PMID- 22431459
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20120703
LR  - 20120320
IS  - 1096-9888 (Electronic)
IS  - 1076-5174 (Linking)
VI  - 47
IP  - 3
DP  - 2012 Mar
TI  - Characteristic ion clusters as determinants for the identification of 
      pyrrolizidine alkaloid N-oxides in pyrrolizidine alkaloid-containing natural 
      products using HPLC-MS analysis.
PG  - 331-7
LID - 10.1002/jms.2969 [doi]
AB  - Pyrrolizidine alkaloid (PA)-containing plants are widely distributed in the 
      world. PAs are hepatotoxic, affecting livestock and humans. PA N-oxides are often 
      present together with PAs in plants and also exhibit hepatotoxicity but with less 
      potency. HPLC-MS is generally used to analyze PA-containing herbs, although PA 
      references are unavailable in most cases. However, to date, without reference 
      standards, HPLC-MS methodology cannot distinguish PA N-oxides from PAs because 
      they both produce the same characteristic ions in mass spectra. In the present 
      study, the mass spectra of 10 PA N-oxides and the corresponding PAs were 
      systemically investigated using HPLC-MS to define the characteristic mass 
      fragment ions specific to PAs and PA N-oxides. Mass spectra of toxic 
      retronecine-type PA N-oxides exhibited two characteristic ion clusters at m/z 
      118-120 and 136-138. These ion clusters were produced by three unique 
      fragmentation pathways of PA N-oxides and were not found in their corresponding 
      PAs. Similarly, the nontoxic platynecine-type PA N-oxides also fragmented via 
      three similar pathways to form two characteristic ion clusters at m/z 120-122 and 
      138-140. Further application of using these characteristic ion clusters allowed 
      successful and rapid identification of PAs and PA N-oxides in two PA-containing 
      herbal plants. Our results demonstrated, for the first time, that these 
      characteristic ion clusters are unique determinants to discriminate PA N-oxides 
      from PAs even without the availability of reference samples. Our findings provide 
      a novel and specific method to differentiate PA N-oxides from PAs in 
      PA-containing natural products, which is crucial for the assessment of their 
      intoxication.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
FAU - Ruan, Jianqing
AU  - Ruan J
AD  - School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 
      China.
FAU - Li, Na
AU  - Li N
FAU - Xia, Qingsu
AU  - Xia Q
FAU - Fu, Peter P
AU  - Fu PP
FAU - Peng, Shuying
AU  - Peng S
FAU - Ye, Yang
AU  - Ye Y
FAU - Lin, Ge
AU  - Lin G
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - England
TA  - J Mass Spectrom
JT  - Journal of mass spectrometry : JMS
JID - 9504818
RN  - 0 (Cyclic N-Oxides)
RN  - 0 (Ions)
RN  - 0 (Plant Extracts)
RN  - 0 (Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids)
SB  - IM
MH  - Asteraceae/chemistry
MH  - Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/*methods
MH  - Cyclic N-Oxides/analysis/chemistry
MH  - Ions/analysis/chemistry
MH  - Mass Spectrometry/*methods
MH  - Plant Extracts/*chemistry
MH  - Plant Roots/chemistry
MH  - Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids/*analysis/chemistry
EDAT- 2012/03/21 06:00
MHDA- 2012/07/04 06:00
CRDT- 2012/03/21 06:00
PHST- 2012/03/21 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2012/03/21 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2012/07/04 06:00 [medline]
AID - 10.1002/jms.2969 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Mass Spectrom. 2012 Mar;47(3):331-7. doi: 10.1002/jms.2969.