Journal of Mass Spectrometry 2013-03-01

Quantification of L-ergothioneine in human plasma and erythrocytes by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Ling-Zhi Wang, Win-Lwin Thuya, Dorothy Su-Lin Toh, Michael George-Limenta Lie, Jie-Ying Amelia Lau, Li-Ren Kong, Seow-Ching Wan, Kian-Ngiap Chua, Edmund Jon-Deoon Lee, Boon-Cher Goh

Index: J. Mass Spectrom. 48(3) , 406-12, (2013)

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Abstract

A sensitive analytical method has been developed and validated for the quantification of L-ergothioneine in human plasma and erythrocytes by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. A commercially available isotope-labeled L-ergothioneine-d9 is used as the internal standard. A simple protein precipitation with acetonitrile is utilized for bio-sample preparation prior to analysis. Chromatographic separation of L-ergothioneine is conducted using gradient elution on Alltime C18 (150 mm × 2.1 mm, 5 µ). The run time is 6 min at a constant flow rate of 0.45 ml/min. The mass spectrometer is operated under a positive electrospray ionization condition with multiple reaction monitoring mode. The mass transitions of L-ergothioneine and L-ergothioneine-d9 are m/z 230 > 127 and m/z 239 > 127, respectively. Excellent linearity [coefficient of determination (r(2)) ≥ 0.9998] can be achieved for L-ergothioneine quantification at the ranges of 10 to 10,000 ng/ml, with the intra-day and inter-day precisions at 0.9-3.9% and 1.3-5.7%, respectively, and the accuracies for all quality control samples between 94.5 and 101.0%. This validated analytical method is suitable for pharmacokinetic monitoring of L-ergothioneine in human and erythrocytes. Based on the determination of bio-samples from five healthy subjects, the mean concentrations of L-ergothioneine in plasma and erythrocytes are 107.4 ± 20.5 ng/ml and 1285.0 ± 1363.0 ng/ml, respectively.Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.