Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM
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Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. · Sep 2011
Quantification of methyl thiocyanate in the headspace of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cultures and in the breath of cystic fibrosis patients by selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry.
Infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Breath analysis could potentially be a useful diagnostic of such infection, and analyses of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from PA cultures are an important part of the search for volatile breath markers of PA lung infection. Our pilot experiments using solid-phase microextraction, SPME and gas chromatography/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) analyses of volatile compounds produced by PA strains indicated a clear presence of methyl thiocyanate. ⋯ Solubility of methyl thiocyanate in water (Henry's law constant) was determined using standard reference solutions and the linearity and limits of detection of both SIFT-MS and SPME-GC/MS methods were characterized. Thirty-six strains of PA with distinct genotype were cultivated under identical conditions and 28 of them (all also producing HCN) were found to release methyl thiocyanate in headspace concentrations greater than 6 parts per billion by volume (ppbv). SIFT-MS was also used to analyze the breath of 28 children with CF and the concentrations of methyl thiocyanate were found to be in the range 2-21 ppbv (median 7 ppbv).
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Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. · May 2010
Quantification of methane in humid air and exhaled breath using selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry.
In selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry, SIFT-MS, analyses of humid air and breath, it is essential to consider and account for the influence of water vapour in the media, which can be profound for the analysis of some compounds, including H(2)CO, H(2)S and notably CO(2). To date, the analysis of methane has not been considered, since it is known to be unreactive with H(3)O(+) and NO(+), the most important precursor ions for SIFT-MS analyses, and it reacts only slowly with the other available precursor ion, O(2) (+). However, we have now experimentally investigated methane analysis and report that it can be quantified in both air and exhaled breath by exploiting the slow O(2) (+)/CH(4) reaction that produces CH(3)O(2) (+) ions. ⋯ We then measured the methane levels, together with acetone levels, in the exhaled breath of 75 volunteers, all within a period of 3 h, which shows the remarkable sample throughput rate possible with SIFT-MS. The mean methane level in ambient air is seen to be 2 ppm with little spread and that in exhaled breath is 6 ppm, ranging from near-ambient levels to 30 ppm, with no significant variation with age and gender. Methane can now be included in the wide ranging analyses of exhaled breath that are currently being carried out using SIFT-MS.
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Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. · Apr 2010
Kinetics of ethanol decay in mouth- and nose-exhaled breath measured on-line by selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry following varying doses of alcohol.
A study has been carried out of the decay of ethanol in mouth-exhaled and nose-exhaled breath of two healthy volunteers following the ingestion of various doses of alcohol at different dilutions in water. Concurrent analyses of sequential single breath exhalations from the two volunteers were carried out using selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry, SIFT-MS, on-line and in real time continuously over some 200 min following each alcohol dose by simply switching sampling between the two volunteers. Thus, the time interval between breath exhalations was only a few minutes, and this results in well-defined decay curves. ⋯ Acetaldehyde, the primary product of ethanol metabolism, is seen to track the breath ethanol. Acetic acid, a possible secondary product of this metabolism, was detected in the exhaled breath, but was shown to largely originate in the oral cavity. Breath acetone was seen to increase over the long period of measurement due to the depletion of nutrients.
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Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. · Sep 2009
A semi-automated solid-phase extraction liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method for the analysis of tetrahydrocannabinol and metabolites in whole blood.
Marijuana is one of the most commonly abused illicit substances in the USA, making cannabinoids important to detect in clinical and forensic toxicology laboratories. Historically, cannabinoids in biological fluids have been derivatized and analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). There has been a gradual shift in many laboratories towards liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) for this analysis due to its improved sensitivity and reduced sample preparation compared with GC/MS procedures. ⋯ The limits of detection (LODs) ranged from 0.5 to 3 ng/mL and the limits of quantitation (LOQs) ranged from 2 to 8 ng/mL. The bias and imprecision were determined using a simple analysis of variance (ANOVA: single factor). The results demonstrate bias as <7%, and imprecision as <9%, for all components at each quantity control level.
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Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. · May 2009
The quantification of carbon dioxide in humid air and exhaled breath by selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry.
The reactions of carbon dioxide, CO(2), with the precursor ions used for selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry, SIFT-MS, analyses, viz. H(3)O(+), NO(+) and O(2) (+), are so slow that the presence of CO(2) in exhaled breath has, until recently, not had to be accounted for in SIFT-MS analyses of breath. This has, however, to be accounted for in the analysis of acetaldehyde in breath, because an overlap occurs of the monohydrate of protonated acetaldehyde and the weakly bound adduct ion, H(3)O(+)CO(2), formed by the slow association reaction of the precursor ion H(3)O(+) with CO(2) molecules. ⋯ This has resulted in an appropriate extension of the SIFT-MS software and kinetics library that allows accurate measurement of CO(2) levels in air samples, ranging from very low percentage levels (0.03% typical of tropospheric air) to the 6% level that is about the upper limit in exhaled breath. Thus, the level of CO(2) can be traced through single time exhalation cycles along with that of water vapour, also close to the 6% level, and of trace gas metabolites that are present at only a few parts-per-billion. This has added a further dimension to the analysis of major and trace compounds in breath using SIFT-MS.