José Bernal

Advanced analysis of nutraceuticals

In this article, we present a review work on different nutraceuticals found in natural matrices together with the analytical techniques used to identify and/or quantify them with special emphasis in the period January 2005-May 2010. The work is distributed according to the different families of nutraceuticals (lipids, vitamins, proteins, glycosides, phenolic compounds, etc.) discussing the analytical techniques employed for their determination (separation, spectroscopic, hyphenated techniques, etc.). Information about the claimed health promoting effects of the different families of nutraceuticals is also provided together with data on the natural matrices in which they can be found (e.g., fruits, vegetables, plants, microalgae, cereals, milk, etc.).

Multidimensional chromatography in food analysis.

In this work, the main developments and applications of multidimensional chromatographic techniques in food analysis are reviewed. Different aspects related to the existing couplings involving chromatographic techniques are examined. These couplings include multidimensional GC, multidimensional LC, multidimensional SFC as well as all their possible combinations. Main advantages and drawbacks of each coupling are critically discussed and their key applications in food analysis described.

Potentiation of human α4β2 neuronal nicotinic receptors by a Flustra foliacea metabolite

Abstract The effects of various Flustra foliacea metabolites on different types of human neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) expressed in Xenopus oocytes were investigated. Whereas most of the compounds tested had a small blocking effect, one of them, deformylflustrabromine, selectively increased the current obtained in α4β2 receptors when co-applied with acetylcholine (ACh). The current increase was reversible and concentration-dependent. This potentiating effect was still present at saturating concentrations of acetylcholine, and no changes in single-channel conductance or reversal potential were observed, thus suggesting a modification in the gating of α4β2 receptors. Dwell time analysis of single channel records indicates that the mechanism of action of deformylflustrabromine could be both an increase of the opening rate constant and a decrease of the closing rate constant on α4β2 receptors. Thus, deformylflustrabromine may constitute an excellent starting point for the future development of related agents able to potentiate human neuronal nicotinic receptor function.

A new and simple method to determine trace levels of sulfonamides in honey by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection.

A novel method for the simultaneous analysis at trace level of sulfonamides (sulfaguanidine, sulfanilamide, sulfacetamide, sulfathiazole, sulfapyridine, sulfachloropyridazine, sulfamerazine, sulfameter, sulfamethazine, sulfadoxine, sulfadiazine, sulfamonomethoxine, sulfadimethoxine) in honey is described. Methanol has been used in the sample treatment step to avoid the emulsion formation and to break the N-glycosidic bond between sugars and sulfonamides. The determination is carried out by liquid chromatography in gradient elution mode, with fluorescence detection after the on-line pre-column derivatization with fluorescamine. The influence of parameters such as the mobile phase composition, column temperature, pH or injection volume, on the separation has been taken into account and the derivatization step has also been optimized. Recoveries of the compounds on spiked honey samples ranged from 56% for sulfadoxine to 96% for sulfacetamide, with relative standard deviations below 10%. The quantitation limits are between 4 and 15 ng g(-1).

Profile and relative concentrations of fatty acids in corn and soybean seeds from transgenic and isogenic crops.

In this work 44 fatty acids, which were analyzed as methyl esters by GC/MS in scan mode, have been determined in genetically modified corn and soybean seeds. Their relative concentrations have been compared with those of isogenic lines grown in the same conditions. Studied compounds comprised saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, including cis/trans isomers and minor fatty acids. A classical soxhlet extraction and an accelerated solvent extraction have been assayed to extract the fatty compounds from seeds and the GC separation has been carried out on a biscyanopropylpolysiloxane chromatographic column. Soxhlet extraction was selected as the most convenient and applied to compare the samples. Specific compounds, which could denote the origin of the crop have not been observed, but for some sample pairs, significant differences have been found in relation to the percentage of certain acids; the highest differences for major acids were 4.1% in corn and 4.8% in soybean. The concentrations of long chain acids such as 24:0, 26:0 and 28:0 were higher in some isogenic lines whereas the concentrations of short chain acids such as 6:0, 8:0, 9:0, 10:0 and 12:0 were higher in their transgenic counterparts.

Fast and easy coating for capillary electrophoresis based on a physically adsorbed cationic copolymer.

In this work, a new copolymer synthesized in our laboratory is used as physically adsorbed coating for capillary electrophoresis (CE). The copolymer is composed of ethylpyrrolidine methacrylate (EPyM) and methylmethacrylate (MMA). The capillary coating is easily obtained by simply flushing into the tubing an EPyM/MMA solution. It is demonstrated that the composition of the EPyM/MMA copolymer together with the selection of the background electrolyte (BGE) and pH allow tailoring the direction and magnitude of the electroosmotic flow (EOF) in CE. It is also shown that the EOF obtained for the EPyM/MMA-coated capillaries was reproducible in all cases independently on pH or polymer composition. Thus, RSD values lower than 1.9% (n=5) for the same capillary and day were obtained for the migration time, while the repeatability interdays (n=5) was observed to provide RSD values lower than 0.5%. The stability of the coating procedure was also tested between capillaries (n=3) obtaining RSD values lower than 0.6%. It is demonstrated with several examples that the use of EPyM/MMA coatings in CE can drastically reduce the analysis time and/or to improve the resolution of the separations. It is shown that EPyM/MMA-coated capillaries allow the separation of basic proteins by reducing their adsorption onto the capillary wall. Also, EPyM/MMA-coated capillaries provide a faster separation of samples containing simultaneously positive and negative analytes. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the use of EPyM/MMA-coated capillaries can incorporate an additional chromatographic-like interaction with nucleosides that highly improves the separation of this group of solutes.

Development and application of a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method to evaluate the glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid dissipation in maize plants after foliar treatment.

A simple and fast method has been developed and validated to measure glyphosate (GLYP) and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), which were previously derivatized with 9-fluorenylmethylchloroformate (FMOC-Cl), in maize plants using liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to fluorescence (FLD) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) detection. The method has shown to be consistent, reliable, precise, and efficient. Moreover, the limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) reached with the proposed method for GLYP and AMPA are lower than the established maximum residue levels (MRLs). The validated method was applied to quantify GLYP and AMPA in genetically modified (GM) maize foliar treated with the herbicide. It has been found that the GLYP dissipation was mainly due to the progressive dilution effect after herbicide treatment. Finally, it was also observed that the GLYP residue dissipation trend in maize shoot (leaves and stem) tissue determined by LC-ESI-MS matched that determined by liquid scintillation.

Improved gating of a chimeric α7‐5HT3A receptor upon mutations at the M2–M3 extracellular loop

Acetylcholine‐evoked currents of the receptor chimera α7‐5HT3A V201 expressed in Xenopus oocytes are strikingly small when compared to the amount of α‐bungarotoxin binding sites detected at the oocyte membrane. Since the chimeric receptor is made of the extracellular N‐terminal region of the rat α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and the C‐terminal region of the mouse 5‐HT3A receptor, which includes the ion channel, we hypothesized that communication between these two regions was not optimal. Here, we show that mutating to aspartate several adjacent positions in the M2–M3 extracellular linker increases current amplitudes to different extents, thus confirming the important role of this region on receptor gating.

Poly(N,N‐dimethylacrylamide‐co‐4‐(ethyl)‐morpholine methacrylamide) copolymer as coating for CE

In this work, a new physically adsorbed coating for CE is presented. This coating is based on a poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide-co-4-(ethyl)-morpholine methacrylamide) (DMA/MAEM) copolymer synthesized in our laboratory. It is demonstrated that the direction and magnitude of the EOF in CE can be modulated by varying the composition of the DMA/MAEM copolymer and the type and pH of the BGE. Moreover, the DMA/MAEM coating provides %RSD(n) = 5 values for migration times lower than 0.9% for the same capillary and day, whereas the %RSD(n) = 25 obtained for the interday assay was lower than 2.9%. The stability of the coating procedure is also tested between capillaries obtaining %RSD(n) = 15 values lower than 2.9%, demonstrating that this physically adsorbed copolymer gives rise to a stable and reproducible coating in CE. Finally, the usefulness of this new cationic copolymer as CE coating is demonstrated through different applications. Namely, it is demonstrated that the CE separation of basic proteins, nucleotides and organic acids is achieved in a fast and easy way by using the DMA/MAEM coated capillary. The use of fused bare silica capillaries did not allow the separation of these compounds under the same analytical conditions. These results demonstrate that this type of coating in CE provides the option of using BGEs that are useless when utilized together with bare silica capillaries making wider the application and possibilities of this analytical technique.

Connections between structure and performance of four cationic copolymers used as physically adsorbed coatings in capillary electrophoresis.

In this work, the properties of four cationic copolymers synthesized in our laboratory are studied as physically adsorbed coatings for capillary electrophoresis (CE). Namely, the four copolymers investigated were poly(N-ethyl morpholine methacrylamide-co-N,N-dimethylacrylamide), poly(N-ethyl pyrrolidine methacrylate-co-N,N-dimethylacrylamide), poly(N-ethyl morpholine methacrylate-co-N,N-dimethylacrylamide) and poly(N-ethyl pyrrolidine methacrylamide-co-N,N-dimethylacrylamide). Capillaries were easily coated using these four different macromolecules by simply flushing into the tubing an aqueous solution containing the copolymer. The stability and reproducibility of each coating were tested for the same day, different days and different capillaries. It is demonstrated that the use of these coatings in CE can drastically reduce the analysis time, improve the resolution of the separations or enhance the analysis repeatability at very acidic pH values compared to bare silica columns. As an example, the analysis of an organic acids test mixture revealed that the analysis time was reduced more than 6-times whereas the separation efficiency was significantly increased to nearly 10-times attaining values up to 595,000 plates/m using the coated capillaries. Moreover, it was shown that all the copolymers used as coatings for CE allowed the separation of basic proteins by reducing their adsorption onto the capillary wall. Links between their molecular structure, physicochemical properties and their performance as coatings in CE are discussed.