Development of an in vitro modified skin absorption test for the investigation of the follicular penetration pathway of caffeine.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recommends caffeine as a reference substance for in vitro skin absorption tests using Franz diffusion cells (FDC). However, it has not been possible to investigate the follicular penetration pathway using this method until now. The aim of this study was to develop a technique to allow the examination of the follicular penetration pathway of a substance penetrating into the skin. The OECD standard method was therefore combined with the follicle closing technique (FCT), an established in vivo method. By using test skin of varying follicular densities, different penetration values were obtained for the test substance caffeine. The follicular penetration rate was determined by an indirect calculation after modifying the in vivo FCT for use in the in vitro FDC. This method is the first to allow the differentiation of penetration pathways by combining the OECD standard method (using the FDC) and the FCT. Caffeine showed a surprisingly high rate of penetration through the follicular shunts in vitro.

Thyronamines are isozyme-specific substrates of deiodinases.

3-Iodothyronamine (3-T 1 AM) and thyronamine (T AM) are novel endogenous signaling molecules that exhibit great structural similarity to thyroid hormones but apparently antagonize classical thyroid hormone (T(3)) actions. Their proposed biosynthesis from thyroid hormones would require decarboxylation and more or less extensive deiodination. Deiodinases (Dio1, Dio2, and Dio3) catalyze the removal of iodine from their substrates. Because a role of deiodinases in thyronamine biosynthesis requires their ability to accept thyronamines as substrates, we investigated whether thyronamines are converted by deiodinases. Thyronamines were incubated with isozyme-specific deiodinase preparations. Deiodination products were analyzed using a newly established method applying liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Phenolic ring deiodinations of 3,3',5'-triiodothyronamine (rT3AM), 3',5'-diiodothyronamine (3',5'-T2AM), and 3,3'-diiodothyronamine (3,3'-T2AM) as well as tyrosyl ring deiodinations of 3,5,3'-triiodothyronamine (T3AM) and 3,5-diiodothyronamine (3,5-T2AM) were observed with Dio1. These reactions were completely inhibited by the Dio1-specific inhibitor 6n-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU). Dio2 containing preparations also deiodinated rT(3)AM and 3',5'-T2AM at the phenolic rings but in a PTU-insensitive fashion. All thyronamines with tyrosyl ring iodine atoms were 5(3)-deiodinated by Dio3-containing preparations. In functional competition assays, the newly identified thyronamine substrates inhibited an established iodothyronine deiodination reaction. By contrast, thyronamines that had been excluded as deiodinase substrates in LC-MS/MS experiments failed to show any effect in the competition assays, thus verifying the former results. These data support a role for deiodinases in thyronamine biosynthesis and contribute to confining the biosynthetic pathways for 3-T 1 AM and T 0 AM.

Determination of benzimidazole residues using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry.

The determination of residues of benzimidazole using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) with ion spray ionization is described. Swine muscle tissue was spiked with a mixture of fifteen benzimidazoles, including metabolites of fenbendazole and albendazole. As clean-up procedure, an ethyl acetate extraction followed by solid-phase extraction on styrol-divinyl-benzene cartridge was used. The evaluation was performed by selecting the characteristic product ions for the benzimidazoles and using multiple reaction mode. 2-n-Butylmercaptobenzimidazole was used as internal standard. Blank muscle samples were fortified in the concentration range of 1-22 microg/kg. The limits of detection were below 6 microg/kg and the limits of quantification for most benzimidazoles were below 10 microg/kg. The matrix effect was checked using spiked muscle tissues of cattle and sheep as well as liver of cattle. Practical application will be shown by incurred egg material from laying hens treated with flubendazole. The recovery of the clean-up was mostly above 50% in muscle tissue and 70% in egg yolk.

Confirmation of chloramphenicol residues in egg by gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry and comparison of quantitation with gas chromatography-electron capture detection.

Determination of chloramphenicol (CAP) residues in egg by gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (GC/HRMS) with negative chemical ionization and gas chromatography with electron capture detection (GC-ECD) is described. A cleanup based on acetonitrile extraction followed by solid-phase extraction with silica gel and gel filtration columns was developed for extraction of CAP residues from whole egg. For quantitation, the internal standards used were the meta isomer of CAP (m-CAP) for GC-ECD and both m-CAP and deuterium-labeled CAP (D5-CAP) for GC/HRMS. For GC/HRMS, evaluation was performed by selecting characteristic ions at m/z 466 for CAP and m-CAP and at m/z 471 for D5-CAP. Both methods were validated with egg samples fortified at 0.4-2.0 micrograms/kg and lyophilized egg samples from animals treated at the 1 microgram/kg concentration level. The coefficient of variation was below 10%. Limits of detection and quantitation of both methods were about 0.3 and 0.5 microgram/kg, respectively. For confirmation of CAP residues, the relative ion abundance (m/z 466 and 468) was calculated. Further confidence was obtained by comparison of accurate monoisotopic masses from a spectrum library.

Determination of amperozide residues in swine liver using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Amperozide 4-[4,4-bis(4-fluorophenyl)butyl]-N-ethylpiperazine-1- carboxamide) is used in veterinary medicine because of its sedative effect on pigs. A method developed for the detection of amperozide residues in porcine liver using liquid chromatography with thermospray mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is described and compared with LC with electrochemical detection (LC-ED). For LC-ED analysis, the samples were extracted with acetonitrile and cleaned up on a Sep-Pak C18 cartridge. The residues of amperozide were separated on a C8 polymer-based reversed-phase column and determined by using amperometric detection at +1050 mV. For LC-MS analysis, the samples were extracted with ethanol and cleaned using liquid-liquid extraction. After separation on a C8 polymer-based reversed-phase column, the residues were detected by discharge-assisted ionization with positive ion detection MS using single-ion monitoring. The positive discharge ionization produced typical [M+H]+ molecular ions of amperozide (m/z 403) and the internal standard (m/z 431). The limit of quantification for both methods, determined by using spiked blank liver in the concentration range 20-100 micrograms kg-1, was found to be below 70 micrograms kg-1.

Comparison of the determination of four sulphonamides and their N4-acetyl metabolites in swine muscle tissue using liquid chromatography with ultraviolet and mass spectral detection.

A discharge-assisted LC-MS method has been developed and validated for the analysis of four sulphonamides (sulphathiazole, sulphadiazine, sulphamerazine and sulphadimidine) and their N4-acetyl metabolites in the muscle of swine treated with Polysulpha-Complex, which contains all four drugs. The clean-up procedure developed involved chloroform-acetone extraction followed by Sep-Pak silica solid-phase extraction. In parallel a LC-UV method was validated using the same clean-up procedure. Blank tissue was fortified at levels between 20 and 100 micrograms/kg. [13C]sulphadimidine was used as internal standard. The samples were analysed with thermospray LC-MS. The [M + H]+ ion was the major ion in all cases and was employed for single-ion monitoring. The limits of detection (LOD) were below 25 micrograms/kg and the limits of quantification (LOQ) for most sulphonamides were ca. 100 micrograms/kg. Incurred muscle tissues were measured by both LC methods and the concentrations of the sulphonamides were found to be similar. However, the LC-MS procedure is more suitable for confirmatory analysis due to its specificity.