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Mass Spectrometry in the Health Sciences
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Mass Spectrometry in the Health Sciences

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Analytical Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2023) | Viewed by 16737

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Federico Maria Rubino

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Guest Editor
Analytical Toxicology and Metabonomics Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine of Università degli Studi di Milano at Ospedale San Paolo, 20142 Milan, Italy
Interests: analytical chemistry; mass spectrometry; toxicology; heavy metals; redox biomarkers; workplace contaminants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Rita Paroni

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Co-Guest Editor
Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry and Clinical Biochemistry, Universita degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
Interests: clinical biochemistry; liquid chromatography; reference methods; hormones and vitamins; lipidomics; metabolomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ermelinda Falletta

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Co-Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
Interests: conducting polymers; catalysis; material science; mass spectrometry characterization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mass spectrometry is the workhorse of contemporary research in all fields of the multidisciplinary health sciences. The widespread commercial availability of mass spectrometry platforms with multiple ionization and tandem mass spectrometry capacity, capable of high and ultra-high resolution and mass range, coupled to enhanced-performance separation techniques, allows tackling an unprecedented range of research and applicative problems in all fields of the health sciences.

The structural assignment of new substances, both natural and synthesized; identification of known unknowns; dose assessment in all health-related compartments of the human body, of experimental animal models, of the natural and anthropic air, water, and soil environment; the measurement of biomarkers of health effects; and the intrinsic behavior of molecules, small and large, all benefit of the tremendous advances in technology. The design of focused and general-purpose methods that exploit the unique capacity of mass spectrometry among all analytical techniques has challenged the ingenuity of practitioners in all fields of health sciences. The large amount of generated data can be examined at any realistic pace and transformed into end-user information, only with the use of tailored software, the development and exploitation of which has for decades been a branch in itself of mass spectrometry technology.

This Special Issue on “Mass Spectrometry in the Health Sciences” welcomes original research work and reviews on experimental, theoretical, and computational studies of all kinds of subjects related to these fields. The development and application of technologies, software, methods, and protocols for the generation of data by cutting-edge mass spectrometry and for result interpretation comprises a short—and definitely not exhaustive—list of possible subjects for this Special Issue.

Dr. Federico Maria Rubino
Guest Editor

Prof. Rita Paroni
Dr. Ermelinda Falletta
Co-Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Biomarkers and biomolecular adducts
  • Carbohydrates, simple and complex
  • Clinical biochemistry applications
  • Health-related endogenous small molecules
  • Health-related xenobiotic and environmental contaminants
  • Lipids and lipidomics
  • Native mass spectrometry of biomolecular aggregates
  • -omic approaches
  • Peptides, proteins, native and modified
  • Targeted and untargeted methods

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 3203 KiB  
Article
Enhanced-Precision Measurement of Glutathionyl Hemoglobin by MALDI-ToF MS
by Federico Maria Rubino, Sara Ottolenghi, Andrea Brizzolari, Claudio Maioli, Michele Samaja and Rita Paroni
Molecules 2023, 28(2), 497; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28020497 - 4 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1710
Abstract
Glutathionyl-hemoglobin (HbSSG) is used as a human biomarker to pinpoint systemic oxidative stress caused by various pathological conditions, noxious lifestyles, and exposure to drugs and environmental or workplace toxicants. Measurement by MALDI mass spectrometry is most frequently used, however, the method suffers from [...] Read more.
Glutathionyl-hemoglobin (HbSSG) is used as a human biomarker to pinpoint systemic oxidative stress caused by various pathological conditions, noxious lifestyles, and exposure to drugs and environmental or workplace toxicants. Measurement by MALDI mass spectrometry is most frequently used, however, the method suffers from excessive uncontrolled variability. This article describes the improvement of a MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry method for HbSSG measurement through enhanced precision, based on strict control of sample preparation steps and spreadsheet-based data analysis. This improved method displays enhanced precision in the analysis of several hundred samples deriving from studies in different classes of healthy and diseased human subjects. Levels span from 0.5% (lower limit of detection) up to 30%, measured with a precision (as SE%) < 0.5%. We optimized this global procedure to improve data quality and to enable the Operator to work with a reduced physical and psychological strain. Application of this method, for which full instruction and the data analysis spreadsheet are supplied, can encourage the exploitation of HbSSG to study human oxidative stress in a variety of pathological and living conditions and to rationally test the efficacy of antioxidant measures and treatments in the frame of health promotion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mass Spectrometry in the Health Sciences)
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17 pages, 1415 KiB  
Article
Simultaneous Measurement of Cortisol, Cortisone, Dexamethasone and Additional Exogenous Corticosteroids by Rapid and Sensitive LC–MS/MS Analysis
by Federico Ponzetto, Mirko Parasiliti-Caprino, Fabio Settanni, Antonello Nonnato, Giulio Mengozzi, Ezio Ghigo and Roberta Giordano
Molecules 2023, 28(1), 248; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28010248 - 28 Dec 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3473
Abstract
The simultaneous measurement of dexamethasone and cortisol has proven the ability to increase the diagnostic performance of the overnight dexamethasone-suppression test. Furthermore, the therapeutic drug monitoring of administered corticosteroid drugs could represent a crucial tool for investigating unexpected variations of steroid hormones’ circulating [...] Read more.
The simultaneous measurement of dexamethasone and cortisol has proven the ability to increase the diagnostic performance of the overnight dexamethasone-suppression test. Furthermore, the therapeutic drug monitoring of administered corticosteroid drugs could represent a crucial tool for investigating unexpected variations of steroid hormones’ circulating levels. In this work, an LC–MS/MS method for the quantification of cortisol, cortisone, dexamethasone and six additional exogenous corticosteroids in the serum/plasma matrix was developed and validated in compliance with the ISO/IEC requirements. To assess the efficiency of the validated method, serum samples of 75 patients undergoing the dexamethasone-suppression test and 21 plasma samples of patients under immunosuppressive treatment after kidney transplant were analyzed. In all dexamethasone-suppression test samples, it was possible to measure the circulating levels of cortisol, cortisone and dexamethasone. Concentrations of the latter were for all tested patients above the proposed cutoff for the dexamethasone-suppression test’s results, and the cortisol concentrations showed good correlation with the ones measured by routine immunometric analysis, therefore confirming the screening outcome for all enrolled patients. Prednisone was detected and quantified in all enrolled patients, confirming the use of such a corticosteroid for immunosuppressive therapy. Thanks to these two applications, we proved the overall performance of the developed LC–MS/MS method for four target analytes. The future implementation of such an analytical tool in the clinical biochemistry laboratory’s routine will guarantee a single and versatile tool for simultaneously monitoring dexamethasone-suppression-test results and corticosteroid drugs’ administration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mass Spectrometry in the Health Sciences)
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9 pages, 3001 KiB  
Article
Quantitative Assessment of Serine-8 Phosphorylated β-Amyloid Using MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry
by Andrey A. Kuzin, Galina S. Stupnikova, Polina A. Strelnikova, Ksenia V. Danichkina, Maria I. Indeykina, Stanislav I. Pekov and Igor A. Popov
Molecules 2022, 27(23), 8406; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27238406 - 1 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2802
Abstract
The study of the molecular mechanisms of the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is extremely important for identifying potential therapeutic targets as well as early markers. In this regard, the study of the role of post-translational modifications (PTMs) of β-amyloid (Aβ) peptides is [...] Read more.
The study of the molecular mechanisms of the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is extremely important for identifying potential therapeutic targets as well as early markers. In this regard, the study of the role of post-translational modifications (PTMs) of β-amyloid (Aβ) peptides is of particular relevance. Serine-8 phosphorylated forms (pSer8-Aβ) have been shown to have an increased aggregation capacity and may reflect the severity of amyloidosis. Here, an approach for quantitative assessment of pSer8-Aβ based on matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is proposed. The relative fraction of pSer8-Aβ was estimated in the total Aβ-pool with a detection limit of 1 fmol for pSer8-Aβ (1–16) and an accuracy of 2% for measurements in the reflectron mode. The sensitivity of the developed method is suitable for determining the proportion of phosphorylated peptides in biological samples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mass Spectrometry in the Health Sciences)
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13 pages, 2536 KiB  
Article
Multivariate Prognostic Model for Predicting the Outcome of Critically Ill Patients Using the Aromatic Metabolites Detected by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
by Alisa K. Pautova, Andrey S. Samokhin, Natalia V. Beloborodova and Alexander I. Revelsky
Molecules 2022, 27(15), 4784; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27154784 - 26 Jul 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1901
Abstract
A number of aromatic metabolites of tyrosine and phenylalanine have been investigated as new perspective markers of infectious complications in the critically ill patients of intensive care units (ICUs). The goal of our research was to build a multivariate model for predicting the [...] Read more.
A number of aromatic metabolites of tyrosine and phenylalanine have been investigated as new perspective markers of infectious complications in the critically ill patients of intensive care units (ICUs). The goal of our research was to build a multivariate model for predicting the outcome of critically ill patients regardless of the main pathology on the day of admission to the ICU. Eight aromatic metabolites were detected in serum using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The samples were obtained from the critically ill patients (n = 79), including survivors (n = 44) and non-survivors (n = 35), and healthy volunteers (n = 52). The concentrations of aromatic metabolites were statistically different in the critically ill patients and healthy volunteers. A univariate model for predicting the outcome of the critically ill patients was based on 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)lactic acid (p-HPhLA). Two multivariate classification models were built based on aromatic metabolites using SIMCA method. The predictive models were compared with the clinical APACHE II scale using ROC analysis. For all of the predictive models the areas under the ROC curve were close to one. The aromatic metabolites (one or a number of them) can be used in clinical practice for the prognosis of the outcome of critically ill patients on the day of admission to the ICU. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mass Spectrometry in the Health Sciences)
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9 pages, 2164 KiB  
Communication
Determination of Brain Tissue Samples Storage Conditions for Reproducible Intraoperative Lipid Profiling
by Stanislav I. Pekov, Evgeny S. Zhvansky, Vasily A. Eliferov, Anatoly A. Sorokin, Daniil G. Ivanov, Eugene N. Nikolaev and Igor A. Popov
Molecules 2022, 27(8), 2587; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27082587 - 18 Apr 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1991
Abstract
Ex-vivo molecular profiling has recently emerged as a promising method for intraoperative tissue identification, especially in neurosurgery. The short-term storage of resected samples at room temperature is proposed to have negligible influence on the lipid molecular profiles. However, a detailed investigation of short-term [...] Read more.
Ex-vivo molecular profiling has recently emerged as a promising method for intraoperative tissue identification, especially in neurosurgery. The short-term storage of resected samples at room temperature is proposed to have negligible influence on the lipid molecular profiles. However, a detailed investigation of short-term molecular profile stability is required to implement molecular profiling in a clinic. This study evaluates the effect of storage media, temperature, and washing solution to determine conditions that provide stable and reproducible molecular profiles, with the help of ambient ionization mass spectrometry using rat cerebral cortex as model brain tissue samples. Utilizing normal saline for sample storage and washing media shows a positive effect on the reproducibility of the spectra; however, the refrigeration shows a negligible effect on the spectral similarity. Thus, it was demonstrated that up to hour-long storage in normal saline, even at room temperature, ensures the acquisition of representative molecular profiles using ambient ionization mass spectrometry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mass Spectrometry in the Health Sciences)
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15 pages, 1963 KiB  
Article
Development and Application of an LC-MS/MS Untargeted Exposomics Method with a Separated Pooled Quality Control Strategy
by Gianfranco Frigerio, Camilla Moruzzi, Rosa Mercadante, Emma L. Schymanski and Silvia Fustinoni
Molecules 2022, 27(8), 2580; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27082580 - 16 Apr 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3475
Abstract
Pooled quality controls (QCs) are usually implemented within untargeted methods to improve the quality of datasets by removing features either not detected or not reproducible. However, this approach can be limiting in exposomics studies conducted on groups of exposed and nonexposed subjects, as [...] Read more.
Pooled quality controls (QCs) are usually implemented within untargeted methods to improve the quality of datasets by removing features either not detected or not reproducible. However, this approach can be limiting in exposomics studies conducted on groups of exposed and nonexposed subjects, as compounds present at low levels only in exposed subjects can be diluted and thus not detected in the pooled QC. The aim of this work is to develop and apply an untargeted workflow for human biomonitoring in urine samples, implementing a novel separated approach for preparing pooled quality controls. An LC-MS/MS workflow was developed and applied to a case study of smoking and non-smoking subjects. Three different pooled quality controls were prepared: mixing an aliquot from every sample (QC-T), only from non-smokers (QC-NS), and only from smokers (QC-S). The feature tables were filtered using QC-T (T-feature list), QC-S, and QC-NS, separately. The last two feature lists were merged (SNS-feature list). A higher number of features was obtained with the SNS-feature list than the T-feature list, resulting in identification of a higher number of biologically significant compounds. The separated pooled QC strategy implemented can improve the nontargeted human biomonitoring for groups of exposed and nonexposed subjects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mass Spectrometry in the Health Sciences)
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