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Exposure to benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) may be a risk factor for pulmonary diseases. To investigate the correlations among B[a]P exposure level, DNA strand breaks and pulmonary inflammation, we recruited 83 children diagnosed with pulmonary diseases and 63 healthy children from Guangzhou, China. Results showed that the levels of Benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE) DNA adduct in blood and IL-8 in serum in case group were significantly higher than those in control group (p < 0.01). Moreover, levels of atmospheric B[a]P in case group was about twice of those in control group, which was consistent with the levels of BPDE-DNA adduct in blood. Significant positive correlations were observed among the levels of BPDE-DNA adduct, IL-8 and DNA strand breaks (p < 0.05). Our findings indicate that environmental air is an important exposure source of B[a]P and higher B[a]P exposure may contribute to the occurrence of pulmonary inflammation and lead to high health risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human beings are inevitably exposed to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of anthropogenic emissions as they are ubiquitous atmospheric pollutants. Smoking is an important exposure route of VOCs for the general population. Health effects induced by VOC exposure raise more concerns as they are identified with carcinogenicity, genotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and reproductive toxicity. trans-3′-Hydroxycotinine (OH-Cot) is a urinary biomarker of smoking, and 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHDG) is a urinary biomarker of DNA oxidative damage. To develop a method for quantifying VOC exposure levels of the general population and assessing the health risks induced by VOCs from second-hand smoking, an effective, rapid, and high-throughput method for the simultaneous determination of 31 metabolites of VOCs, 8-OHDG, and OH-Cot using solid-phase extraction coupled with UPLC-MS/MS was developed and validated. Method precision and accuracy, extraction recoveries, matrix effects, and storage stabilities of most analytes met the criterion (80–120%). Extraction recoveries increased from 85.1 to 100% after adjustment by isotoped internal standards (ISs). Furthermore, 13C- and 15N-labeled ISs were more effective to reduce the influence of matrix effects on recoveries and precisions than the deuterated analogs (73.0–116% vs. 53.6–140%). This developed method was successfully applied to determine urine samples collected from children. Results showed that N-acetyl-S-(3,4-dihydrobutyl)-l-cysteine, 2,2′-thiodiacetic acid (TGA), and N-acetyl-S-(3-hydroxypropyl-1-methyl)-l-cysteine (HPMMA) were well correlated with 8-OHDG with coefficients higher than 0.82, indicating those VOCs might easily lead to DNA damage. In conclusion, our co-monitoring of metabolites of VOCs with 8-OHDG and OH-Cot in one method provides a robust analytical method, which not only suggests the potential adverse health effects induced by VOCs but also discriminates and evaluates the contribution of passive smoking in human VOC exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of neurotransmitters in brain tissue is useful for mechanistic studies of the central nervous system. Isotope dilution coupled with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was developed for the simultaneous determination of glutamic acid, γ -amino butyric acid, acetylcholine, dopamine, and serotonin in the hippocampus tissue. A 2% (v/v) acetic acid in water-methanol (9:1, v/v) solution was used to prepare the standards and re-dissolute samples after nitrogen drying. An Ultimate AQ-C 18 column (150 mm×4.6 mm, 3 μm) was used as the analytical column and 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in water and methanol were used as the mobile phase. Gradient elution was performed and all target compounds were eluted over 3 min at 28℃. Vitamin C spiked during the sample pretreatment and storage periods significantly retarded the oxidation of dopamine and serotonin and improved the neurotransmitter stability. The developed method showed good linearities (correlation coefficient ( R 2 )>0.998), low detection limits (0.15-1.0 μg/L), good inter-and intra-day precisions (relative standard deviations:0.39%-13.6%), good accuracy (92.9%-119%), low carry-over, and excellent stability. Moreover, the method was successfully applied and validated in the determination of rat hippocampus exposed to bisphenol A.