shuguang; Song, Hanlin; Yao, Xueting; Liu, Jie; Liu, Hongzhong; Song, Ling; Jiang, Ji; Liu, Dongyang; Hu, Pei

    2018-03-20

    A specific and sensitive method was firstly developed using high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) to simultaneously quantify TPN729 and its metabolites (TPN729-D1, TPN729-D2, TPN729M15-3 and TPN729M3) in human plasma and (TPN729-D1, TPN729-D2, TPN729M15-3 and TPN729M14) in human urine. Protein precipitation and direct dilution were used to extract TPN729 and its metabolites from plasma and urine, respectively. Ionization of TPN729, TPN729-D1, TPN729-D2, TPN729M15-3, TPN729M3, TPN729M14 and sildenafil (internal standard, IS) was performed using an electrospray ionization (ESI) source in positive mode and detection was carried out with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. This assay method for TPN729 and its five metabolites has been fully validated in terms of sensitivity, linearity, lower limit of quantification (LLOQ), precision, accuracy, stability, matrix effect and recovery. The LLOQ of TPN729/TPN729-D1/TPN729-D2/TPN729M15-3/TPN729M3 in human plasma and TPN729/TPN729-D1/TPN729-D2/TPN729M15-3/TPN729M14 in human urine were 0.200/0.500/2.00/0.500/1.00 ng/mL and 4.00/2.50/10.0/2.50/1.00 ng/mL, respectively. Inter- and intra-batch precision of TPN729 and its metabolites were less than 15% and the accuracy was within ±15% for both plasma and urine. The extraction recoveries of all analytes at three concentration levels were consistent. In conclusion, the validation results showed that this method was robust, specific, and sensitive and it can successfully fulfill the requirement of clinical pharmacokinetic study of TPN729 in Chinese healthy subjects. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Hydrophilic interaction chromatography combined with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction as a preconcentration tool for the simultaneous determination of the panel of underivatized neurotransmitters in human urine samples.

    PubMed

    Konieczna, Lucyna; Roszkowska, Anna; Niedźwiecki, Maciej; Bączek, Tomasz

    2016-01-29

    A simple and sensitive method using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) followed by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) with a hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) column was developed for the simultaneous determination of 13 compounds of different polarities, comprising monoamine neurotransmitters (dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine and serotonin) along with their respective precursors and metabolites, in human urine samples. The microextraction procedure was based on the fast injection of a mixture of ethanol (disperser solvent) and dichloromethane (extraction solvent) into a human urine sample, forming a cloudy solution in the Eppendorf tube. After centrifugation, the sedimented phase was collected and subsequently analyzed by LC-HILIC-MS in about 12min without a derivatization step. The separation was performed on an XBridge Amide™ BEH column 3.0×100mm, 3.5mm and the mobile phase consisted of phase A: 10mM ammonium formate buffer in water pH 3.0 and phase B: 10 mM ammonium formate buffer in acetonitrile, under gradient program elution. Tyrosine, tryptophan, 5-hydroxytryptophan, dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, serotonin, 3-methoxytyramine, 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid, 3,4-dihydroxy-l-phenylalanine and norvaline (internal standard) were detected in the positive ionization mode. While vanillylmandelic acid, homovanillic acid, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and 3,4-dihydroxybenzylamine (internal standard) were detected in the negative ionization mode. Parameters influencing DLLME and LC-HILIC-MS were investigated. Under the optimum conditions, the proposed method exhibited a low detection limit (5-10ngmL(-1)), and good linearity with R between 0.9991 and 0.9998. The recoveries in human urine samples were 99.0%±3.6%. for the 13 studied biogenic amines with intra- and inter-day RSDs of 0.24-9.55% and 0.31-10.0%, respectively. The developed DLLME-LC-MS method could be successfully applied for the determination of trace amounts of polar endogenous compounds, such as neurotransmitters, in human urine samples, including samples with a reduced volume obtained from pediatric patients. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Human metabolism and renal excretion of selenium compounds after oral ingestion of sodium selenite and selenized yeast dependent on the trimethylselenium ion (TMSe) status.

    PubMed

    Jäger, Thomas; Drexler, Hans; Göen, Thomas

    2016-05-01

    A human in vivo metabolism study was carried out to investigate the impact of the trimethylselenium ion (TMSe) status on metabolism and toxicokinetics of sodium selenite and selenized yeast. Nine healthy human volunteers were orally exposed to 200 µg selenium as sodium selenite and seven with selenized yeast (100 µg selenium). In each intervention group, three subjects belong to TMSe eliminators. Blood samples were withdrawn before and up to 6 h after administration. Urine samples were collected before and within 24 h after administration. Total selenium (Se) was quantified in blood plasma and urine and low molecular Se species in urine. Selenium concentration in plasma increased from 84.5 ± 13.2 µg Se/L before to 97.4 ± 13.2 µg Se/L 2-3 h after selenite supplementation and 89.5 ± 12.9 µg Se/L to 92.1 ± 13.9 µg Se/L after selenized yeast intake. The oral ingestion caused an additional Se elimination via urine of 16.9 ± 10.6 µg/24 h (TMSe elim.: 10.8 ± 6.9 µg/24 h; non-TMSe elim.: 20.0 ± 11.3 µg Se/24 h) after selenite exposure and 11.8 ± 4.1 µg/24 h (TMSe elim.: 10.8 ± 4.6 µg/24 h; non-TMSe elim.: 12.6 ± 4.2 µg Se/24 h) after selenized yeast exposure. Methyl-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-1-seleno-β-D-galactopyranoside (SeSug1) was the main metabolite in all urine samples, whereas TMSe was another main metabolite in TMSe eliminators' urine. After selenite exposure, a small amount of the dose (0.5 ± 0.2 %) was oxidized to selenate and rapidly excreted via urine. With the exception of selenite exposure in TMSe eliminators, the comparison of total Se and the sum of quantified Se species revealed a high renal portion of unidentified species. The study indicated a different metabolism of inorganic and organic Se compounds in human, but also crucial differences of Se metabolism in TMSe eliminators and non-TMSe eliminators.

  5. GC-MS, LC-MS(n), LC-high resolution-MS(n), and NMR studies on the metabolism and toxicological detection of mesembrine and mesembrenone, the main alkaloids of the legal high "Kanna" isolated from Sceletium tortuosum.

    PubMed

    Meyer, Golo M J; Wink, Carina S D; Zapp, Josef; Maurer, Hans H

    2015-01-01

    Mesembrine and mesembrenone are the main alkaloids of Sceletium tortuosum, a plant species that was used for sedation and analgesia by the KhoiSan, previously known as Hottentots, a tribe in South Africa. After fermentation, the obtained preparation called "Kanna" or "Kougoed" was used by chewing, smoking, or sniffing. Today, Kanna gains popularity by drug users as legal high. For monitoring such consumption, metabolism studies are mandatory because the metabolites are mostly the analytical targets, especially in urine. Therefore, the metabolism of both alkaloids was investigated in rat urine and pooled human liver preparations after several sample work-up procedures. As both alkaloids were not commercially available, they were isolated from plant material by Soxhlet extraction, and their identity confirmed by NMR. The metabolites were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography coupled to linear ion trap high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HR-MS(n)). Both alkaloids were O- and N-demethylated, dihydrated, and/or hydroxylated at different positions. The phenolic metabolites were partly excreted as glucuronides and/or sulfates. Most of the phase I metabolites identified in rat urine could be detected also in the human liver preparations. After a common user's low dose application of mesembrine, mainly the O- and N demethyl-dihydro, hydroxy, and bis-demethyl-dihydro metabolites, and in case of mesembrenone only the N-demethyl and the N-demethyl-dihydro metabolite could be detected in rat urine using the authors' standard urine screening approaches (SUSA) by GC-MS or LC-MS(n). Thus, it should be possible to monitor a consumption of mesembrine and/or mesembrenone assuming similar pharmacokinetics in humans.

  6. Influence of multiple injections of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) on urine and serum endogenous steroids concentrations.

    PubMed

    Strahm, Emmanuel; Marques-Vidal, Pedro; Pralong, François; Dvorak, Jiri; Saugy, Martial; Baume, Norbert

    2011-12-10

    Since it is established that human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) affects testosterone production and release in the human body, the use of this hormone as a performance enhancing drug has been prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Nowadays, the only validated biomarker of a hCG doping is its direct quantification in urine. However, this specific parameter is subjected to large inter-individual variability and its determination is directly dependent on the reliability of hCG immunoassays used. In order to counteract these weaknesses, new biomarkers need to be evidenced. To address this issue, a pilot clinical study was performed on 10 volunteers submitted to 3 subsequent hCG injections. Blood and urine samples were collected during two weeks in order to follow the physiological effects on related compounds such as the steroid profile or hormones involved in the hypothalamo-pituitary axis. The hCG pharmacokinetic observed in all subjects was, as expected, prone to important inter-individual variations. Using ROC plots, level of testosterone and testosterone on luteinizing hormone ratio in both blood and urine were found to be the most relevant biomarker of a hCG abuse, regardless of inter-individual variations. In conclusion, this study showed the crucial importance of reliable quantification methods to assess low differences in hormonal patterns. In regard to these results and to anti-doping requirements and constraints, blood together with urine matrix should be included in the anti-doping testing program. Together with a longitudinal follow-up approach it could constitute a new strategy to detect a hCG abuse, applicable to further forms of steroid or other forbidden drug manipulation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Identification and analysis of a mercapturic acid conjugate of indole-3-methyl isothiocyanate in the urine of humans who consumed cruciferous vegetables.

    PubMed

    Upadhyaya, Pramod; Zarth, Adam T; Fujioka, Naomi; Fritz, Vincent A; Hecht, Stephen S

    2018-01-01

    Glucobrassicin, a quantitatively significant constituent of Brassica vegetables, gives rise to indole-3-carbinol (I3C) and its dimer di-indolylmethane (DIM) when the vegetables are chewed. I3C and DIM have been extensively studied with respect to their anti-carcinogenic properties. However, the presumed intermediate isothiocyanate in their formation, indole-3-methyl isothiocyanate (IMITC), has to our knowledge never been observed, despite the fact that isothiocyanates derived from cruciferous vegetables are known to have anti-carcinogenic properties. Therefore, we investigated the formation and presence in human urine of IMITC by analyzing for its N-acetylcysteine conjugate, IMITC-NAC, in order to gain a more complete understanding of the biochemical pathways leading to formation of I3C and DIM upon consumption of vegetables rich in glucobrassicin. Standard IMITC-NAC was synthesized and its structure confirmed by NMR and MS. IMITC-NAC was identified in extracts of Brussels sprouts chopped in the presence of N-acetylcysteine. An LC-ESI-MS/MS-SRM method for analysis of IMITC-NAC, with [ 13 C, 15 N]IMITC-NAC as internal standard, was developed and validated. Then, ten subjects (7 females) consumed a salad of Brussels sprouts and cabbage (containing 100-500μmol glucobrassicin) once daily for 3days. Urine was collected at intervals up to 24h after vegetable consumption. Levels of IMITC-NAC in the urine of these 10 subjects ranged from 0.2 to 30.2pmol/mL urine. These results provide the first evidence for the presumed intermediacy of IMITC in the formation of I3C and DIM in humans who consumed Brussels sprouts and cabbage as a source of glucobrassicin. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Quantitative determination of the anti-tumor agent tasquinimod in human urine by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    van de Merbel, Nico C; Walland, Peter; Tiensuu, Mikael; Sennbro, Carl J

    2014-06-15

    Tasquinimod is an anti-tumor drug that is currently in clinical development for the treatment of solid cancers. After oral administration, tasquinimod and a number of its metabolites are excreted in the urine. The quantitative determination of tasquinimod in urine is challenging because of the required sensitivity (down to 0.1nM or 40pg/mL), the highly variable nature of this biological matrix and the presence of potentially unstable metabolites, which may convert back to the parent drug. In this article, an LC-MS/MS method is described for the determination of tasquinimod in human urine in the concentration range 0.1-200nM. Liquid-liquid extraction with n-chlorobutane was used to extract tasquinimod from 100μL human urine and to remove interfering endogenous urinary constituents. Reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with an ESI source was used for quantification of tasquinimod in a 2.5-min run. A stable-isotope labeled internal standard was used for response normalization. The intra- and inter-day coefficients of variation (precision) as well as the bias (accuracy) of the method were below 7%. Although considerable conversion of conjugated tasquinimod metabolites back to parent drug was observed when incurred samples were stored at 37°C for a prolonged time, tasquinimod as well as its metabolites were sufficiently stable under all relevant sampling, storage and analysis conditions. The method was successfully applied to determine the urinary excretion of tasquinimod in healthy volunteers and patients with renal impairment after a 0.5-mg oral dose. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Ultrasound-assisted hydrolysis of conjugated parabens in human urine and their determination by UPLC-MS/MS and UPLC-HRMS.

    PubMed

    Schlittenbauer, Linda; Seiwert, Bettina; Reemtsma, Thorsten

    2016-02-01

    Parabens are preservatives widely used in personal care products, pharmaceutical formulations as well as in food, and they are considered endocrine disruptors. For application in biomonitoring studies we developed a method for the determination of eight parabens from human urine. Sample preparation was enhanced and simplified by the combination of ultrasound-assisted enzymatic hydrolysis of conjugates (glucuronide and sulfate) followed by an extraction-free cleanup step. Quantification, using deuterated parabens as internal standards, was performed by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled to either triple-quadrupole (UPLC-QqQ) or time-of-flight (UPLC-QqTOF) mass spectrometry. Full chromatographic separation of three butyl paraben isomers was achieved. Limits of quantification for both mass analyzers ranged from 0.1 to 0.5 μg/L for methyl, ethyl, n-/isopropyl, n-/isobutyl, and benzyl paraben in 200 μL of urine sample. The method was tested for applicability and showed high precision (intra- and interday 0.9-14.5%) as well as high accuracy (relative recovery 95-132%). A total of 39 urine samples were analyzed by both mass analyzers. The results agreed well, with a trend to higher deviation at low concentrations (less than 10 μg/L). Methyl, ethyl, and n-propyl paraben were detected most frequently (in more than 87% of the samples) with median concentrations ranging from 0.8 to 16.6 μg/L. Female urine showed higher median concentrations for all parabens, which may indicate higher exposure due to lifestyle. This method permits accurate and high-throughput analysis of parabens for epidemiological studies. Further, the UPLC-QqTOF approach provides additional information on human exposure to other compounds by post-acquisition analysis.

  10. Multiresidue determination of chlorophenoxy acid herbicides in human urine samples by use of solid-phase extraction and capillary LC-UV detection.

    PubMed

    Rosales-Conrado, N; León-González, M E; Pérez-Arribas, L V; Polo-Díez, L M

    2008-01-01

    Chlorophenoxy acid herbicides are intensively applied to get rid of unwanted plants because of their low cost and selectivity. Due to their toxicity, which depends on their chemical form, the European Community has established legal directives to restrict their use and to control their maximum residue levels in several matrices. Determination of chlorophenoxy acids-2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA), 2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)propanoic acid (2,4-DP), 2-(4-chloro-2-methylphenoxy)propanoic acid (MCPP), 4-(4-chloro-2-methylphenoxy)butanoic acid (MCPB) and 2-(2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy)propanoic acid (2,4,5-TP) in spiked human urine samples has been carried out by capillary LC, after solid-phase extraction on a column packed with silica C18 restricted-access material. Chromatographic analysis was performed in gradient-elution mode at 25 degrees C, with injection of 20 microL low-organic-solvent composition herbicide solutions for focusing purposes on the head of the capillary column, and diode array detection at 232 nm. Urine samples collected during 24 h from healthy and unexposed volunteers were spiked in the concentration range 25-150 microg L(-1); recoveries obtained were between 66 and 100% (n = 6 for each spiked level) and RSDs (relative standard deviations) were between 1 and 5%. Detection limits in the urine samples from volunteers were between 3.5 and 6.0 microg L(-1). The developed methodology has allowed the clean-up and preconcentration of low volumes of untreated human urine without previous treatment, showing the effectiveness of the employed SPE sorbent for extracting the target analytes and ultimately resulting in the reduction of the sample-preparation time.

  11. Application of statistical experimental design to the optimisation of microextraction by packed sorbent for the analysis of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in human urine by ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography.

    PubMed

    Magiera, Sylwia; Gülmez, Şefika; Michalik, Aleksandra; Baranowska, Irena

    2013-08-23

    A new approach based on microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS) and a reversed-phase ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) method was developed and validated for the determination and quantification of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (acetylsalicylic acid, ketoprofen, diclofenac, naproxen and ibuprofen) in human urine. The important factors that could influence the extraction were previously screened using the Plackett-Burman design approach. The optimal MEPS extraction conditions were obtained using C18 phase as a sorbent, small sample volume (20μL) and a short time period (approximately 5min) for the entire sample preparation step. The analytes were separated on a core-shell column (Poroshell 120 EC-C18; 100mm×3.0mm; 2.7μm) using a binary mobile phase composed of aqueous 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid and acetonitrile in the gradient elution mode (4.5min of analysis time). The analytical method was fully validated based on linearity, limits of detection (LOD), limits of quantification (LOQ), inter- and intra-day precision and accuracy, and extraction yield. Under optimised conditions, excellent linearity (R(2)>0.9991), limits of detection (1.07-16.2ngmL(-1)) and precision (0.503-9.15% RSD) were observed for the target drugs. The average absolute recoveries of the analysed compounds extracted from the urine samples were 89.4-107%. The proposed method was also applied to the analysis of NSAIDs in human urine. The new approach offers an attractive alternative for the analysis of selected drugs from urine samples, providing several advantages including fewer sample preparation steps, faster sample throughput and ease of performance compared to traditional methodologies. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of ketamine metabolites from dried urine and on-line quantification by supercritical fluid chromatography and single mass detection (on-line SFE-SFC-MS).

    PubMed

    Hofstetter, Robert; Fassauer, Georg M; Link, Andreas

    2018-02-15

    On-line solid-phase supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and chromatography (SFC) coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) has been evaluated for its usefulness with respect to metabolic profiling and pharmacological investigations of ketamine in humans. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a rapid, highly selective and sensitive SFE-SFC-MS method for the quantification of ketamine and its metabolites in miniature amounts in human urine excluding liquid-liquid extraction (LLE). Several conditions were optimized systematically following the requirements of the European Medicines Agency: selectivity, carry-over, calibration curve parameters (LLOQ, range and linearity), within- and between-run accuracy and precision, dilution integrity, matrix effect, and stability. The method, which required a relatively small volume of human urine (20 μL per sample), was validated for pharmacologically and toxicologically relevant concentrations ranging from 25.0 to 1000 ng/mL (r 2  > 0.995). The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) for all compounds was found to be as low as 0.5 ng. In addition, stability of analytes during removal of water from the urine samples using different conditions (filter paper or ISOLUTE® HM-N) was studied. In conclusion, the method developed in this study can be successfully applied to studies of ketamine metabolites in humans, and may pave the way for routine application of on-line SFE-SFC-MS in clinical investigations. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Development and validation of a sensitive liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric method for the simultaneous analysis of granisetron and 7-hydroxy granisetron in human plasma and urine samples: application in a clinical pharmacokinetic study in pregnant subject.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Yang; Chen, Hui-Jun; Caritis, Steve; Venkataramanan, Raman

    2016-02-01

    A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method for the quantification of granisetron and its major metabolite, 7-hydroxy granisetron in human plasma and urine samples was developed and validated. Respective stable isotopically labeled granisetron and 7-hydroxy granisetron were used as internal standards (IS). Chromatography was performed using an Xselect HSS T3 analytical column with a mobile phase of 20% acetonitrile in water (containing 0.2 mM ammonium formate and 0.14% formic acid, pH 4) delivered in an isocratic mode. Tandem mass spectrometry operating in positive electrospray ionization mode with multiple reaction monitoring was used for quantification. The standard curves were linear in the concentration ranges of 0.5-100 ng/mL for granisetron and 0.1-100 ng/mL for 7-hydroxy granisetron in human plasma samples, and 2-2000 ng/mL for granisetron and 2-1000 ng/mL for 7-hydroxy granisetron in human urine samples, respectively. The accuracies were >85% and the precision as determined by the coefficient of variations was <10%. No significant matrix effects were observed for granisetron or 7-hydroxy granisetron in either plasma or urine samples. Granisetron was stable under various storage and experimental conditions. This validated method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study after intravenous administration of 1 mg granisetron to a pregnant subject. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  14. Determination of a novel nonfluorinated quinolone, nemonoxacin, in human feces and its glucuronide conjugate in human urine and feces by high-performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    He, Gaoli; Guo, Beining; Yu, Jicheng; Zhang, Jing; Wu, Xiaojie; Cao, Guoying; Shi, Yaoguo; Tsai, Cheng-Yuan

    2015-05-01

    Three methods were developed and validated for determination of nemonoxacin in human feces and its major metabolite, nemonoxacin acyl-β- d-glucuronide, in human urine and feces. Nemonoxacin was extracted by liquid-liquid extraction in feces homogenate samples and nemonoxacin acyl-β- d-glucuronide by a solid-phase extraction procedure for pretreatment of both urine and feces homogenate sample. Separation was performed on a C18 reversed-phase column under isocratic elution with the mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid. Both analytes were determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with positive electrospray ionization in selected reaction monitoring mode and gatifloxacin as the internal standard. The lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) of nemonoxacin in feces was 0.12 µg/g and the calibration curve was linear in the concentration range of 0.12-48.00 µg/g. The LLOQ of the metabolite was 0.0010 µg/mL and 0.03 µg/g in urine and feces matrices, while the linear range was 0.0010-0.2000 µg/mL and 0.03-3.00 µg/g, respectively. Validation included selectivity, accuracy, precision, linearity, recovery, matrix effect, carryover, dilution integrity and stability, indicating that the methods can quantify the corresponding analytes with excellent reliability. The validated methods were successfully applied to an absolute bioavailability clinical study of nemonoxacin malate capsule. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  15. Three-phase molecularly imprinted sol-gel based hollow fiber liquid-phase microextraction combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for enrichment and selective determination of a tentative lung cancer biomarker.

    PubMed

    Moein, Mohammad Mahdi; Javanbakht, Mehran; Karimi, Mohammad; Akbari-Adergani, Behrouz; Abdel-Rehim, Mohamed

    2015-07-15

    In the present study, the modification of a polysulfone hollow fiber membrane with in situ molecularly imprinted sol-gel process (as a novel and one-step method) was prepared and investigated. 3-(propylmethacrylate)trimethoxysilane (3PMTMOS) as an inorganic precursor was used for preparation of molecularly imprinted sol-gel. The modified molecularly imprinted sol-gel hollow fiber membrane (MSHM) was used for the liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) of hippuric acid (HA) in human plasma and urine samples. MSHM as a selective, robust, and durable tool was used for at least 50 extractions without significant decrease in the extraction efficiency. The non-molecularly imprinted sol-gel hollow fiber membrane (NSHM) as blank hollow fiber membrane was prepared by the same process, only without HA. To achieve the best condition, influential parameters on the extraction efficiency were thoroughly investigated. The capability of this robust, green, and simple method for extraction of HA was successfully accomplished with LC/MS/MS. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) in human plasma and urine samples were 0.3 and 1.0nmolL(-1), respectively. The standard calibration curves were obtained within the concentration range 1-2000nmolL(-1) for HA in human plasma and urine. The coefficients of determination (r(2)) were ≥0.998. The obtained data exhibited recoveries were higher than 89% for the extraction of HA in human plasma and urine samples. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Comparison of osmolality and refractometric readings of Hispaniolan Amazon parrot (Amazona ventralis) urine.

    PubMed

    Brock, A Paige; Grunkemeyer, Vanessa L; Fry, Michael M; Hall, James S; Bartges, Joseph W

    2013-12-01

    To evaluate the relationship between osmolality and specific gravity of urine samples from clinically normal adult parrots and to determine a formula to convert urine specific gravity (USG) measured on a reference scale to a more accurate USG value for an avian species, urine samples were collected opportunistically from a colony of Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis). Samples were analyzed by using a veterinary refractometer, and specific gravity was measured on both canine and feline scales. Osmolality was measured by vapor pressure osmometry. Specific gravity and osmolality measurements were highly correlated (r = 0.96). The linear relationship between refractivity measurements on a reference scale and osmolality was determined. An equation was calculated to allow specific gravity results from a medical refractometer to be converted to specific gravity values of Hispaniolan Amazon parrots: USGHAp = 0.201 +0.798(USGref). Use of the reference-canine scale to approximate the osmolality of parrot urine leads to an overestimation of the true osmolality of the sample. In addition, this error increases as the concentration of urine increases. Compared with the human-canine scale, the feline scale provides a closer approximation to urine osmolality of Hispaniolan Amazon parrots but still results in overestimation of osmolality.

  17. Fluoride in drinking water and human urine in Southern Haryana, India.

    PubMed

    Singh, Bhupinder; Gaur, Shalini; Garg, V K

    2007-06-01

    The objective of this study was to determine the fluoride content in drinking water and urine samples of adolescent males aged 11-16 years living in Southern Haryana, India. A total of 30 drinking water sources in the studied habitations were assessed for fluoride contamination. Fluoride was estimated in the urine of 400 male children randomly selected from these habitations. The fluoride concentration in drinking water and urine samples was determined using USEPA fluoride ion selective electrode method. The mean fluoride concentration in drinking water samples of Pataudi, Haily Mandi and Harsaru villages was 1.68+/-0.35, 3.22+/-1.18 and 1.78+/-0.12 mg/l, respectively. The mean urinary fluoride concentration was 2.26+/-0.024 mg/l at Pataudi, 2.48+/-0.77 mg/l at Haily Mandi and 2.43+/-0.84 mg/l at Harsaru village. The higher fluoride levels in the urine of children may be associated to higher fluoride levels in drinking water. The accuracy of measurements was assessed with known addition method in water and urine. Mean fluoride recovery was 98.0 and 99.1% in water and urine. The levels obtained were reproducible with in +/-3% error limit.

  18. Multiplex analysis inflammatory cytokines in human blood, breath condensate, and urine matrices

    EPA Science Inventory

    Scientific evidence suggests that inflammation is associated with human health effects and health endpoints, yet most studies have focused on human populations that are already considered “unhealthy”.  As such, it is pertinent to measure inflammatory biomarkers in human biologica...

  19. Simultaneous quantification of major cannabinoids and metabolites in human urine and plasma by HPLC-MS/MS and enzyme-alkaline hydrolysis.

    PubMed

    Aizpurua-Olaizola, Oier; Zarandona, Iratxe; Ortiz, Laura; Navarro, Patricia; Etxebarria, Nestor; Usobiaga, Aresatz

    2017-04-01

    A high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method for simultaneous quantification of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), its two metabolites 11-hydroxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (11-OH-THC) and 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH), and four additional cannabinoids (cannabidiol (CBD), cannabigerol (CBG), tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), and cannabinol (CBN)) in 1 mL of human urine and plasma was developed and validated. The hydrolysis process was studied to ensure complete hydrolysis of glucuronide conjugates and the extraction of a total amount of analytes. Initially, urine and plasma blank samples were spiked with THC-COOH-glucuronide and THC-glucuronide, and four different pretreatment methods were compared: hydrolysis-free method, enzymatic hydrolysis with Escherichia Coli β-glucuronidase, alkaline hydrolysis with 10 M NaOH, and enzyme-alkaline tandem hydrolysis. The last approach assured the maximum efficiencies (close to 100%) for both urine and plasma matrices. Regarding the figures of merit, the limits of detection were below 1 ng/mL for all analytes, the accuracy ranged from 84% to 115%, and both within-day and between-day precision were lower than 12%. Finally, the method was successfully applied to real urine and plasma samples from cannabis users. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  20. Determination of vigabatrin in human plasma and urine by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection.

    PubMed

    Erturk, S; Aktas, E S; Atmaca, S

    2001-09-05

    A sensitive and specific HPLC method has been developed for the assay of vigabatrin in human plasma and urine. The assay involves derivatization with 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan, solid-phase extraction on a silica column and isocratic reversed-phase chromatography with fluorescence detection. Aspartam was used as an internal standard. The assay was linear over the concentration range of 0.2-20.0 microg/ml for plasma and 1.0-15.0 microg/ml for urine with a lower limit of detection of 0.1 microg/ml using 0.1 ml of starting volume of the sample. Both the within-day and day-to-day reproducibilities and accuracies were less than 5.46% and 1.6%, respectively. After a single oral dose of 500 mg of vigabatrin, the plasma concentration and the cumulative urinary excretion of the drug were determined.

  1. Is Urinary Cadmium a Biomarker of Long-term Exposure in Humans? A Review

    PubMed Central

    Kruse, Danielle; Harrington, James; Levine, Keith; Meliker, Jaymie R.

    2017-01-01

    Cadmium is a naturally-occurring element, and humans are exposed from cigarettes, food, and industrial sources. Following exposure, cadmium accumulates in the kidney and is slowly released into the urine, usually proportionally to the levels found in the kidneys. Cadmium levels in a single spot urine sample have been considered indicative of long-term exposure to cadmium; however, such a potentially exceptional biomarker requires careful scrutiny. In this review, we report good to excellent temporal stability of urinary cadmium (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.66–0.81) regardless of spot urine or first morning void sampling. Factors such as changes in smoking habits and diseases characterized by increased excretion of proteins may produce short-term changes in urinary cadmium levels. We recommend that epidemiologists use this powerful biomarker in prospective studies stratified by smoking status, along with thoughtful consideration of additional factors that can influence renal physiology and cadmium excretion. PMID:27696280

  2. Comparison of urinary excretion of radon from the human body before and after radon bath therapy.

    PubMed

    Kávási, Norbert; Kovács, Tibor; Somlai, János; Jobbágy, Viktor; Nagy, Katalin; Deák, Eszter; Berhés, István; Bender, Tamás; Ishikawa, Tetsuo; Tokonami, Shinji

    2011-07-01

    Theoretically, the human body absorbs radon through the lungs and the skin and excretes it through the lungs and the excretory organs during radon bath therapy. To check this theory, the radon concentrations in urine samples were compared before and after radon bath therapy. During the therapy, the geometric mean (GM) and the geometric standard deviation of the radon concentration in air and in the bath water were 979 Bq m(-3), 1.58 and 73.6 Bq dm(-3), 1.1, respectively. Since radon was detected in each urine sample (GM around 3.0 Bq dm(-3)), urinary excretion of radon was confirmed. The results of this study can neither reject nor confirm the hypothesis of radon absorption through the skin. A 15 times higher increment of inhaled radon level did not cause significant changes in radon of urine samples.

  3. Uncommon Human Urinary Tract Myiasis Due to Psychoda Sp. Larvae, Kashan, Iran: A Case Report.

    PubMed

    Rasti, Sima; Dehghani, Rouhullah; Khaledi, Hassan Naeimi; Takhtfiroozeh, Sayed Mahdi; Chimehi, Elahe

    2016-01-01

    Contamination of human and animal body tissues with flies' larvae and diptera cause myiasis. A 26 yr old female patient refers to Kashan Shahid Beheshti Hospital, central Iran because of urogenital infection, pain in the right part of stomach, smelly and reddish vaginal discharge and frequent urination. In the first checking, urine sample was taken. In the sample, active and alive larvae were seen. The live samples were taken to the Environmental Health Department Lab of Kashan University of Medical Sciences in clean glass jars. In the morphological survey, Psychoda sp larvae were identified. In Iran, this study is the first report of this species of larva that causes urinary myiasis. This fly larva is not carnivore or bloodsucker and feeds on bacterial agents. Observance of personal hygiene especially during defecation and urination is essential to prevent contamination of this type of myiasis.

  4. Detection of urinary creatinine using gold nanoparticles after solid phase extraction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sittiwong, Jarinya; Unob, Fuangfa

    2015-03-01

    Label-free gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were utilized in the detection of creatinine in human urine after a sample preparation by extraction of creatinine on sulfonic acid functionalized silica gel. With the proposed sample preparation method, the interfering effects of the urine matrix on creatinine detection by AuNPs were eliminated. Parameters affecting creatinine extraction were investigated. The aggregation of AuNPs induced by creatinine resulted in a change in the surface plasmon resonance signal with a concomitant color change that could be observed by the naked eye and quantified spectrometrically. The effect of AuNP concentration and reaction time on AuNP aggregation was investigated. The method described herein provides a determination of creatinine in a range of 15-40 mg L-1 with a detection limit of 13.7 mg L-1 and it was successfully used in the detection of creatinine in human urine samples.

  5. Automated on-line SPE LC-MS/MS method to quantitate 6beta-hydroxycortisol and cortisol in human urine: use of the 6beta-hydroxycortisol to cortisol ratio as an indicator of CYP3A4 activity.

    PubMed

    Barrett, Yu Chen; Akinsanya, Billy; Chang, Shu-Ying; Vesterqvist, Ole

    2005-07-25

    A sensitive method for quantitation of urinary 6beta-hydroxycortisol (6beta-HC) and cortisol using on-line SPE and LC-MS/MS was developed and validated. Human urine samples were injected directly onto an on-line solid phase extraction apparatus, Prospekt-2, followed by HPLC separation and electrospray triple quadrupole LC-MS/MS detection. The inter-day precision for the 6beta-HC:cortisol ratio was 7-9%. The lower limit of quantitation was 1 and 0.2 ng/mL for 6beta-HC and cortisol, respectively. Using the method we observed a diurnal variation on the 6beta-HC:cortisol ratio in healthy volunteers with the maximal ratio observed in the 2-10 pm urine collection period.

  6. [Enantioselectivity in the excretion of glucuronides of carprofen in man, dogs and horses].

    PubMed

    Delatour, P; Garnier, F; Maire, R

    1996-10-01

    After administration of the racemic drug, the stereoselective quantification of the enantiomers of free and conjugated carprofen was performed in human plasma and in plasma, urine and bile of dogs and horses. In humans, the plasma profile of free carprofen and its glucuronides is not stereoselective and the glucuronides excreted in urine are close to a racemate. In dogs and horses on the contrary, the R(-) enantiomer of the free drug is predominant in plasma, while urine and/or bile concentrations of the glucuronides are high in comparison to plasma with a strong selectivity for the S(+) enantiomer. Because glucuronidation of carprofen, as a carboxylic compound, is known to be the major metabolic pathway in most species, interspecies discrepancies in the stereoselective disposition of carprofen seem to be mainly related to the stereoselectivity in the excretion of the glucuronides. Finally, the high plasma concentrations of carprofen glucuronides in human in comparison to other animal species suggest that the former could be specifically subjected to immunological side effects in the time course of treatments by this type of compounds.

  7. Big angiotensin-25: a novel glycosylated angiotensin-related peptide isolated from human urine.

    PubMed

    Nagata, Sayaka; Hatakeyama, Kinta; Asami, Maki; Tokashiki, Mariko; Hibino, Hajime; Nishiuchi, Yuji; Kuwasako, Kenji; Kato, Johji; Asada, Yujiro; Kitamura, Kazuo

    2013-11-29

    The renin-angiotensin system (RAS), including angiotensin II (Ang II), plays an important role in the regulation of blood pressure and body fluid balance. Consequently, the RAS has emerged as a key target for treatment of kidney and cardiovascular disease. In a search for bioactive peptides using an antibody against the N-terminal portion of Ang II, we identified and characterized a novel angiotensin-related peptide from human urine as a major molecular form. We named the peptide Big angiotensin-25 (Bang-25) because it consists of 25 amino acids with a glycosyl chain and added cysteine. Bang-25 is rapidly cleaved by chymase to Ang II, but is resistant to cleavage by renin. The peptide is abundant in human urine and is present in a wide range of organs and tissues. In particular, immunostaining of Bang-25 in the kidney is specifically localized to podocytes. Although the physiological function of Bang-25 remains uncertain, our findings suggest it is processed from angiotensinogen and may represent an alternative, renin-independent path for Ang II synthesis in tissue. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  8. Quantification of six herbicide metabolites in human urine.

    PubMed

    Norrgran, Jessica; Bravo, Roberto; Bishop, Amanda M; Restrepo, Paula; Whitehead, Ralph D; Needham, Larry L; Barr, Dana B

    2006-01-18

    We developed a sensitive, selective and precise method for measuring herbicide metabolites in human urine. Our method uses automated liquid delivery of internal standards and acetate buffer and a mixed polarity polymeric phase solid phase extraction of a 2 mL urine sample. The concentrated eluate is analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Isotope dilution calibration is used for quantification of all analytes. The limits of detection of our method range from 0.036 to 0.075 ng/mL. The within- and between-day variation in pooled quality control samples range from 2.5 to 9.0% and from 3.2 to 16%, respectively, for all analytes at concentrations ranging from 0.6 to 12 ng/mL. Precision was similar with samples fortified with 0.1 and 0.25 ng/mL that were analyzed in each run. We validated our selective method against a less selective method used previously in our laboratory by analyzing human specimens using both methods. The methods produced results that were in agreement, with no significant bias observed.

  9. A Low Cost Device for Monitoring the Urine Output of Critical Care Patients

    PubMed Central

    Otero, Abraham; Palacios, Francisco; Akinfiev, Teodor; Apalkov, Andrey

    2010-01-01

    In critical care units most of the patients’ physiological parameters are sensed by commercial monitoring devices. These devices can also supervise whether the values of the parameters lie within a pre-established range set by the clinician. The automation of the sensing and supervision tasks has discharged the healthcare staff of a considerable workload and avoids human errors, which are common in repetitive and monotonous tasks. Urine output is very likely the most relevant physiological parameter that has yet to be sensed or supervised automatically. This paper presents a low cost patent-pending device capable of sensing and supervising urine output. The device uses reed switches activated by a magnetic float in order to measure the amount of urine collected in two containers which are arranged in cascade. When either of the containers fills, it is emptied automatically using a siphon mechanism and urine begins to collect again. An electronic unit sends the state of the reed switches via Bluetooth to a PC that calculates the urine output from this information and supervises the achievement of therapeutic goals. PMID:22163495

  10. A low cost device for monitoring the urine output of critical care patients.

    PubMed

    Otero, Abraham; Palacios, Francisco; Akinfiev, Teodor; Apalkov, Andrey

    2010-01-01

    In critical care units most of the patients' physiological parameters are sensed by commercial monitoring devices. These devices can also supervise whether the values of the parameters lie within a pre-established range set by the clinician. The automation of the sensing and supervision tasks has discharged the healthcare staff of a considerable workload and avoids human errors, which are common in repetitive and monotonous tasks. Urine output is very likely the most relevant physiological parameter that has yet to be sensed or supervised automatically. This paper presents a low cost patent-pending device capable of sensing and supervising urine output. The device uses reed switches activated by a magnetic float in order to measure the amount of urine collected in two containers which are arranged in cascade. When either of the containers fills, it is emptied automatically using a siphon mechanism and urine begins to collect again. An electronic unit sends the state of the reed switches via Bluetooth to a PC that calculates the urine output from this information and supervises the achievement of therapeutic goals.

  11. A device for automatically measuring and supervising the critical care patient's urine output.

    PubMed

    Otero, Abraham; Palacios, Francisco; Akinfiev, Teodor; Fernández, Roemi

    2010-01-01

    Critical care units are equipped with commercial monitoring devices capable of sensing patients' physiological parameters and supervising the achievement of the established therapeutic goals. This avoids human errors in this task and considerably decreases the workload of the healthcare staff. However, at present there still is a very relevant physiological parameter that is measured and supervised manually by the critical care units' healthcare staff: urine output. This paper presents a patent-pending device capable of automatically recording and supervising the urine output of a critical care patient. A high precision scale is used to measure the weight of a commercial urine meter. On the scale's pan there is a support frame made up of Bosch profiles that isolates the scale from force transmission from the patient's bed, and guarantees that the urine flows properly through the urine meter input tube. The scale's readings are sent to a PC via Bluetooth where an application supervises the achievement of the therapeutic goals. The device is currently undergoing tests at a research unit associated with the University Hospital of Getafe in Spain.

  12. Stability of miRNA in human urine supports its biomarker potential

    PubMed Central

    Mall, Christine; Rocke, David M; Durbin-Johnson, Blythe; Weiss, Robert H

    2013-01-01

    Aim miRNAs are showing utility as biomarkers in urologic disease, however, a rigorous evaluation of their stability in urine is lacking. Here, we evaluate the stability of miRNAs in urine under clinically relevant storage procedures. Materials & methods Eight healthy individuals provided clean catch urine samples that were stored at room temperature or at 4°C for 5 days, or subjected to ten freeze–thaw cycles at -80°C. For each condition, two miRNAs, miR-16 and miR-21, were quantitated by quantitative real-time PCR. Results All conditions demonstrated a surprising degree of stability of miRNAs in the urine: by the end of ten freeze–thaw cycles, 23–37% of the initial amount remained; over the 5-day period of storage at room temperature, 35% of the initial amount remained; and at 4°C, 42–56% of the initial amount remained. Both miRNAs also showed degradation at approximately the same rate. Conclusion miRNAs are relatively stable in urine under a variety of storage conditions, which supports their utility as urinary biomarkers. PMID:23905899

  13. Designer phenethylamines routinely found in human urine: 2-ethylamino-1-phenylbutane and 2-amino-1-phenylbutane.

    PubMed

    Uralets, Victor; App, Mike; Rana, Sumandeep; Morgan, Stewart; Ross, Wayne

    2014-03-01

    2-Ethylamino-1-phenylbutane (EAPB) and 2-amino-1-phenylbutane (APB) were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in multiple urine samples submitted for stimulant drug testing and screened positive for amphetamines by enzyme immunoassay. Forty-two samples from all over the USA were found, containing both analytes during a 3-month period May-July 2013. A sports dietary supplement 'CRAZE' has been determined to be one of the sources of EAPB supply. EAPB along with its suggested metabolite APB were detected in a urine sample, obtained from a person known to use 'CRAZE'.

  14. Smartphone based point-of-care detector of urine albumin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cmiel, Vratislav; Svoboda, Ondrej; Koscova, Pavlina; Provaznik, Ivo

    2016-03-01

    Albumin plays an important role in human body. Its changed level in urine may indicate serious kidney disorders. We present a new point-of-care solution for sensitive detection of urine albumin - the miniature optical adapter for iPhone with in-built optical filters and a sample slot. The adapter exploits smart-phone flash to generate excitation light and camera to measure the level of emitted light. Albumin Blue 580 is used as albumin reagent. The proposed light-weight adapter can be produced at low cost using a 3D printer. Thus, the miniaturized detector is easy to use out of lab.

  15. New psychoactive substances: Studies on the metabolism of XLR-11, AB-PINACA, FUB-PB-22, 4-methoxy-α-PVP, 25-I-NBOMe, and meclonazepam using human liver preparations in comparison to primary human hepatocytes, and human urine.

    PubMed

    Richter, Lilian H J; Maurer, Hans H; Meyer, Markus R

    2017-10-05

    New psychoactive substances (NPS) are an increasing problem in clinical and forensic toxicology. The knowledge of their metabolism is important for toxicological risk assessment and for developing toxicological urine screenings. Considering the huge numbers of NPS annually appearing on the market, metabolism studies should be realized in a fast, simple, cost efficient, and reliable way. Primary human hepatocytes (PHH) were recommended to be the gold standard for in vitro metabolism studies as they are expected to contain natural enzyme clusters, co-substrates, and drug transporters. In addition, they were already successfully used for metabolism studies of NPS. However, they also have disadvantages such as high costs and limited applicability without special equipment. The aims of the present study were therefore first to investigate exemplarily the phase I and phase II metabolism of six NPS (XLR-11, AB-PINACA, FUB-PB-22, 4-methoxy-α-PVP, 25-I-NBOMe, and meclonazepam) from different drug classes using pooled human S9 fraction (pS9) or pooled human liver microsomes combined with cytosol (pHLM/pHLC) after addition of the co-substrates for the main metabolic phase I and II reactions. Second to compare results to published data generated using primary human hepatocytes and human urine samples. Results of the incubations with pS9 or pHLM/pHLC were comparable in number and abundance of metabolites. Formation of metabolites, particularly after multi-step reactions needed a longer incubation time. However, incubations using human liver preparations resulted in a lower number of total detected metabolites compared to PHH, but they were still able to allow the identification of the main human urinary excretion products. Human liver preparations and particularly the pooled S9 fraction could be shown to be a sufficient and more cost-efficient alternative in context of metabolism studies also for developing toxicological urine screenings. It might be recommended to use the slightly cheaper pS9 fraction instead of a pHLM/pHLC combination. As formation of some metabolites needed a long incubation time, two sampling points at 60 and 360min should be recommended. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Identification of recombinant human EPO variants in greyhound plasma and urine by ELISA, LC-MS/MS and western blotting: a comparative study.

    PubMed

    Timms, Mark; Steel, Rohan; Vine, John

    2016-02-01

    The recombinant human erythropoietins epoetin alfa (Eprex®), darbepoetin (Aranesp®) and methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta (Mircera®) were administered to greyhounds for 7, 10 and 14 days respectively. Blood and urine samples were collected and analysed for erythropoietin by ELISA, LC-MS/MS and western blotting. Limits of confirmation in plasma for western blotting and LC-MS/MS methods ranged from a low of 2.5mIU/mL, and closely matched the sensitivity of ELISA screening. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  17. Microfluidic Device

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tai, Yu-Chong (Inventor); Kasdan, Harvey L. (Inventor); Zheng, Siyang (Inventor); Lin, Jeffrey Chun-Hui (Inventor)

    2016-01-01

    Described herein are particular embodiments relating to a microfluidic device that may be utilized for cell sensing, counting, and/or sorting. Particular aspects relate to a microfabricated device that is capable of differentiating single cell types from dense cell populations. One particular embodiment relates a device and methods of using the same for sensing, counting, and/or sorting leukocytes from whole, undiluted blood samples.

  18. Microfluidic Device

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zheng, Siyang (Inventor); Lin, Jeffrey Chun-Hui (Inventor); Kasdan, Harvey (Inventor); Tai, Yu-Chong (Inventor)

    2015-01-01

    Described herein are particular embodiments relating to a microfluidic device that may be utilized for cell sensing, counting, and/or sorting. Particular aspects relate to a microfabricated device that is capable of differentiating single cell types from dense cell populations. One particular embodiment relates a device and methods of using the same for sensing, counting, and/or sorting leukocytes from whole, undiluted blood samples.

  19. Microfluidic Device

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tai, Yu-Chong (Inventor); Zheng, Siyang (Inventor); Lin, Jeffrey Chun-Hui (Inventor); Kasdan, Harvey L. (Inventor)

    2017-01-01

    Described herein are particular embodiments relating to a microfluidic device that may be utilized for cell sensing, counting, and/or sorting. Particular aspects relate to a microfabricated device that is capable of differentiating single cell types from dense cell populations. One particular embodiment relates a device and methods of using the same for sensing, counting, and/or sorting leukocytes from whole, undiluted blood samples.

  20. Enantioselective determination of metoprolol and its metabolites in human urine high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS).

    PubMed

    Baranowska, Irena; Adolf, Weronika; Magiera, Sylwia

    2015-11-01

    A sensitive, stereoselective assay using solid phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection (FLD) was developed and validated for the analysis of enantiomers of metoprolol and its metabolites (α-hydroxymetoprolol, O-desmethylmetoprolol). Chiral separation was achieved using a CHIRALCEL OD-RH column, packed with cellulose tris-(3,5-dimethylphenyl-carbamate) stationary phase, employing a mobile phase composed by a mixture of 0.2% diethylamine in water and acetonitrile in gradient elution mode. Linear calibration curves were obtained over the range of 0.025-2.0μg/mL (R(2)>0.994) in urine for both enantiomers of metoprolol and its metabolites with quantitation limit of 0.025μg/mL. Intra and inter-day precision and accuracy were below 15% for both metoprolol and metabolites enantiomers. The recovery of enantiomer of metoprolol and its metabolite was greater than 68.0%, utilizing a SPE procedure. The method was tested with urine quality control samples and human urine fractions after administration of 50mg rac-metoprolol. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Validation and Application of a Simple UHPLC–MS-MS Method for the Enantiospecific Determination of Warfarin in Human Urine

    PubMed Central

    Alshogran, Osama Y.; Ocque, Andrew J.; Leblond, François A.; Pichette, Vincent; Nolin, Thomas D.

    2016-01-01

    A simple and rapid liquid chromatographic–tandem mass spectrometric method has been developed and validated for the enantiospecific determination of R- and S-warfarin in human urine. Warfarin enantiomers were extracted from urine using methyl tert-butyl ether. Chromatographic separation of warfarin enantiomers and the internal standard d5-warfarin was achieved using a Astec Chirobiotic V column with gradient mobile phase at a flow rate of 400 µL/min over 10 min. Detection was performed on a TSQ Quantum Ultra triple quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with a heated electrospray ionization source. Analytes were detected in negative ionization mode using selected reaction monitoring. Calibration curves were linear with a correlation coefficient of ≥0.996 for both enantiomers over a concentration range of 5–500 ng/mL. The intra- and interday accuracy and precision for both analytes were within ±9.0%. Excellent extraction efficiency and negligible matrix effects were observed. The applicability of the method was demonstrated by successful measurement of warfarin enantiomers in urine of patients with kidney disease. The method is simple, accurate and reproducible and is currently being used to support warfarin pharmacokinetic studies. PMID:26657732

  2. Se status in normal and pathological human individuals before and after Se supplementation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bellisola, G.; Cinque, G.; Galassini, S.; Guidi, G. C.; Liu, N. Q.; Moschini, G.

    1996-04-01

    The determination of selenium in plasma and in urine samples has been suggested for the assessment of Se status in human individuals. The kidney is of fundamental importance in Se homeostasis: with low Se intake its excretion will be decreased and with high Se intake it will be increased. In 21 patients with kidney disease (8 with normal kidney function and 13 with moderate renal failure) Se was measured in 1 ml of urine by PIXE after preconcentration of the sample. The total urine volume was measured to calculate total daily Se excretion. The same procedure was applied to 14 normal individuals for comparison. All individuals were then supplemented orally with selenite for 8 weeks (Se = 600 μg/day) and the procedure was repeated. The behaviour of the major selenoproteins was also investigated by measuring glutathione peroxidase activities in plasma, in platelets and in erythrocyte samples. For renal function, serum and urine creatinine concentrations were utilised and creatinine clearances were calculated. Results obtained were compared before and after Se treatment and between groups. Some correlation studies were carried out between Se and kidney functions and/or selenoperoxidase activities.

  3. Mycotoxin Analysis of Human Urine by LC-MS/MS: A Comparative Extraction Study

    PubMed Central

    Escrivá, Laura; Font, Guillermina

    2017-01-01

    The lower mycotoxin levels detected in urine make the development of sensitive and accurate analytical methods essential. Three extraction methods, namely salting-out liquid–liquid extraction (SALLE), miniQuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe), and dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME), were evaluated and compared based on analytical parameters for the quantitative LC-MS/MS measurement of 11 mycotoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, AFG2, OTA, ZEA, BEA, EN A, EN B, EN A1 and EN B1) in human urine. DLLME was selected as the most appropriate methodology, as it produced better validation results for recovery (79–113%), reproducibility (RSDs < 12%), and repeatability (RSDs < 15%) than miniQuEChERS (71–109%, RSDs <14% and <24%, respectively) and SALLE (70–108%, RSDs < 14% and < 24%, respectively). Moreover, the lowest detection (LODS) and quantitation limits (LOQS) were achieved with DLLME (LODs: 0.005–2 μg L−1, LOQs: 0.1–4 μg L−1). DLLME methodology was used for the analysis of 10 real urine samples from healthy volunteers showing the presence of ENs B, B1 and A1 at low concentrations. PMID:29048356

  4. Development of urine standard reference materials for metabolites of organic chemicals including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phthalates, phenols, parabens, and volatile organic compounds.

    PubMed

    Schantz, Michele M; Benner, Bruce A; Heckert, N Alan; Sander, Lane C; Sharpless, Katherine E; Vander Pol, Stacy S; Vasquez, Y; Villegas, M; Wise, Stephen A; Alwis, K Udeni; Blount, Benjamin C; Calafat, Antonia M; Li, Zheng; Silva, Manori J; Ye, Xiaoyun; Gaudreau, Éric; Patterson, Donald G; Sjödin, Andreas

    2015-04-01

    Two new Standard Reference Materials (SRMs), SRM 3672 Organic Contaminants in Smokers' Urine (Frozen) and SRM 3673 Organic Contaminants in Non-Smokers' Urine (Frozen), have been developed in support of studies for assessment of human exposure to select organic environmental contaminants. Collaborations among three organizations resulted in certified values for 11 hydroxylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OH-PAHs) and reference values for 11 phthalate metabolites, 8 environmental phenols and parabens, and 24 volatile organic compound (VOC) metabolites. Reference values are also available for creatinine and the free forms of caffeine, theobromine, ibuprofen, nicotine, cotinine, and 3-hydroxycotinine. These are the first urine Certified Reference Materials characterized for metabolites of organic environmental contaminants. Noteworthy, the mass fractions of the environmental organic contaminants in the two SRMs are within the ranges reported in population survey studies such as the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS). These SRMs will be useful as quality control samples for ensuring compatibility of results among population survey studies and will fill a void to assess the accuracy of analytical methods used in studies monitoring human exposure to these organic environmental contaminants.

  5. Development of urine standard reference materials for metabolites of organic chemicals including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phthalates, phenols, parabens, and volatile organic compounds

    PubMed Central

    Schantz, Michele M.; Benner, Bruce A.; Heckert, N. Alan; Sander, Lane C.; Sharpless, Katherine E.; Vander Pol, Stacy S.; Vasquez, Y.; Villegas, M.; Wise, Stephen A.; Alwis, K. Udeni; Blount, Benjamin C.; Calafat, Antonia M.; Li, Zheng; Silva, Manori J.; Ye, Xiaoyun; Gaudreau, Éric; Patterson, Donald G.; Sjödin, Andreas

    2016-01-01

    Two new Standard Reference Materials (SRMs), SRM 3672 Organic Contaminants in Smokers’ Urine (Frozen) and SRM 3673 Organic Contaminants in Non-Smokers’ Urine (Frozen), have been developed in support of studies for assessment of human exposure to select organic environmental contaminants. Collaborations among three organizations resulted in certified values for 11 hydroxylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OH-PAHs) and reference values for 11 phthalate metabolites, 8 environmental phenols and parabens, and 24 volatile organic compound (VOC) metabolites. Reference values are also available for creatinine and the free forms of caffeine, theobromine, ibuprofen, nicotine, cotinine, and 3-hydroxycotinine. These are the first urine Certified Reference Materials characterized for metabolites of organic environmental contaminants. Noteworthy, the mass fractions of the environmental organic contaminants in the two SRMs are within the ranges reported in population survey studies such as the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS). These SRMs will be useful as quality control samples for ensuring compatibility of results among population survey studies and will fill a void to assess the accuracy of analytical methods used in studies monitoring human exposure to these organic environmental contaminants. PMID:25651899

  6. Human urine-based therapeutics in Spain from the early 20th century to the present: a historical literature overview and a present-day case study.

    PubMed

    Vallejo, José Ramón; Aparicio Mena, Alfonso J; González, José Antonio

    2017-06-01

    Human urine is currently the subject of biomedical investigations as a potential therapeutic resource and it continues to be used in remedies in different cultures and societies, including the Spanish culture. In this study we gather etnomedical knowledge about urotherapy and determine their associated symbolisms in Spain. A literature overview and a case study were carried out to compile urine-based remedies and as a direct analysis of symbolic systems. Urotherapy is widespread in Spanish folk medicine. Among the 204 collected remedies, those related to treatment of diseases or skin conditions predominate (63%). Remedies have been reported for the treatment of skin diseases such as eczema, chloasma, alopecia, etc. to treat or alleviate burns, chilblains, wounds or skin chapping, and as a treatment of venomous bites. Most of the collected remedies have an associated naturalist symbolism, based on local traditions and the transmission of empirical initial knowledge. The use of urine in Spain is a result of the interaction of two types of practice: a local and traditional urotherapy, rural and with a utilitarian purpose, and a technical urotherapy, limited to an urban environment and a naturopathic medicine.

  7. Cross-reactivity of stimulants found in sports drug testing by two fluorescence polarization immunoassays.

    PubMed

    de la Torre, R; Badia, R; Gonzàlez, G; García, M; Pretel, M J; Farré, M; Segura, J

    1996-01-01

    We investigated the usefulness of immunological methods for presumptive detection of stimulants found in sports drug testing. The ingestion of substances that show no cross-reactivity in tests commercially available for the detection of amphetamines can produce positive results in the urine. Human metabolism contributes to the positive results of some urine samples when the parent compound does not cross-react with the antibodies of the assay. Urine samples from healthy volunteers given stimulants were tested by chromatographic methods and by two different fluorescence polarization immunoassays (FPIA) from Abbott Laboratories for the analysis of amphetamines. According to the results obtained, we classified stimulants into four groups: detectable stimulants that gave rise to amphetamine by human metabolism (group 1); detectable ephedrines and related compounds, appearing in the urine either as parent compounds or originated by metabolism (group 2); detectable stimulants that displayed actual cross-reactivity with amphetamine tests (group 3); and stimulants not detected by FPIA (group 4). Most of the true doping cases due to the ingestion of stimulants may be detected by FPIA. The specificity of the results may be increased by combining immunological assays with different antibodies.

  8. Urine Pretreatment History and Perspective in NASA Human Spaceflight

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Anderson, Molly; Adam, Niklas; Chambers, Antja; Broyan, James

    2015-01-01

    Urine pretreatment is a technology that may seem to have small mass impacts in future spaceflight missions, but can have significant impacts on reliability, life, and performance of the rest of the wastewater management and recovery systems. NASA has experience with several different urine pretreatment systems, including those flow on the space shuttle, evaluated for NASA waste collection systems or used in Russian commodes on ISS, or developed by NASA or industry as alternatives. Each has had unique requirements for shelf life, operational life, and the life or conditions of the stored, treated urine. Each was evaluated under different test conditions depending on mission, and depending on testing experience developed over NASA's history. Those that were flown led to further lessons learned about hardware compatibility and control. As NASA looks forward to human spaceflight missions beyond low Earth orbit, these techniques need to be evaluated in new light. Based on published design reference missions, candidate requirements can be derived for future systems. Initial comparisons between these requirements and previous performance or test results can be performed. In many cases these comparisons reveal data gaps. Successful previous performance is not enough to address current needs.

  9. Extraction and Determination of Cyproheptadine in Human Urine by DLLME-HPLC Method

    PubMed Central

    Maham, Mehdi; Kiarostami, Vahid; Waqif-Husain, Syed; Abroomand-Azar, Parviz; Tehrani, Mohammad Saber; Khoeini Sharifabadi, Malihe; Afrouzi, Hossein; Shapouri, MahmoudReza; Karami-Osboo, Rouhollah

    2013-01-01

    Novel dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME), coupled with high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection (HPLC-DAD) has been applied for the extraction and determination of cyproheptadine (CPH), an antihistamine, in human urine samples. In this method, 0.6 mL of acetonitrile (disperser solvent) containing 30 μL of carbon tetrachloride (extraction solvent) was rapidly injected by a syringe into 5 mL urine sample. After centrifugation, the sedimented phase containing enriched analyte was dissolved in acetonitrile and an aliquot of this solution injected into the HPLC system for analysis. Development of DLLME procedure includes optimization of some important parameters such as kind and volume of extraction and disperser solvent, pH and salt addition. The proposed method has good linearity in the range of 0.02-4.5 μg mL-1 and low detection limit (13.1 ng mL-1). The repeatability of the method, expressed as relative standard deviation was 4.9% (n = 3). This method has also been applied to the analysis of real urine samples with satisfactory relative recoveries in the range of 91.6-101.0%. PMID:24250605

  10. Pharmacokinetics of [14C]Abacavir, a Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor, Administered in a Single Oral Dose to HIV-1-Infected Adults: a Mass Balance Study

    PubMed Central

    McDowell, James A.; Chittick, Gregory E.; Ravitch, Joshua R.; Polk, Ronald E.; Kerkering, Thomas M.; Stein, Daniel S.

    1999-01-01

    Abacavir (1592U89) {(−)-(1S, 4R)-4-[2-amino-6-(cyclopropylamino)-9H-purin-9-yl]-2-cyclopentene-1-methanol} is a 2′-deoxyguanosine analogue with potent activity against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1. To determine the metabolic profile, routes of elimination, and total recovery of abacavir and metabolites in humans, we undertook a phase I mass balance study in which six HIV-infected male volunteers ingested a single 600-mg oral dose of abacavir including 100 μCi of [14C]abacavir. The metabolic disposition of the drug was determined through analyses of whole-blood, plasma, urine, and stool samples, collected for a period of up to 10 days postdosing, and of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), collected up to 6 h postdosing. The radioactivity from abacavir and its two major metabolites, a 5′-carboxylate (2269W93) and a 5′-glucuronide (361W94), accounted for the majority (92%) of radioactivity detected in plasma. Virtually all of the administered dose of radioactivity (99%) was recovered, with 83% eliminated in urine and 16% eliminated in feces. Of the 83% radioactivity dose eliminated in the urine, 36% was identified as 361W94, 30% was identified as 2269W93, and 1.2% was identified as abacavir; the remaining 15.8% was attributed to numerous trace metabolites, of which <1% of the administered radioactivity was 1144U88, a minor metabolite. The peak concentration of abacavir in CSF ranged from 0.6 to 1.4 μg/ml, which is 8 to 20 times the mean 50% inhibitory concentration for HIV clinical isolates in vitro (0.07 μg/ml). In conclusion, the main route of elimination for oral abacavir in humans is metabolism, with <2% of a dose recovered in urine as unchanged drug. The main route of metabolite excretion is renal, with 83% of a dose recovered in urine. Two major metabolites, the 5′-carboxylate and the 5′-glucuronide, were identified in urine and, combined, accounted for 66% of the dose. Abacavir showed significant penetration into CSF. PMID:10582871

  11. Human excreta for plant production.

    PubMed

    Heinonen-Tanski, Helvi; van Wijk-Sijbesma, Christine

    2005-03-01

    Human excreta are a natural resource which is always available in all societies. Unfortunately, their value is highly underestimated in present agriculture and horticulture including in many tropical developing countries. Especially human urine is rich in nitrogen. This "free" fertiliser should be used as much as possible and needed. In many cases, human urine and composted human faeces could be fortified with wood ash and kitchen and garden waste to meet the potassium and phosphorus needs of plants and to improve soil structure. Avoiding health risks and dosage requirements are also discussed. The ideas presented here can be used even with the cheap pit latrines that are common in the rural and peri-urban areas of developing countries. They do not require electricity and/or tap water. They may also fit conditions in areas of Eastern Europe where piped water and sewerage are absent and/or people lack money for fertilisers and maintenance of wastewater treatment plants.

  12. Microdevice for plasma separation from whole human blood using bio-physical and geometrical effects

    PubMed Central

    Tripathi, Siddhartha; Kumar, Y. V. BalaVarun; Agrawal, Amit; Prabhakar, Amit; Joshi, Suhas S.

    2016-01-01

    In this research work, we present a simple and efficient passive microfluidic device for plasma separation from pure blood. The microdevice has been fabricated using conventional photolithography technique on a single layer of polydimethylsiloxane, and has been extensively tested on whole blood and enhanced (upto 62%) hematocrit levels of human blood. The microdevice employs elevated dimensions of about 100 μm; such elevated dimensions ensure clog-free operation of the microdevice and is relatively easy to fabricate. We show that our microdevice achieves almost 100% separation efficiency on undiluted blood in the flow rate range of 0.3 to 0.5 ml/min. Detailed biological characterization of the plasma obtained from the microdevice is carried out by testing: proteins by ultra-violet spectrophotometric method, hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) hormone, and conducting random blood glucose test. Additionally, flow cytometry study has also been carried on the separated plasma. These tests attest to the high quality of plasma recovered. The microdevice developed in this work is an outcome of extensive experimental research on understanding the flow behavior and separation phenomenon of blood in microchannels. The microdevice is compact, economical and effective, and is particularly suited in continuous flow operations. PMID:27279146

  13. Improvement in the performance of external quality assessment in Korean HIV clinical laboratories using unrecalcified human plasma.

    PubMed

    Wang, Jin-Sook; Kee, Mee-Kyung; Choi, Byeong-Sun; Kim, Chan-Wha; Kim, Hyon-Suk; Kim, Sung Soon

    2012-01-01

    The external quality assessment schemes (EQAS) organizer provides a suitable program to monitor and improve the quality of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing laboratories with EQAS panels prepared under various conditions. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of human plasma samples on the EQAS results of HIV obtained from hospital-based clinical laboratories. From 2007 to 2009, HIV EQAS panels consisted of four to six samples that consisted of undiluted positive and negative samples and were provided to laboratories twice per year. Up until the first half EQAS in 2008, EQAS panel materials were obtained by converting acid citrate dextrose treated plasma to serum via chemical treatment with CaCl2. Beginning with the second EQAS in 2008, all materials were prepared without the defibrination process. Approximately 300 HIV clinical laboratories participated in this program. The overall performance of clinical laboratories was shown to be improved when using unrecalcified plasma panels compared with recalcified panels. Significant differences were observed in EIA analyses of plasma for both positive (p<0.001) and negative (p<0.001) samples between the recalcified and unrecalcified groups. Our finding suggested that defibrination status of EQAS panels might affect the results of anti-HIV EQAS of Korean HIV testing laboratories.

  14. Dyslipidemia in people living with HIV-AIDS in a tertiary hospital in South-East Nigeria.

    PubMed

    Anyabolu, Ernest Ndukaife

    2017-01-01

    Across the globe, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a healthcare problem. Dyslipidemia, a cardiovascular risk factor, is known to occur with the progression of HIV infection. The factors which influence dyslipidemia in HIV subjects have not been completely identified. The aim of this study was to evaluate serum lipids and identify the factors which might influence dyslipidemia in treatment-naïve HIV subjects in Owerri, Nigeria. This was a cross-sectional study of treatment-naïve HIV subjects. Anthropometric and demographic data were collected. Serum LDL serum cholesterol, serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol, serum triglyceride, spot urine creatinine, spot urine osmolality, spot urine protein, serum creatinine, 24-hour urine protein, 24-hour urine osmolality, 24-hour urine creatinine, creatinine clearance and hemoglobin were conducted. The variables were compared between those who have dyslipidemia and those who have no dyslipidemia. The mean age of the subjects was 39 ± 11 years. Females constituted 72.0% and males 28.0%. Elevated serum LDL was present in 17.6%, elevated serum total cholesterol in 11.4%, elevated serum triglyceride in 9.9% and low serum HDL in 34.4% of the subjects. There was significant association between dyslipidemia and CD4 cells count, as well as anemia. There was no significant association between dyslipidemia and urine protein, urine creatinine, urine osmolality, creatinine clearance, as well as 24-hour urine volume. The prevalence of dyslipidemia was high in the study subjects. Abnormal CD4 cells count and anemia were common in treatment-naïve HIV subjects who have dyslipidemia.

  15. Transfer of oxytetracycline from swine manure to three different aquatic plants: implications for human exposure.

    PubMed

    Boonsaner, Maliwan; Hawker, Darryl W

    2015-03-01

    Little is known regarding the potential for pharmaceuticals including antibiotics to be accumulated in edible aquatic plants and enter the human food chain. This work investigates the transfer of a widely used veterinary antibiotic, oxytetracycline (OTC), from swine manure to aquatic plants by firstly characterizing desorption from swine manure to water and fitting data to both nonlinear and linear isotherms. Bioconcentration of OTC from water was then quantified with aquatic plants of contrasting morphology and growth habit viz. watermeal (Wolffia globosa Hartog and Plas), cabomba (Cabomba caroliniana A. Gray) and water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica Forsk.). Watermeal and water spinach are widely consumed in Southeast Asia. The OTC desorption and bioconcentration data were used to provide the first quantitative estimates of human exposure to OTC from a manure-water-aquatic plant route. Results show that under certain conditions (plants growing for 15d in undiluted swine manure effluent (2% w/v solids) and an initial OTC swine manure concentration of 43mgkg(-1) (dry weight)), this pathway could provide a significant fraction (>48%) of the acceptable daily intake (ADI) for OTC. While effluent dilution, lower OTC manure concentrations and not all plant material consumed being contaminated would be expected to diminish the proportion of the ADI accumulated, uptake from aquatic plants should not be ignored when determining human exposure to antibiotics such as OTC. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Recommendations for provoked challenge urine testing.

    PubMed

    Ruha, Anne-Michelle

    2013-12-01

    "Urine mobilization test," "challenge test," and "provoked urine test" are all terms used to describe the administration of a chelating agent to a person prior to collection of their urine to test for metals. There is no standard, validated challenge test. Despite recommendations by professional and government organizations against the use of provoked urine testing, the tests are still commonly used and recommended by some practitioners. Challenge testing utilizes a variety of chelating agents, including dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA), dimercaptopropanesulfonate (DMPS), and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). The agents are given by a variety of routes of administration, doses used are inconsistent, and urine collection procedures vary. Additional problems with challenge tests include comparison of results to inappropriate reference ranges and creatinine correction of urine obtained within hours of chelator administration. Human volunteer studies demonstrate that mercury is detected in the urine of most people even in the absence of known exposure or chelator administration, and that urinary mercury excretion rises after administration of a chelator, regardless of exposure history and in an unpredictable fashion. Studies also demonstrate that challenge testing fails to reveal a "body burden" of mercury due to remote exposure. Chelating agents have been associated with adverse reactions. Current evidence does not support the use of DMPS, DMSA, or other chelation challenge tests for the diagnosis of metal toxicity. Since there are no established reference ranges for provoked urine samples in healthy subjects, no reliable evidence to support a diagnostic value for the tests, and potential harm, these tests should not be utilized.

  17. The use of semi-quantitative tests at Cesarean section delivery for the differentiation of canine fetal fluids from maternal urine on the basis of biochemical characteristics.

    PubMed

    Balogh, Orsolya; Roch, Marie; Keller, Stefanie; Michel, Erika; Reichler, Iris M

    2017-01-15

    In dogs, there is no diagnostic test to identify and differentiate fetal fluids from maternal urine in the event that a clear-yellowish vulvar discharge is observed pre-whelping. The objective of this study was to find a test that could easily and accurately identify rupture of the fetal membranes preceding parturition. Maternal urine, and amniotic fluid (AMF) and allantoic fluid (ALF) from only one fetus per bitch, were collected intraoperatively during Cesarean section. Specific gravity (SG) was analyzed with a refractometer, whereas the presence of leukocytes, protein, glucose, ketones, bilirubin, urobilinogen, nitrite, erythrocyte/hemoglobin (Hb), and the pH were assessed using a urine dipstick (Combur-Test ® ). Combined calcium and magnesium (Ca/Mg) content were evaluated with the Total Hardness Test. The AmniSure test, which detects rupture of fetal membranes in women on the basis of the presence of human placental alpha microglobulin-1, was also performed on canine AMF, ALF, and urine. Data were analyzed using the Fisher's exact test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and Pearson's correlation. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR) were calculated for parameters with significant difference between urine and both fetal fluids. Maternal urine had higher SG and lower leukocyte, protein, Hb, and Ca/Mg content than AMF and ALF. Glucose was more often present in AMF (n = 17) and ALF (n = 12) than in urine (n = 1), whereas ketone bodies were rarely detected in ALF compared with urine. Bilirubin content was higher in urine and ALF than in AMF. AMF pH was less variable and higher than the pH of ALF or urine. The AmniSure was negative in all samples tested. Sensitivity and specificity for SG and for the detection of leukocytes, protein, glucose, Hb, Ca/Mg, and glucose without ketones in urine and fetal fluids were between 42% to 100% and 65% to 100%, respectively. Best positive LR was achieved for the detection of glucose without ketones and best negative LR for SG of 1.022 or less. In conclusion, the AmniSure test, which is used in humans with high diagnostic accuracy, cannot identify AMF and ALF in dogs. On the basis of our results in 26 dogs undergoing Cesarean section, the presence or absence of fetal fluids could be best determined by a positive glucose test without ketone bodies or by SG higher than 1.022, respectively. These tests may serve as additional tools to recognize parturition if clear-yellowish vulvar discharge is present in a term pregnant bitch, but their accuracy and practicability in the clinical setting need to be confirmed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. The Application of SILAC Mouse in Human Body Fluid Proteomics Analysis Reveals Protein Patterns Associated with IgA Nephropathy.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Shilin; Li, Rongxia; Cai, Xiaofan; Chen, Wanjia; Li, Qingrun; Xing, Tao; Zhu, Wenjie; Chen, Y Eugene; Zeng, Rong; Deng, Yueyi

    2013-01-01

    Body fluid proteome is the most informative proteome from a medical viewpoint. But the lack of accurate quantitation method for complicated body fluid limited its application in disease research and biomarker discovery. To address this problem, we introduced a novel strategy, in which SILAC-labeled mouse serum was used as internal standard for human serum and urine proteome analysis. The SILAC-labeled mouse serum was mixed with human serum and urine, and multidimensional separation coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (IEF-LC-MS/MS) analysis was performed. The shared peptides between two species were quantified by their SILAC pairs, and the human-only peptides were quantified by mouse peptides with coelution. The comparison for the results from two replicate experiments indicated the high repeatability of our strategy. Then the urine from Immunoglobulin A nephropathy patients treated and untreated was compared by this quantitation strategy. Fifty-three peptides were found to be significantly changed between two groups, including both known diagnostic markers for IgAN and novel candidates, such as Complement C3, Albumin, VDBP, ApoA,1 and IGFBP7. In conclusion, we have developed a practical and accurate quantitation strategy for comparison of complicated human body fluid proteome. The results from such strategy could provide potential disease-related biomarkers for evaluation of treatment.

  19. Disruption of Membranes of Extracellular Vesicles Is Necessary for ELISA Determination of Urine AQP2: Proof of Disruption and Epitopes of AQP2 Antibodies

    PubMed Central

    Nameta, Masaaki; Saijo, Yoko; Ohmoto, Yasukazu; Katsuragi, Kiyonori; Yamamoto, Keiko; Yamamoto, Tadashi; Ishibashi, Kenichi; Sasaki, Sei

    2016-01-01

    Aquaporin-2 (AQP2) is present in urine extracellular vesicles (EVs) and is a useful biomarker for water balance disorders. We previously found that pre-treatment of urine with alkali/detergent or storage at −25 °C is required for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) measurement. We speculated that disruptions of EVs membranes are necessary to allow for the direct contact of antibodies with their epitopes. Human urine EVs were prepared using an ultracentrifugation method. Urine EV samples were stored at different temperatures for a week. Electron microscopy showed abundant EVs with diameters of 20–100 nm, consistent with those of exosomes, in normal urine, whereas samples from alkali/detergent pre-treated urine showed fewer EVs with large swollen shapes and frequent membrane disruptions. The abundance and structures of EVs were maintained during storage at −80 °C, but were severely damaged at −25 °C. Binding and competitive inhibition assays showed that epitopes of monoclonal antibody and polyclonal antibody were the hydrophilic Loop D and C-terminus of AQP2, respectively, both of which are present on the inner surface of EVs. Thus, urine storage at −25 °C or pre-treatment with alkali/detergent disrupt EVs membranes and allow AQP2 antibodies to bind to their epitopes located inside EVs. PMID:27681727

  20. Determination of 5-hydroxy-N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and 2-hydroxy-N-methylsuccinimide in human plasma and urine using liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Carnerup, M A; Akesson, B; Jönsson, B A

    2001-09-15

    A method for simultaneous determination of 5-hydroxy-N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (5-HNMP) and 2-hydroxy-N-methylsuccinimide (2-HMSI) was developed. These compounds are metabolites from N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), a powerful and widely used organic solvent. 5-HNMP and 2-HMSI were purified from plasma and urine by solid-phase extraction using Isolute ENV+ columns, and analysed by liquid chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer fitted with an atmospheric pressure turbo ion spray ionisation interface in the positive ion mode. The method was validated for plasma and urine concentrations from 0.12 to 25 microg/ml. The recoveries for 5-HNMP and 2-HMSI in plasma were 99 and 98%, respectively, and in urine 111 and 106%, respectively. For 5-HNMP and 2-HMSI, the within-day precision in plasma was 1-4 and 3-6%, respectively, and in urine 2-12 and 3-10%, respectively. The corresponding data for the between-day precision was 5 and 3-6%, respectively, and 4-6 and 7-8%, respectively. The detection limit for 5-HNMP was 4 ng/ml in plasma and 120 ng/ml in urine. For 2-HMSI, it was 5 ng/ml in plasma and 85 ng/ml in urine. The method is applicable for analysis of plasma and urine samples from workers exposed to NMP.

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