Anke Böhmer

Renal carbonic anhydrases are involved in the reabsorption of endogenous nitrite.

Nitrite (ONO(-)) exerts nitric oxide (NO)-related biological actions and its concentration in the circulation may be of particular importance. Nitrite is excreted in the urine. Hence, the kidney may play an important role in nitrite/NO homeostasis in the vasculature. We investigated a possible involvement of renal carbonic anhydrases (CAs) in endogenous nitrite reabsorption in the proximal tubule. The potent CA inhibitor acetazolamide was administered orally to six healthy volunteers (5 mg/kg) and nitrite was measured in spot urine samples before and after administration. Acetazolamide increased abruptly nitrite excretion in the urine, strongly suggesting that renal CAs are involved in nitrite reabsorption in healthy humans. Additional in vitro experiments support our hypothesis that nitrite reacts with CO(2), analogous to the reaction of peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)) with CO(2), to form acid-labile nitrito carbonate [ONOC(O)O(-)]. We assume that this reaction is catalyzed by CAs and that nitrito carbonate represents the nitrite form that is actively transported into the kidney. The significance of nitrite reabsorption in the kidney and the underlying mechanisms, notably a direct involvement of CAs in the reaction between nitrite and CO(2), remain to be elucidated.

Doubts concerning functional endothelial nitric oxide synthase in human erythrocytes

To the editor: Nitric oxide (NO) is involved in the modulation of multiple physiologic functions. NO is produced from L-Arg by the catalytic action of NO synthase (NOS; EC 1.14.13.39).[1][1] Erythrocytes have been reported to express NOS,[2][2][][3][][4][][5][][6][][7]–[8][8] an eNOS isoform.[5][

UPLC-MS/MS measurement of S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) in human plasma solves the S-nitrosothiol concentration enigma.

We developed and validated a fast UPLC-MS/MS method with positive electrospray ionization (ESI+) for the quantitative determination of S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) in human plasma. We used a published protocol for the inactivation of plasma γ-glutamyltransferase (γGT) activity by using the γGT transition inhibitor serine/borate and the chelator EDTA for the stabilization of GSNO, and N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) to block SH groups and to avoid S-transnitrosylation reactions which may diminish GSNO concentration. S-[(15)N]Nitrosoglutathione (GS(15)NO) served as internal standard. Fresh blood was treated with NEM/serine/borate/EDTA, plasma spiked with GS(15)NO (50nM) was ultrafiltered (cut-off 10kDa) and 10μL aliquots of the ultrafiltrate were analyzed by UPLC-MS/MS. Five HILIC columns and an Acquity UPLC BH amide column were tested. The mobile phase was acetonitrile-water (70:30, v/v), contained 20mM ammonium formate, had a pH value of 7, and was pumped isocratically (0.5mL/min). The Nucleoshell column allowed better LC performance and higher MS sensitivity. The retention time of GSNO was about 1.1min. Quantification was performed by selected-reaction monitoring the mass transition m/z 337 ([M+H](+))→m/z 307 ([M+H(14)NO](+)) for GSNO (i.e., GS(14)NO) and m/z 338 ([M+H](+))→m/z 307 ([M+H(15)NO](+)) for GS(15)NO. NEM/serine/borate/EDTA was found to stabilize GSNO in human plasma. The method was validated in human plasma (range, 0-300nM) using 50nM GS(15)NO. Accuracy and precision were in generally acceptable ranges. A considerable matrix effect was observed, which was however outweighed by the internal standard GS(15)NO. In freshly prepared plasma from heparinized blood donated by 10 healthy subjects, no endogenous GSNO was determined above 2.8nM, the limit of quantitation (LOQ) of the method. This study challenges previously reported GSNO plasma concentrations being far above the present method LOQ value and predicts that the concentration of low-molecular-mass and high-molecular-mass S-nitrosothiols are in the upper pM- and lower nM-range, respectively.

Quantification of acetaminophen (paracetamol) in human plasma and urine by stable isotope-dilution GC-MS and GC-MS/MS as pentafluorobenzyl ether derivative.

We report on the quantitative determination of acetaminophen (paracetamol; NAPAP-d(0)) in human plasma and urine by GC-MS and GC-MS/MS in the electron-capture negative-ion chemical ionization (ECNICI) mode after derivatization with pentafluorobenzyl (PFB) bromide (PFB-Br). Commercially available tetradeuterated acetaminophen (NAPAP-d(4)) was used as the internal standard. NAPAP-d(0) and NAPAP-d(4) were extracted from 100-μL aliquots of plasma and urine with 300 μL ethyl acetate (EA) by vortexing (60s). After centrifugation the EA phase was collected, the solvent was removed under a stream of nitrogen gas, and the residue was reconstituted in acetonitrile (MeCN, 100 μL). PFB-Br (10 μL, 30 vol% in MeCN) and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (10 μL) were added and the mixture was incubated for 60 min at 30 °C. Then, solvents and reagents were removed under nitrogen and the residue was taken up with 1000 μL of toluene, from which 1-μL aliquots were injected in the splitless mode. GC-MS quantification was performed by selected-ion monitoring ions due to [M-PFB](-) and [M-PFB-H](-), m/z 150 and m/z 149 for NAPAP-d(0) and m/z 154 and m/z 153 for NAPAP-d(4), respectively. GC-MS/MS quantification was performed by selected-reaction monitoring the transition m/z 150 → m/z 107 and m/z 149 → m/z 134 for NAPAP-d(0) and m/z 154 → m/z 111 and m/z 153 → m/z 138 for NAPAP-d(4). The method was validated for human plasma (range, 0-130 μM NAPAP-d(0)) and urine (range, 0-1300 μM NAPAP-d(0)). Accuracy (recovery, %) ranged between 89 and 119%, and imprecision (RSD, %) was below 19% in these matrices and ranges. A close correlation (r>0.999) was found between the concentrations measured by GC-MS and GC-MS/MS. By this method, acetaminophen can be reliably quantified in small plasma and urine sample volumes (e.g., 10 μL). The analytical performance of the method makes it especially useful in pediatrics.

High-performance liquid chromatography ultraviolet assay for human erythrocytic catalase activity by measuring glutathione as o-phthalaldehyde derivative

The most frequently used catalase (CAT) activity assay is based on the spectrophotometric measurement of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) absorbance decrease at 240 nm. Here we report an alternative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay for human erythrocytic CAT (heCAT) activity measurement based on glutathione (GSH) analysis as a highly stable, H(2)O(2)-insensitive o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) derivative. The method was developed and validated using an isolated heCAT in phosphate-buffered saline at pH 7.4 and was applied to measure CAT activity in lysed human erythrocytes. heCAT activity was measured at initial concentrations of 5 nM for heCAT, 5mM for H(2)O(2), and 10mM for GSH, and the incubation time was 10 min. Nitrite (NO(2)(-)) was found to be an uncompetitive inhibitor of heCAT activity (IC(50)=9 μM) and of CAT activity in hemolysate (IC(50)∼750 μM). Nitrate (NO(3)(-)) at concentrations up to 100 μM did not inhibit heCAT activity. Azide (N(3)(-)) was found to be a very strong inhibitor of the heCAT (IC(50)=0.2 nM) but a relatively weak CAT inhibitor (IC(50)∼10 μM) in human hemolysates. The novel CAT activity assay works under redox conditions that more closely resemble those prevailing in cells and allows high-throughput analysis despite the required HPLC step.

Human blood platelets lack nitric oxide synthase activity

Abstract Reports on expression and functionality of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity in human blood platelets and erythrocytes are contradictory. We used a specific gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) method to detect NOS activity in human platelets. The method measures simultaneously [15N]nitrite and [15N]nitrate formed from oxidized 15N-labeled nitric oxide (15NO) upon its NOS-catalyzed formation from the substrate l-[guanidino-15N2]-arginine. Using this GC–MS assay, we did not detect functional NOS in non-stimulated platelets and in intact platelets activated by various agonists (adenosine diphosphate, collagen, thrombin, or von Willebrand factor) or lysed platelets. l-[guanidino-nitro]-Arginine-inhibitable NOS activity was measured after addition of recombinant human endothelial NOS to lysed platelets. Previous and recent studies from our group challenge expression and functionality of NOS in human platelets and erythrocytes.

Gas Chromatography−Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Nitrite in Biological Fluids without Derivatization

We report on a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for the quantification of nitrite in biological fluids without preceding derivatization. This method is based on the solvent extraction with ethyl acetate of nitrous acid (HONO, pK(a) = 3.29), i.e., HO(14)NO and (15)N-labeled nitrous acid (HO(15)NO) which was supplied as the sodium salt of (15)N-labeled nitrite and served as the internal standard. HO(14)NO and HO(15)NO react within the injector (at 300 degrees C) of the gas chromatograph with the solvent ethyl acetate to form presumably unlabeled and (15)N-labeled acetyl nitrite, respectively. Under negative ion chemical ionization (NICI) conditions with methane as the reagent gas, these species ionize to form O(14)NO(-) (m/z 46) and O(15)NO(-) (m/z 47), respectively. Quantification is performed by selected ion monitoring of m/z 46 for nitrite and m/z 47 for the internal standard. Nitrate at concentrations up to 20 mM does not interfere with nitrite analysis in this method. The GC-MS method was validated for the quantification of nitrite in aqueous buffer, human urine (1 mL, acidification) and saliva (0.1-1 mL, acidification), and hemolysates. The method was applied in studying reactions of nitrite (0-10 mM) with oxyhemoglobin ( approximately 6 mM) in lysed human erythrocytes (100 microL aliquots, no acidification).

Discovery and microassay of a nitrite-dependent carbonic anhydrase activity by stable-isotope dilution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

The intrinsic activity of carbonic anhydrase (CA) is the hydration of CO2 to carbonic acid and its dehydration to CO2. CA may also function as esterase and phosphatase. Recently, we demonstrated that renal CA is mainly responsible for the reabsorption of nitrite (NO2−) which is the most abundant reservoir of the biologically highly potent nitric oxide (NO). By means of a stable-isotope dilution GC–MS method, we discovered a novel CA activity which strictly depends upon nitrite. We found that bovine erythrocytic CAII (beCAII) catalyses the incorporation of 18O from H218O into nitrite at pH 7.4. After derivatization with pentafluorobenzyl bromide, gas chromatographic separation and mass spectrometric analysis, we detected ions at m/z 48 for singly 18O-labelled nitrite (16O=N–18O−/18O=N–16O−) and at m/z 50 for doubly 18O-labelled nitrite (18O=N–18O−) in addition to m/z 46 for unlabelled nitrite. Using 15N-labelled nitrite (15NO2−, m/z 47) as an internal standard and selected-ion monitoring of m/z 46, m/z 48, m/z 50 and m/z 47, we developed a GC–MS microassay for the quantitative determination of the nitrite-dependent beCAII activity. The CA inhibitors acetazolamide and FC5 207A did not alter beCAII-catalysed formation of singly and doubly 18O-labelled nitrite. Cysteine and the experimental CA inhibitor DIDS (a diisothiocyanate) increased several fold the beCAII-catalysed formation of the 18O-labelled nitrite species. Cysteine, acetazolamide, FC5 207A, and DIDS by themselves had no effect on the incorporation of 18O from H218O into nitrite. We conclude that erythrocytic CA possesses a nitrite-dependent activity which can only be detected when nitrite is used as the substrate and the reaction is performed in buffers of neutral pH values prepared in H218O. This novel CA activity, i.e., the nitrous acid anhydrase activity, represents a bioactivation of nitrite and may have both beneficial (via S-nitrosylation and subsequent NO release) and possibly adverse (via C- and N-nitrosylation) effects in living organisms.

Stable-isotope dilution LC-MS/MS measurement of nitrite in human plasma after its conversion to S-nitrosoglutathione

A specific, sensitive and fast LC-MS/MS method with positive electrospray ionization for the quantitative determination of nitrite in human plasma is reported. Added [(15)N]nitrite served as the internal standard (IS). Endogenous nitrite and IS were converted to their S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) derivatives, i.e., GS(14)NO and GS(15)NO, respectively, by using excess glutathione (GSH) and HCl. For plasmatic nitrite, fresh plasma (0.5 mL) was spiked with the IS (1000 nM) and ultrafiltered (cut-off 10 kDa). Ultrafiltrate aliquots (100 μL) were treated with aqueous GSH at a final concentration of 1 mM and 1 μL of 5M HCl for 5 min. After final sample dilution (1:1, v/v) with acetonitrile-water (70:30, v/v), 2 μL aliquots were injected via a thermostated (4 °C) autosampler. The mobile phase was acetonitrile-water (70:30, v/v), contained 20mM ammonium formate, had a pH value of 7, and was pumped isocratically at 0.5 mL/min. A Nucleoshell column was used for LC separation. The retention time of GSNO was about 0.8 min and the total analysis time 5 min. Quantification was performed by selected-reaction monitoring the specific mass transition m/z337([M+H](+))→m/z 307([M+H-(14)NO](+·)) for GS(14)NO (i.e., for endogenous nitrite) and m/z338([M+H](+))→m/z307([M+H-(15)NO](+·)) for GS(15)NO (i.e., for the IS). The method was thoroughly validated in human plasma (range, 0-2000 nM). The LOD and LOQ values of the LC-MS/MS method were determined to be 1 fmol and 5 nM [(15)N]nitrite, respectively. The relative matrix-effect of about 21% was outweighed entirely by the IS. In freshly prepared plasma samples from heparinized blood donated by three healthy subjects, nitrite concentration was determined by LC-MS/MS to be 516, 199 and 369 nM. These concentrations were confirmed by using a previously reported GC-MS method and agree with those measured previously by HPLC-UV (334 nm) after nitrite conversion to S-nitroso-N-acetylcysteine (SNAC) by N-acetylcysteine (NAC). Measurement of nitrite by LC-MS/MS as GSNO is about 1000 times more sensitive than by HPLC-UV as SNAC. The applicability of the method to microdialysate, urine, and saliva samples from humans was demonstrated. The agreement of two orthogonal MS-based methods indicates that the concentration of nitrite in freshly prepared, non-frozen plasma from heparinized blood of fasted healthy humans is of the order of 400 nM.

Evidence by chromatography and mass spectrometry that inorganic nitrite induces S-glutathionylation of hemoglobin in human red blood cells.

Previously we found by HPLC with fluorescence detection that inorganic nitrite induces oxidation of glutathione (GSH) to its disulfide (GSSG) in intact and more abundantly in lyzed red blood cells (RBCs) from healthy humans. In the present work, we performed MS-based protein analysis and observed that nitrite (range, 0-20mM) induces formation of S-glutathionyl hemoglobin (HbSSG) at cysteine (Cys) β93 and β112 of oxyhemoglobin (HbO2) in lyzed human RBCs (range, 6-8mM HbO2). Hemoglobin species were isolated from incubation mixtures of nitrite in lyzed RBCs by ultrafiltration or affinity chromatography and analyzed by HPLC and LC-MS/MS. The mechanism likely involves inhibition of catalase activity by nitrite (IC50, 9 μM), which allows H2O2 to accumulate and oxidize Cys moieties of oxyhemoglobin and erythrocytic GSH to form HbSSG in addition to GSSG. In freshly prepared hemolysate samples, nitrite induced release of superoxide and molecular oxygen. In the presence of paracetamol and nitrite in hemolysate samples, 3-nitro-paracetamol was detected. Nitrite also induced S-nitroso hemoglobin (HbSNO) formation in low yield (i.e., 0.1%). Synthetic cysteine (Cys), glutathione (GSH), N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and N-acetylcysteine ethyl ester (NACET) inhibited nitrite-induced modifications of oxyhemoglobin including methemoglobin, HbSSG (CysSH >> NACET >> GSH ≈ NAC; thiol concentration, 50 μM) and HbSNO. Nitrite-induced oxidative modifications may alter physiological hemoglobin functions and may require alternative treatments for conditions associated with oxidized hemoglobin like in nitrite-induced methemoglobinemia. Accumulation of soluble Cys in RBCs via oral administration of NACET could be a new promising strategy to prevent nitrite-induced methemoglobinemia by nitrite and other oxidants.