Urinary Tartaric Acid, a Biomarker of Wine Intake, Correlates with Lower Total and LDL Cholesterol.

Postmenopausal women are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases due to changes in lipid profile and body fat, among others. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of urinary tartaric acid, a biomarker of wine consumption, with anthropometric (weight, waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-height ratio), blood pressure, and biochemical variables (blood glucose and lipid profile) that may be affected during the menopausal transition. This sub-study of the PREDIMED (Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea) trial included a sample of 230 women aged 60-80 years with high cardiovascular risk at baseline. Urine samples were diluted and filtered, and tartaric acid was analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS). Correlations between tartaric acid and the study variables were adjusted for age, education level, smoking status, physical activity, BMI, cholesterol-lowering, antihypertensive, and insulin treatment, total energy intake, and consumption of fruits, vegetables, and raisins. A strong association was observed between wine consumption and urinary tartaric acid (0.01 µg/mg (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.01, 0.01), p-value < 0.001). Total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were inversely correlated with urinary tartaric acid (-3.13 µg/mg (-5.54, -0.71), p-value = 0.016 and -3.03 µg/mg (-5.62, -0.42), p-value = 0.027, respectively), whereas other biochemical and anthropometric variables were unrelated. The results suggest that wine consumption may have a positive effect on cardiovascular health in postmenopausal women, underpinning its nutraceutical properties.

Absorption, metabolism, and excretion of [14C]evogliptin tartrate in male rats and dogs.

The objective of this study was to determine the absorption, excretion, and metabolism of a novel, oral antihyperglycemic drug, evogliptin, in male rats and dogs. Plasma, urine, feces, and expired air samples were collected after a single oral dose administration of [14C]evogliptin, samples were analyzed by measuring overall radioactivity levels using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and radioactivity levels were measured by utilizing LC-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The total amounts of radioactivity excreted in urine, feces, and expired air up to 168 h after administration of [14C]evogliptin tartrate to rats (30 mg evogliptin/kg) and dogs (10 mg evogliptin/kg) were 96.7% and 96.8% of initial doses administered, respectively. The extent of urinary and fecal excretion in the rat up to 168 h constituted 29.7% and 66.5% of the given dose, respectively; and in dog was 43.3% and 53.5%, respectively. A total of 23 possible metabolites were detected with radiochromatograms of plasma, urinary, and fecal samples, but only the structures of 12 metabolites were identified via LC-MS/MS analysis. Evogliptin was the major component. Regarding the total radiochromatographic peak areas, peaks 9 (evogliptin acid) and 11 (hydroxyevogliptin) were the major metabolites in rats, and peaks 8 [4(S)-hydroxyevogliptin glucuronide], 15 [4(S)-hydroxyevogliptin], and 17 [4(R)-hydroxyevogliptin] were the predominant metabolites in dogs. Data demonstrated that evogliptin was the major component excreted in urine and feces of rats and dogs, but the metabolite profiles varied between species.

An Analytical Pipeline for Quantitative Characterization of Dietary Intake: Application To Assess Grape Intake.

Lack of accurate dietary assessment in free-living populations requires discovery of new biomarkers reflecting food intake qualitatively and quantitatively to objectively evaluate effects of diet on health. We provide a proof-of-principle for an analytical pipeline to identify quantitative dietary biomarkers. Tartaric acid was identified by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy as a dose-responsive urinary biomarker of grape intake and subsequently quantified in volunteers following a series of 4-day dietary interventions incorporating 0 g/day, 50 g/day, 100 g/day, and 150 g/day of grapes in standardized diets from a randomized controlled clinical trial. Most accurate quantitative predictions of grape intake were obtained in 24 h urine samples which have the strongest linear relationship between grape intake and tartaric acid excretion (r(2) = 0.90). This new methodological pipeline for estimating nutritional intake based on coupling dietary intake information and quantified nutritional biomarkers was developed and validated in a controlled dietary intervention study, showing that this approach can improve the accuracy of estimating nutritional intakes.

Electromembrane Extraction of Organic Acid Compounds in Biological Samples Followed by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography.

Electromembrane extraction (EME) coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography was developed for determination of organic compounds including citric, tartaric and oxalic acid in biological samples. Organic compounds moved from aqueous samples, through a thin layer of 1-octanol immobilized in the pores of a porous hand-made polypropylene tube, and into a basic aqueous acceptor solution present inside the lumen of the tube. This new set-up for EME has a future potential such as simple, cheap and fast sample preparation technique for extraction of organic compounds in various complicated matrices. The pH of acceptor phase, extraction time, voltage, ionic strength, temperature and stirring speed were studied and optimized. Optimum conditions were: the pH of acceptor phase, 7; extraction time, 30 min; voltage, 30 V and stirring speed, 500 rpm. At the optimum conditions, the preconcentration factors of 175-200, the limits of detection of 1.9-3.1 µg L(-1) were obtained for the analytes. The developed procedure was then applied to the extraction and determination of organic acid compounds from biological samples.

Urinary tartaric acid as a potential biomarker for the dietary assessment of moderate wine consumption: a randomised controlled trial.

The availability of biomarkers that allow the estimation of the intake of specific foods and dietary components, as an alternative or addition to self-reported dietary questionnaires, could greatly enhance the effectiveness of nutritional research. The aim of the present study was to assess tartaric acid, one of the major components of red and white wines, as a potential biomarker of wine consumption. A total of twenty-one healthy men participated in a randomised cross-over feeding trial. They consumed a single dose of 100, 200 or 300 ml wine at dinner. Before each intervention, the participants followed a 7 d washout period during which they avoided consuming wine or grape-based products. Morning urine was collected and analysed by liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionisation tandem MS. A strong significant correlation was found between wine intake and urinary tartaric acid (r(s) = 0·9220; P <0·001). Using a cut-off value of 8·84 µg/mg creatinine, tartaric acid allowed wine consumers to be differentiated from non-wine consumers. The results suggest that urinary tartaric acid may be a sensitive and specific dietary biomarker of wine consumption.

Altered amino acid excretion in children with autism.

Autism is a complex and life-long behavioural disorder of unknown aetiology. Recent reports have indicated the involvement of digestive tract dysfunction and possible complications from inadequate nutrition. In this study, 34 autistic children (12 untreated and 22 receiving therapeutic treatments related to digestive function and nutritional uptake) and 29 control subjects (all 5-15 years of age) were investigated to determine whether there were any anomalies in the urinary excretion of amino acids, glucose, sucrose, arabinose and tartaric acid using GC/FID and GC/MS analysis techniques. Significantly lower relative urinary levels of essential amino acids were revealed for both the untreated (mean +/- SEM, 32.53 +/- 3.09%) and treated (31.98 +/- 2.87%) autistic children compared with the controls (37.87 +/- 1.50%). There were no significant differences in measured excretions of sugars or tartaric acid. It was concluded that the untreated autistic children had evidence of altered metabolic homeostasis.

Effect of aloe (Aloe vera Linn.) on healthy adult volunteers: changes in urinary composition.

OBJECTIVE: 1. To investigate the amount of citrate and tartrate in aloe gel, and in the urine of healthy normal volunteers, before and after consuming fresh aloe gel. 2. To evaluate the changes in the chemical composition of urine among subjects after taking aloe gel. 3. To determine the value of consuming aloe gel for prevention of renal stone formation. DESIGNS: Experimental study; before and after experiment with no control group MATERIAL AND METHOD: Thirty one healthy male medical students between 18 and 23 years of age were enrolled (with informed consent) in the clinical trial. Subjects ingested 100 g of fresh aloe gel twice a day for seven consecutive days. The 24-hr urine was collected one day prior to taking the gel (Day 0), Days 2 and 5 of consumption, and Day 8 (one day after completion). The authors determined the urine volume, osmolality, potassium, sodium, phosphate, calcium, magnesium, uric acid, citrate, tartrate, oxalate, Permissible Increment in calcium (PI in calcium), Permissible Increment in oxalate (PI in oxalate), Concentration product ratio of calcium phosphate (CPR of CaPO4) and the citrate per creatinine ratio. RESULTS: The citrate and tartrate concentration in 100 g of fresh aloe gel was 96.3 and 158.9 mg, respectively. The urinary excretion of oxalate was significantly decreased (p < 0.05). The PI in calcium was significantly increased (p < 0.05), while the citrate excretion and PI in oxalate were consistently, albeit non-significantly, increased. The mean CPR values of CaPO4 were decreased non-significantly. The other measurements were unremarkable. CONCLUSION: Fresh Aloe vera gel (100 g) contains 96.3 mg of citrate and 158.9 mg of tartrate. This is mid-range for Thai fruits. Changes in chemical compositions of urine after aloe consumption shows its potential for preventing kidney stone formation among adults.

Changes in urinary compositions among children after consuming prepared oral doses of aloe (Aloe vera Linn).

OBJECTIVES: 1) To investigate the amount of citrate and tartrate in aloe gel, and in the urine of healthy normal children, before and after consuming fresh aloe gel. 2) To evaluate the changes in the chemical composition of urine among subjects after taking aloe gel. 3) To determine the value of consuming aloe gel for prevention of renal stone formation. DESIGN: Experimental study. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Thirteen healthy boys between 9 and 13 years of age were enrolled (with informed permission) in the clinical trial. Subjects ingested 100 g of fresh prepared aloe gel twice a day for seven consecutive days. The 24-hour urine was collected one day prior to taking the gel (Day 0), Days 2 and 5 of consumption, and Day 8 (one day after completion). The authors determined the urine volume, osmolality, potassium, sodium, phosphate, calcium, magnesium, uric acid, citrate, tartrate, oxalate, Permissible Increment in Calcium (PI Ca), Permissible Increment in Oxalate (PI Ox), Concentration Product Ratio of Calcium Phosphate (CPR CaPO4) and the citrate per creatinine ratio. RESULTS: The citrate and tartrate concentration in 100 g of fresh aloe gel was 96.3 and 158.9 mg, respectively. The 24-hr urine volume and urinary citrate excretion were significantly increased (p < 0.05). The PI Ca and the PI Ox were also significantly increased (p < 0.05). The other measurements were unremarkable. CONCLUSION: One hundred grams of fresh Aloe vera gel contains 96.3 milligrams of citrate and 158.9 milligrams of tartrate and were in the mid-range among Thai fruits. Changes in chemical compositions of urine after aloe gel consumption shows potential for preventing kidney stone formation among children.

Increased urinary excretion of analogs of Krebs cycle metabolites and arabinose in two brothers with autistic features.

A marked increase in analogs of Krebs cycle metabolites was found in the urine of two brothers with autistic features. These metabolites included citramalic, tartaric (3-OH-malic), and 3-oxoglutaric acids and compounds tentatively identified as a citric acid analog and partially identified as a phenylcarboxylic acid by the fragmentation pattern of the trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatives of the compounds and mass shifts of the same compounds derivatized with perdeuterated N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide. The molecular mass of the TMS derivative of the tentatively identified citric acid analog was 596 Da, based on a finding of a significant M - 15 ion at m/z 581. The citric acid analog was excreted in quantities as high as 137 mmol/mol creatinine, based on the response factor of citric acid as a surrogate calibrator. A carbohydrate with a retention time and mass spectrum identical to arabinose was also found in high concentrations in the urine of these brothers.

Ion-chromatographic determination of L-tartrate in urine samples.

We propose using ion chromatography to determine tartrate concentration in urine. A 100-microL sample of urine is diluted and injected into the chromatograph. Tartrate is eluted within 11.5 min as a distinct and well-resolved peak. The sensitivity of the standard procedure (signal-to-noise ratio, 3/1) is 30 mumol/L. The intra-run and interrun coefficients of variation are 2.5% and 4.1%, respectively. Mean analytical recovery of known amounts of added tartrate ranges between 94.2% and 104.0%. We investigated the specificity of the procedure by analyzing urine containing added dicarboxylic acids structurally related to tartrate. The reliability of the procedure makes it suitable for investigating tartrate metabolism, e.g., the potential role of tartrate as an inhibitor of crystallization in calcium nephrolithiasis.

Reduction of the urinary risk factors of urolithiasis with magnesium and tartrate mixture: a new treatment.

Magnesium and tartrate each reduce calcium oxalate crystal formation in urine. Since the effects are additive, a palatable mixture of magnesium and tartrate salts was devised and fed to 6 healthy volunteers. There were no side effects. There was a moderate fall in urinary calcium, moderate rises in urinary magnesium, tartrate and citrate, and no change in urinary oxalate. Hence there are good grounds for supposing that this mixture could be used to prevent urinary stone recurrence.

Excretion of urinary acids during inverted sleep-waking rhythm.

Some organic acids that occur in human urine are excreted in very different amounts during the day and the night. The day-night rhythm in the excretion rate of citric acid and propylurofuran acid changes only gradually if the normal rhythm of life is inverted, e.g., if a person sleeps during the day and works at night (shift of 12 h), paralleling the gradual adjustment of steroid metabolism under the same conditions. In contrast, the typical rhythm in the excretion rate of tetrahydrofuran acids and tartaric acid inverts immediately if the sleep-waking rhythm of a person is inverted. In contrast to propylurofuran acid, pentylurofuran acid is excreted unrhythmically. No change in the excretion rate of amino acids was observed if the daily rhythm was inverted. Quantifications were achieved by liquid-liquid extraction, derivatization and gas chromatography computerized peak area integration.