Rapid and sensitive determination of the intermediates of advanced glycation end products in the human nail by ultra-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

The resolution of the intermediate advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in the human nail was carried out by the combination of 4,5-dimethyl-1,2-phenylenediamine (DMPD) derivatives and ultra-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC–ESI–TOF–MS). The reaction of the reagent with 3-deoxyglucosone (3-DG), methylglyoxal (MG), and glyoxal (GO) effectively proceeds at 60°C for 2h. The resulting derivatives were efficiently separated by a gradient program (a mixture of water and acetonitrile containing 0.1% formic acid) using a reversed-phase ACQUITY UPLC BEH C₁₈ column (1.7μm, 50×2.1mm i.d.) and sensitively detected by TOF–MS. The detection limits (signal-to-noise ratio=5) of the TOF–MS were 10 to 50fmol. A good linearity was achieved from the calibration curve, which was obtained by plotting the peak area ratios of the analytes relative to the internal standard (IS) (i.e., 2,3-hexanedione) versus the injected amounts of 3-DG, MG, and GO (r²>0.999), and the intra- and interday assay precisions were less than 6.89%. The derivatives of the compounds in the human nail were successfully identified by the proposed procedure. As we know, these three kinds of dicarbonyl intermediates in the formation of AGEs—3-DG, MG, and GO—were first found in human nail samples. Using these methods, the amounts of compound in the nails of healthy volunteers and diabetic patients were determined. When comparing the index from the diabetic patients with that from healthy volunteers, there is no significant difference in the content of the MG and GO in the nails. However, a statistically significant (P<0.001) correlation was observed between the 3-DG concentrations. Because the proposed method provides a good mass accuracy and the trace detection of the dicarbonyl intermediates of AGEs in the human nail, this analytical technique could be a noninvasive technique to assist in the diagnosis and assessment of disease activity in diabetic patients. Here we present a novel, sensitive, and simple method for the simultaneous determination of dicarbonyl compounds in the human nail.