Non-target analysis has become an important tool in the field of water analysis since a broad variety of pollutants from different sources are released to the water cycle. For identification of compounds in such complex samples, liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry are often used. The introduction of ion mobility spectrometry provides an additional separation dimension and allows determining collision cross sections (CCS) of the analytes as a further physicochemical constant supporting the identification. A CCS database with more than 500 standard substances including drug-like compounds and pesticides was used for CCS data base search in this work. A non-target analysis of a wastewater sample was initially performed with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to an ion mobility-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometer (IM-qTOF-MS). A database search including exact mass (±5 ppm) and CCS (±1 %) delivered 22 different compounds. Furthermore, the same sample was analyzed with a two-dimensional LC method, called LC+LC, developed in our group for the coupling to IM-qTOF-MS. This four dimensional separation platform revealed 53 different compounds, identified over exact mass and CCS, in the examined wastewater sample. It is demonstrated that the CCS database can also help to distinguish between isobaric structures exemplified for cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide. Graphical Abstract Scheme of sample analysis and database screening.

Atherosclerotic coronary arteries are more calcified in patients with than without chronic kidney disease (CKD). We addressed the potential for coronary microvascular obstruction in patients with and without CKD during stenting for saphenous vein aorto-coronary graft (SVG) stenosis under protection with a distal occlusion/aspiration device. In patients with and without CKD (n = 20/20), SVG plaque composition was analyzed from virtual histology using intravascular ultrasound analysis before stent implantation. There was more dense calcium and more necrotic core in patients with than without CKD (14 ± 3 vs. 3 ± 1 % and 21 ± 3 vs. 12 ± 2 % of plaque volume, respectively). Coronary aspirate was retrieved during stent implantation and divided into particulate debris and plasma. Patients with CKD had more particulate debris and calcium release than patients without CKD. In contrast, the release of serotonin was less in patients with than without CKD (0.4 ± 0.1 vs. 1.2 ± 0.3 μmol/L), whereas that of catecholamines, endothelin, tissue factor, thromboxane, tumor necrosis factor α, and C reactive protein was not significantly different. Confirming the biochemical results, aspirate plasma from patients with CKD induced less vasoconstriction of rat mesenteric arteries than that from patients without CKD (with endothelium (+E), 26 ± 7 %; without endothelium (-E): 28 ± 7 % vs. +E, 68 ± 12 %; -E: 95 ± 16 % of maximum KCl-induced vasoconstriction). Graft atherosclerosis of patients with CKD is more degenerated and releases more particulate debris and calcium, but the aspirate has surprisingly less serotonin and vasoconstrictor potential.

A two-dimensional LC (2D-LC) method, based on the work of Erni and Frei in 1978, was developed and coupled to an ion mobility-high-resolution mass spectrometer (IM-MS), which enabled the separation of complex samples in four dimensions (2D-LC, ion mobility spectrometry (IMS), and mass spectrometry (MS)). This approach works as a continuous multiheart-cutting LC system, using a long modulation time of 4 min, which allows the complete transfer of most of the first - dimension peaks to the second - dimension column without fractionation, in comparison to comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography. Hence, each compound delivers only one peak in the second dimension, which simplifies the data handling even when ion mobility spectrometry as a third and mass spectrometry as a fourth dimension are introduced. The analysis of a plant extract from Ginkgo biloba shows the separation power of this four-dimensional separation method with a calculated total peak capacity of more than 8700. Furthermore, the advantage of ion mobility for characterizing unknown compounds by their collision cross section (CCS) and accurate mass in a non-target approach is shown for different matrices like plant extracts and coffee. Graphical abstract Principle of the four-dimensional separation.

ABSTRACT:Biological methylation and hydride formation of metals and metalloids are ubiquitous environmental processes that can lead to the formation of chemical species with significantly increased mobility and toxicity. Whereas much is known about the interaction of metal(loid)s with microorganisms in environmental settings, little information has been gathered on respective processes inside the human body as yet. Here, we studied the biotransformation and excretion of bismuth after ingestion of colloidal bismuth subcitrate (215 mg of bismuth) to 20 male human volunteers. Bismuth absorption in the stomach and upper intestine was very low, as evidenced by the small quantity of bismuth eliminated via the renal route. Total bismuth concentrations in blood increased rapidly in the first hour after ingestion. Most of the ingested bismuth was excreted via feces during the study period. Trace levels of the metabolite trimethylbismuth [(CH 3 ) 3 Bi] were detected via low temperaturegas chromatography/inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry in blood samples and in exhaled air samples. Concentrations were in the range of up to 2.50 pg/ml (blood) and 0.8 to 458 ng/m 3 (exhaled air), with high interindividual variation being observed. Elimination routes of bismuth were exhaled air (up to 0.03‰), urine (0.03-1.2%), and feces. The site of (CH 3 ) 3 Bi production could not be identified in the present study, but the intestinal microflora seems to be involved in this biotransformation if accompanying ex vivo studies are taken into consideration.It is a well known fact that the toxicity of metal(loid)s is essentially dependent on the chemical form, i.e., on the species of the element in question (Craig, 2003;Dopp et al., 2004; Hirner and Emons, 2004). In particular, alkylation often seems to considerably increase the toxic potential of metal(loid)s. Many studies have shown that in the environment methylated and also, in some cases, hydride species can be formed by different mechanisms and from a variety of metal(loid)s (Craig, 2003). In particular, microorganisms, e.g., bacteria and fungi, have been reported to be involved in this specific kind of conversion (Thayer, 2002).In contrast to the considerable knowledge that has accumulated on the interaction of microorganisms with metal(loid)s in the environment, a paucity of information is currently available on the respective processes inside the human body. This lack of knowledge is particularly striking in view of the fact that certain segments of the digestive tract, namely, the oral cavity and the colon, are colonized by myriads of bacteria. The difficulty of analyzing metal(loid) organic compounds at trace and even ultratrace levels might at least partly account for this information gap.After a pilot study with three volunteers , we performed an ingestion experiment with bismuth, administering this element as a single p.o. dose to 20 male volunteers in the form of a therapeutically used colloidal bismuth subcitrate compound. Bismuth was chosen as the element of interest ...

Bismuth compounds are widely used in industrial processes and products. In medicine, bismuth salts have been applied in combination with antibiotics for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infections, for the prevention of diarrhea, and in radioimmunotherapy. In the environment, bismuth ions can be biotransformed to the volatile bismuth compound trimethylbismuth (Me3Bi) by methanobacteria. Preliminary in-house studies have indicated that bismuth ions are methylated in the human colon by intestinal microflora following ingestion of bismuth-containing salts. Information concerning cyto- and genotoxicity of these biomethylated products is limited. In the present study, we investigated the cellular uptake of an organic bismuth compound [monomethylbismuth(III), MeBi(III)] and two other bismuth compounds [bismuth citrate (Bi-Cit) and bismuth glutathione (Bi-GS)] in human hepatocytes, lymphocytes, and erythrocytes using ICP-MS. We also analyzed the cyto- and genotoxic effects of these compounds to investigate their toxic potential. Our results show that the methylbismuth compound was better taken up by the cells than Bi-Cit and Bi-GS. All intracellularly detected bismuth compounds were located in the cytosol of the cells. MeBi(III) was best taken up by erythrocytes (36%), followed by lymphocytes (17%) and hepatocytes (0.04%). Erythrocytes and hepatocytes were more susceptible to MeBi(III) exposure than lymphocytes. Cytotoxic effects of MeBi(III) were detectable in erythrocytes at concentrations >4 microM, in hepatocytes at >130 microM, and in lymphocytes at >430 microM after 24 h of exposure. Cytotoxic effects for Bi-Cit and Bi-GS were much lower or not detectable in the used cell lines up to a tested concentration of 500 microM. Exposure of lymphocytes to MeBi(III) (250 microM for 1 h and 25 microM/50 microM for 24 h) resulted in significantly increased frequencies of chromosomal aberrations (CA) and sister chromatid exchanges (SCE), whereas Bi-Cit and Bi-GS induced neither CA nor SCE. Our study also showed an intracellular production of free radicals caused by MeBi(III) in hepatocytes but not in lymphocytes. These data suggest that biomethylation of bismuth ions by the intestinal microflora of the human colon leads to an increase in the toxicity of the primary bismuth salt.