Determination of urinary 8-epi-prostaglandin F(2α) using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry: Increased excretion in diabetics

Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS-MS) was applied to the quantitative analysis of urinary 8-epi-prostaglandin F(2α) (8-epi-PGF(2α)) level. 8-Epi-PGF(2α) and its internal standard, [²H₄]-8-epi-PGF(2α), were extracted from urine by using a solid phase extraction cartridge and loaded to LC/MS-MS in selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode. The standard curve showed good linearity in the range of 40 pg to 10 ng (r = 0.997). The accuracy of the added 8-epi-PGF(2α) ranged from 96.8 to 104.9% with a mean ± SD of 99.5 ± 2.5%. The average level ± SD of urinary 8-epi-PGF(2α) in 13 healthy volunteers (five women and eight men, 31 ± 7.4 years old) was 429.4 ± 149.6 pg/mg creatinine. The level of seven patients with noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus (two women and five men, 40 ± 13.6 years old), 630.9 ± 275.6 pg/mg creatinine, was statistically higher than that of healthy volunteers (P < 0.05). This finding suggested that diabetics are in a highly oxidative condition. This simple and rapid LC/MS-MS method can be used to elucidate the pathophysiological feature of diabetes or for monitoring the curative effect. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc.