Methylglyoxal (MG) and related alpha-oxoaldehydes react with proteins, lipids and DNA to give rise to covalent adducts known as advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). Elevated levels of AGEs have been implicated in the pathological complications of diabetes, uremia, Alzheimers disease, and possibly cancer. There is therefore widespread interest in developing sensitive methods for the in vivo measurement of AGEs as prognostic biomarkers and for treatment monitoring. The two diastereomeric MG-DNA adducts of N2-(1-carboxyethyl)-2'-deoxyguanosine (CEdG) are the primary glycation products formed in DNA; however, accurate assessment of their distribution in vivo has not been possible since there is no readily available quantitative method for CEdG determination in biological samples. In order to address these issues we have developed a sensitive and quantitative LC-ESI-MS/MS assay using the stable isotope dilution method with an 15N5-CEdG standard. Methods for CEdG determination in urine or tissue extracted DNA are described. Changes in urinary CEdG in diabetic rats in response to oral administration of the AGE inhibitor LR-90 are used to demonstrate the potential utility of the method for treatment monitoring. Both stereoisomeric CEdG adducts were detected in a human breast tumor and normal adjacent tissue at levels of 3–12 adducts/107 dG, suggesting that this lesion may be widely distributed in vivo. Strategies for dealing with artifactual adduct formation due to oxoaldehyde generation during DNA isolation and enzymatic workup procedures are described.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.