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PubMed1994

Condensed-phase carbon isotopic standards for compound-specific isotope analysis.

A protocol has been developed for the preparation of isotopically characterized internal standards for compound-specific isotope analysis. Fatty acids and their corresponding methyl esters are loaded into flame seal vials by a protocol carefully designed to minimize isotopic fractionation and contamination. Carbon isotope analysis of randomly selected vials yields isotopic precision with an average standard deviation of 0.09/1000 (delta 13CPDB). Absolute values for carbon isotope ratios are determined against an international standard (NIST RM8541:USGS24). The procedure is general and may be used for all compounds soluble in volatile solvents. The fatty acid and fatty acid methyl esters standards developed here will be useful for day-to-day quality control and assessment of derivative carbon addition due to methylation of fatty acids.

Calibration↗
PubMed2005

Measurement of the isotope enrichment of stable isotope-labeled proteins using high-resolution mass spectra of peptides.

Stable isotope-enriched molecules are used as internal standards and as tracers of in vivo substrate metabolism. The accurate conversion of measured ratios in the mass spectrometer to mole ratios is complicated because a polyatomic molecule containing enriched atoms will result in a combinatorial distribution of isotopomers depending on the enrichment and number of "labeled" atoms. This effect could potentially cause a large error in the mole ratio measurement depending on which isotope peak or peaks were used to determine the ratio. We report a computational method that predicts isotope distributions over a range of enrichments and compares the predicted distributions to experimental peptide isotope distributions obtained by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. Our approach is accurate with measured enrichments within 1.5% of expected isotope distributions. The method is also precise with 4.9, 2.0, and 0.8% relative standard deviations for peptides containing 59, 79, and 99 atom % excess (15)N, respectively. The approach is automated making isotope enrichment calculations possible for thousands of peptides in a single muLC-FTICR-MS experiment.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Carbon isotopes as a tool to evaluate the origin and fate of vinyl chloride: laboratory experiments and modeling of isotope evolution.

Accumulation of vinyl chloride (VC) is often a main concern at sites contaminated with chlorinated ethenes and ethanes due to its high toxicity. Since there can be several possible sources of VC and ethene at such sites, assessing the origin and fate of VC can be complicated. Aim of this study was to evaluate carbon isotope fractionation associated with various anaerobic processes that lead to the production of VC and ethene in view of using isotopes to evaluate the origin and fate of these compounds in groundwater. Microcosms were constructed using sediments and groundwater from a contaminated site and amended with potential precursors for VC and ethene production. In the microcosms with dichloroethene isomers, sequential reductive dechlorination was observed, and isotopic enrichmentfactors of -19.9 +/- 1.5 per thousand for cis-1,2-dichloroethene, -30.3 +/- 1.9 per thousand for trans-1,2-dichloroethene, and -7.3 +/- 0.4 per thousand for 1,1-dichloroethene were obtained. In microcosms with chlorinated ethanes, 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA) and 1,1,2-trichloroethane (1,1,2-TCA) were predominantly transformed by dichloroelimination to ethene and VC, respectively, and enrichmentfactors of -32.1 +/- 1.1 per thousand for 1,2OCA and -2.0 +/- 0.2 per thousand for 1,1,2-TCA were observed. Except for 1,1,2-TCA, a strong 13C enrichment in each of the potential precursor of VC was observed, which opens the possibility to trace the origin of VC based on the isotope ratio of potential precursors. Furthermore, it was possible to model the isotope evolution of VC present as substrate or intermediate product as a function of time. The study demonstrates that carbon isotope ratios can potentially be used for qualitative and possibly quantitative evaluation of the origin and fate of VC at sites with complex contaminant mixtures.

Carbon Isotopes↗
PubMed2005

Analytical techniques in biomedical stable isotope applications: (isotope ratio) mass spectrometry or infrared spectrometry?

An overview is presented of biomedical applications of stable isotopes in general, but mainly focused on the activities of the Center for Liver, Digestive and Metabolic Diseases of the University Medical Center Groningen. The aims of metabolic studies in the areas of glucose, fat, cholesterol and protein metabolism are briefly explained, as well as the principle of breath testing and the techniques to study body composition and energy expenditure. Much attention is paid to the analytical considerations based upon metabolite concentrations, sample size restrictions, the availability of stable isotope labelled substrates and dose requirements in relation to compound-specific isotope analysis. The instrumental advantages and limitations of the generally used techniques gas chromatography/reaction/isotope ratio mass spectrometry and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry are described as well as the novelties of the recently commercialised liquid chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry. The present use and future perspective of infrared (IR) spectrometry for clinical and biomedical stable isotope applications are reviewed. In this respect, the analytical demands on IR spectrometry are discussed to enable replacement of isotope ratio mass spectrometry by IR spectrometry, in particular, for the purpose of compound-specific isotope ratio analysis in biological matrices.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1983

A double isotope dilution method for using stable selenium isotopes in metabolic tracer studies: analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS).

Enriched stable isotopes of selenium are used for a double isotope dilution method employing rapid sample digestion, chelation and measurement by combined gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). A known quantity of an enriched selenium isotope is added as an internal standard, and samples are rapidly digested with HNO3, H3PO4 and H2O2. Undigested lipids are extracted with chloroform, and any selenate is reduced to selenite with HCl. The selenite reacts with 4-nitro-o-phenylenediamine (NPD) to form 5-nitropiazselenol (Se-NPD), which is then extracted into chloroform for subsequent GC/MS analysis. By monitoring the ion peaks in the Se-NP parent ion cluster, and by using isotope ratio measurements, it is possible in principle to use any two of the stable selenium isotopes as tracer and internal standard. The method described herein utilizes 76Se as the tracer and 82Se as the internal standard, compared to 80Se naturally present in the sample. Selenium recoveries from the digestion-chelation steps were verified by using animal tissues endogenously radiolabeled with 75Se. The method is precise, accurate, rapid and extremely specific, and should lend itself well to determining selenium in biological materials, and to following stable selenium isotopes as tracers in metabolic studies.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

A new method to determine the 17O isotopic abundance in CO2 using oxygen isotope exchange with a solid oxide.

This paper discusses a simple method to determine 17O isotope excess or deficiency ('mass-independent isotopic composition') in CO2 gas. When applying conventional mass spectrometry of CO2 (m/z 44, 45 and 46) to determine the 17O/16O ratio, the 13C/12C ratio has to be established separately. This can be achieved by analysing an aliquot of sample CO2 before and after subjecting it to oxygen isotope exchange with a pool of oxygen with 'normal' 17O/16O ratio, i.e. with Delta17O approximately equal to delta17O-0.516 x delta18O = 0. Cerium oxide has been shown to be practically well suited for the exchange of CO2 oxygen; the reagent is safe and does not produce any contamination. The CO2-CeO2 exchange reaction has 99.8 +/- 0.7% recovery yield. At 650 degrees C this reaction reaches equilibrium in 30 min and, as tested, results in complete oxygen replacement. Delta17O determinations depend on accuracy of CO2 delta measurements: the repeatability of +/-0.015 per thousand (1sigma) in delta(45)R and delta(46)R determination relative to the working reference results in an error of Delta17O as small as +/-0.33 per thousand. Such a precision is sufficient for Delta17O determination in stratospheric CO2. The calculated Delta17O value systematically depends on absolute 17R and 13R ratios in isotopic reference materials, which are presently not yet known with certainty (the 17R value is most important), and may be inadequate for 17O-correction with a = 0.516. Within the present uncertainty, Delta17O determined in 17O-enriched CO2 agrees with the value directly measured in the enriched O2 from which this CO2 was produced. Besides Delta17O determination, investigated CO2-CeO2 equilibration may have several other implications. Fast, complete isotopic exchange of CO2 by reaction with CeO2 may also be employed to get reproducible 17O-correction and, hence, to better monitor small delta13C shifts and to isotopically equilibrate mixtures of CO2 gases.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Determination of bromine stable isotopes using continuous-flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry.

A new methodology for bromine stable isotope determination by continuous-flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry (CF-IRMS) was developed. The technique was tested on inorganic samples. Inorganic bromide was precipitated in the form of silver bromide by using silver nitrate in a standard methodology. Bromine stable isotope analysis was carried out on methyl bromide (CH3Br) after converting silver bromide to methyl bromide by reacting it with methyl iodide (CH3I). The system used in this study is an IsoPrime IRMS, with analytical capabilities of both dual-inlet and continuous-flow modes coupled with an Agilent 6890 GC equipped with a CTC Analytics CombiPAL autosampler. This new technique measures samples as small as 0.2 mg of AgBr (1 micromol of Br-). The bromine stable isotope analysis using continuous flow technology showed excellent precision and accuracy. The internal precision using pure methyl bromide gas is better than +/-0.03 per thousand (+/-SD); the external precision using seawater standard is better than +/-0.06 per thousand (+/-SD) for n = 12. Moreover, the sample analysis time is 16 min, as compared to 75 min needed in previous techniques. This allows for 50 samples to be analyzed in 1 day, as compared to 8 samples using the conventional techniques. A series of natural saline formation waters and brines from sedimentary and crystalline rock environments was measured by this new methodology to test the potential natural range of delta81Br. The bromine isotopic composition of the samples ranged from 0.00 to +1.80 per thousand relative to standard mean ocean bromide (SMOB). Initial trends and distinctive isotopic difference were noticed between crystalline shield brines and sedimentary formation brines.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Isotopic analysis of atmospheric formaldehyde by gas chromatography isotope ratio mass spectrometry.

Little is known about the isotopic composition of formaldehyde in the atmosphere, a chemical intermediate in hydrocarbon oxidation. Here, we present a promising new method to analyze the carbon (delta 13C) and hydrogen (delta D) isotopic composition of atmospheric formaldehyde. The direct isotopic analytical technique described uses continuous-flow gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry, which provides flexibility for either isotopic analysis without correction for derivative functional groups. Current levels of precision of measurement are +/-1.1 and +/-50 per thousand (1 sigma) for delta 13C and delta D analyses, respectively. Concentration of formaldehyde in ambient air is also determined, coincident with isotopic measurement, to a precision of +/-15%. The method has the required sensitivity for analyses of formaldehyde in urban air on relatively small volume grab samples of whole air (10-70L STP), potentially providing high temporal resolution. This is particularly advantageous for studying formaldehyde given its short lifetime and large variability in the atmosphere.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1996

Isotopic assignment in large-molecule mass spectra by fragmentation of a selected isotopic peak.

For large ( > 5 kDa) ionic species, Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance instruments yield by far the highest mass accuracy. However, this can be compromised by misassignment of the isotopic content based on predicted natural abundances of the isotopic peaks. As an alternative method independent of natural abundance variations, high-resolution isolation and dissociation of a single isotopic peak yields a distribution of isotopic peak abundances characteristic of the isotopic content of the precursor peak. Accuracy is enhanced if the precursor peak is abundant and of minimum heavy isotope content, and if the product species is abundant and of intermediate mass. In addition, such spectra of the highest mass products are useful for identifying complementary product pairs, a key step in sequencing proteins and nucleotides.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Intramolecular isotope effects for benzylic hydroxylation of isomeric xylenes and 4,4'-dimethylbiphenyl by cytochrome P450: relationship between distance of methyl groups and masking of the intrinsic isotope effect.

Intramolecular isotope effects associated with the benzylic hydroxylation of a series of selectively deuterated isomeric xylenes and 4,4'-dimethylbiphenyl as catalyzed by various rat liver microsomal preparations and CYP2B1 were determined. Substrate analogs in which each methyl group contained either one (d2 substrates) or two (d4 substrates) deuterium atoms were used to determine the intrinsic isotope effect for the reaction. Specific values of the individual primary (P) and secondary isotope effects (S) were determined. P ranged from a low of 5.32 +/- 0.48 to a high of 7.57 +/- 0.42 depending upon the specific cytochrome P450 preparation used for catalysis. S had an average value of 1.03. The d3 substrates allowed exploration of the effect of distance on the magnitude of the observed isotope effect. The results indicate that the distance of 6.62 A that separates the carbon atoms of the para methyl groups of p-xylene is insufficient to suppress (mask) the intrinsic isotope effect for benzylic hydroxylation by all of the enzyme preparations examined. Conversely, a distance of 11.05 A, the minimal separation between the carbon atoms of the para methyl groups of p,p'-dimethylbiphenyl, is large enough to almost completely mask the intrinsic isotope effect for benzylic hydroxylation by the same set of enzymes.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

High precision isotope ratio measurements of mercury isotopes in cinnabar ores using multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

Variations in Hg isotope ratios in cinnabar ores obtained from different countries were detected by high precision isotope ratio measurements using multi-collector inductively coupled mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS). Values of delta198/202Hg varied from 0.0-1.3 percent per thousand relative to a NIST SRM 1641d Hg solution. The typical external uncertainty of the delta values was 0.06 to 0.26 percent per thousand. Hg was introduced into the plasma as elemental Hg after reduction by sodium borohydride. A significant fractionation of lead isotopes was observed during the simultaneous generation of lead hydride, preventing normalization of the Hg isotope ratios using the measured 208/206Pb ratio. Hg ratios were instead corrected employing the simultaneously measured 205/203T1 ratio. Using a 10 ng ml(-1) Hg solution and 10 min of sampling, introducing 60 ng of Hg, the internal precision of the isotope ratio measurements was as low as 14 ppm. Absolute Hg ratios deviated from the representative IUPAC values by approximately 0.2% per u. This observation is explained by the inadequacy of the exponential law to correct for mass bias in MC-ICP-MS measurements. In the absence of a precisely characterized Hg isotope ratio standard, we were not able to determine unambiguously the absolute Hg ratios of the ore samples, highlighting the urgent need for certified standard materials.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Embryotoxicity of stable isotopes and use of stable isotopes in studies of teratogenetic mechanisms.

Experiments on teratogenic effects of stable isotopes from our own and other laboratories are evaluated. In the first series of investigations, the enrichment of the stable isotope 13C derived from U-13C-glucose was studied in mouse embryos at various stages of development, including limb buds in organ culture. Preimplantation mouse embryos incubated in vitro in 13C-enriched medium for 48 hours showed normal development during subsequent differentiation in vitro and also in vivo after embryo transfer to faster mothers. These embryos were 15% to 20% enriched in 13C. Administration of U-13-C-glucose to pregnant mice during organogenesis led to an increase of the absolute 13C content of the embryo for several days after the end of isotope administration, whereas the enrichment in maternal tissue decreased. No alterations of embryonic development were detected due to stable isotope enrichment. Development of cultured mouse limb buds was unaffected by incubation with 82 mol% U-13C-glucose as judged from morphologic and biochemical criteria. The second part of the article describes the value of deuterium-labeled drugs as probes into the mechanism of activation of teratogenic metabolites. A comparison of the pharmacokinetics as well as the teratogenicity between cyclophosphamide and some specific deuterium-labeled analogues showed that the isotope effect observed can be related to a particular metabolic pathway crucial for teratogenic activation by this drug.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Stable-isotope trapping and high-throughput screenings of reactive metabolites using the isotope MS signature.

A highly efficient method has been developed to detect and identify reactive metabolites, using stable-isotope trapping combined with ESI-MS/MS neutral loss scanning. A mixture of glutathione (GSH, gamma-glutamylcysteinylglycine) and the stable-isotope labeled compound (GSX, gamma-glutamylcysteinylglycine-(13)C(2)-(15)N) was used at an equal molar ratio to trap reactive metabolites generated in microsomal incubations. Samples resulting from incubations were cleaned and concentrated by SPE, followed by LC-MS/MS analyses using constant neutral loss scanning for 129 Da (the gamma-glutamyl moiety) to detect formed GSH conjugates. Unambiguous identification of glutathione adducts was greatly facilitated by the presence of a unique MS signature of a prominent isotopic doublet that differs in mass by 3 Da. Further structural characterization of conjugates was achieved with high confidence by subsequently acquiring MS/MS spectra that were featured by neutral losses of 75 and 129 Da for GSH adducts and 78 and 129 Da for isotopic GSX adducts. The reliability of this method was vigorously validated using a number of compounds known to form reactive metabolites. Superior sensitivity was demonstrated by the capability of the current approach to identify reactive metabolites at low abundance. Because of the unique isotopic MS signature, ultrafast analyses of reactive metabolites were accomplished by direct injection of cleaned samples into mass spectrometers for neutral loss scanning. More importantly, this study has demonstrated the feasibility of the current method for completely automated detection of reactive metabolites via computer-assisted pattern recognition.

Carbon Isotopes↗
PubMed1994

Stable isotope tracer and gas-chromatography combustion isotope ratio mass spectrometry to study the in vivo compartmental metabolism of docosahexaenoic acid.

A gas-chromatography combustion isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GCC-IRMS) method using carbon 13 (13C)-stable isotope to trace n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) turnover in vivo is presented. Natural 13C abundance of commercial n-3 PUFA was measured from 100 to 300 ng of fatty acids and was -27.58, -27.83, and -28.16 for 22:6n-3, 22:5n-3, and 20:5n-3, expressed as delta 13C /1000 versus Pee Dee Belemnite (PDB), respectively. Precision of delta 13C /1000 values was comparable for the three PUFA and gave relative standard deviations of 0.95-0.97%. Isotope enrichment of 0.0010 at.% could be detected. Triglycerides enriched in [13C]22:6n-3 ([13C]22:6-TG) were synthesized by growing a microalgae on [1-13C]glucose. [13C]22:6n-3 represented 36 wt.% of total triglyceride fatty acids and had an isotope enrichment of 2.0420 at.%, which was the double of natural abundance. The isotope enrichment of 22:6n-3 in lipids from rat lipoproteins and red cells could be followed as a function of time after ingestion of 3 mg [13C]22:6-TG and showed specific patterns according to the lipid compartments. The retroconversion of [13C]22:6n-3 was also detected in HDL phosphatidylcholine by the appearance of [13C]22:5n-3 and [13C]20:5n-3. On the other hand, 22:6n-3 natural 13C abundance in human lipid classes of lipoproteins and blood cells has been measured using 10 ml plasma, even for the more limiting lipid compartments in terms of 22:6n-3 dose size.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Measurement of labile Cu in soil using stable isotope dilution and isotope ratio analysis by ICP-MS.

Isotope dilution is a useful technique to measure the labile metal pool, which is the amount of metal in soil in rapid equilibrium (<7 days) with the soil solution. This is normally performed by equilibrating soil with a metal isotope, and sampling the labile metal pool by using an extraction (E value), or by growing plants (L value). For Cu, this procedure is problematic for E values, and impossible for L values, due to the short half-life of the 64Cu radioisotope (12.4 h), which makes access and handling very difficult. We therefore developed a technique using enriched 65Cu stable isotope and measurement of 63Cu/65Cu ratios by quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to measure labile pools of Cu in soils using E value techniques. Mass spectral interferences in detection of 63Cu/65Cu ratios in soil extracts were found to be minimal. Isotope ratios determined by quadrupole ICP-MS compared well to those determined by high-resolution (magnetic sector) ICP-MS. E values determined using the stable isotope technique compared well to those determined using the radioisotope for both uncontaminated and Cu-contaminated soils.

Copper↗
PubMed2004

Isotopic compositions and accurate masses of single isotopic peaks.

This paper presents and proves an algorithm to calculate the isotopic composition of individual (nominal) isotopic peaks. From this information one can calculate the accurate masses of isotopic peaks. This opens the way to use accurate mass measurements to determine chemical compositions of compounds using non-mono-isotopic peaks. The algorithm is computationally efficient and rigorously correct in the absence of roundoff error. Highly effective error correction strategies are described to detect and correct computational errors arising in practical calculations. Results from theoretical calculations of isotopic masses for a krypton inclusion complex agreed well with experimental measurements.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2005

Low uncertainty reverse isotope dilution ICP-MS applied to certifying an isotopically enriched Cd candidate reference material: a case study.

An analytical method is presented based on reverse isotope dilution single detector inductively coupled plasma magnetic sector mass spectrometry (ID-ICP-SMS) and applied to the specific case of the certification of a (111)Cd enriched candidate Cd spike calibration material (nominal mass fraction 10 mg kg(-1) in 5% HNO3 solution). Uncertainty propagation was used as a tool for both determining the analytical approach and validating it. The robustness of close to "exact matching" reverse IDMS to correction of measured isotope intensities for multiplicative (mass discrimination) and (semi)additive effects (dead time, instrumental background, and isobaric interference) is discussed. The very low experimental relative standard deviation of the mean (0.08%) of eight replicate determinations indicated that all significant sources of uncertainty had probably been taken into account for the estimation of the final combined uncertainty statement (U(c) = 0.17%, k = 1). IRMM-621 was used as comparator. Uncertainties on IUPAC isotopic abundances of 111Cd and 112Cd, for the natural Cd solution involved between the two enriched materials, formed nearly 60% of U(c). The repeatability of the isotope ratio measurements contributed less than 10%. Correction for procedural blank necessitated somewhat unusual calculations (potential contamination of an enriched material with natural Cd). The procedure also involved a quadrupole based ICP-MS judged to be appropriate for the characterization of the isotopic composition. For comparison purposes, direct IDMS results are simulated using identical experimental input data. Finally, a significant background signal in the 106-116 mass region, observed only with the magnetic sector instrument, was attributed to argon based isobaric interferences.

Belgium↗