Kinetic and molecular orbital analyses of dicarboxylic acylcarnitine methylesterification show that derivatization may affect the screening of newborns by tandem mass spectrometry

Function, Detection and Alteration of Acylcarnitine Metabolism in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Acylcarnitines play an essential role in regulating the balance of intracellular sugar and lipid metabolism. They serve as carriers to transport activated long-chain fatty acids into mitochondria for β-oxidation as a major source of energy for cell activities. The liver is the most important organ for endogenous carnitine synthesis and metabolism. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a primary malignancy of the live with poor prognosis, may strongly influence the level of acylcarnitines. In this paper, the function, detection and alteration of acylcarnitine metabolism in HCC were briefly reviewed. An overview was provided to introduce the metabolic roles of acylcarnitines involved in fatty acid β-oxidation. Then different analytical platforms and methodologies were also briefly summarised. The relationship between HCC and acylcarnitine metabolism was described. Many of the studies reported that short, medium and long-chain acylcarnitines were altered in HCC patients. These findings presented current evidence in support of acylcarnitines as new candidate biomarkers for studies on the pathogenesis and development of HCC. Finally we discussed the challenges and perspectives of exploiting acylcarnitine metabolism and its related metabolic pathways as a target for HCC diagnosis and prognosis.

Selective, Accurate, and Precise Quantitation of Glutarylcarnitine in Human Urine from a Patient with Glutaric Acidemia Type I

Background

Although correctly used in expanded newborn screening programs to identify patients with possible diseases, flow-injection tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) acylcarnitine “profiles” are inadequate for standard clinical uses owing to their limited quantitative accuracy and lack of selectivity. We report the application of our selective, accurate, and precise method for quantification of acylcarnitines, applied to urine glutarylcarnitine from a patient with glutaric acidemia type I (GAI).

Methods

A previously validated acylcarnitine ultra-HPLC-MS/MS method was used, with a focus on analysis of glutarylcarnitine. Calibrants and samples were isolated by solid-phase extraction and derivatized with pentafluorophenacyl trifluoromethanesulfonate. Acylcarnitine pentafluorophenacyl esters were eluted in 14-min chromatograms. Standardized calibrants and a 13-point, 200-fold concentration range calibration curve were used for accurate quantification of glutarylcarnitine. Quality control samples validated method accuracy and long-term analytic stability.

Results

Quantification of glutarylcarnitine in urine from a patient with GAI is reported. Long-term analytical stability of the method over a 5-year period is shown.

Conclusions

Our method for acylcarnitine quantification is shown to be selective, accurate, and precise; thus, we recommend it for confirmatory testing and monitoring of plasma and urine samples from patients with GAI.

Selective and accurate C5 acylcarnitine quantitation by UHPLC-MS/MS: Distinguishing true isovaleric acidemia from pivalate derived interference

Tandem MS acylcarnitine "profiles" are extremely valuable. Although used appropriately in newborn screening programs to identify patients with possible diseases, their inadequate quantitative accuracy and lack of selectivity is problematic for confirmatory testing. In this report, we show the application of our validated, selective, accurate, precise, and robust UHPLC-MS/MS method for quantitation of acylcarnitines, specifically to C5 acylcarnitines: pivaloyl-, 2-methylbutyryl-, isovaleryl-, and valerylcarnitine. Standardized calibrants were used to generate 13-point, 200-fold concentration range calibration curves. Samples were isolated by solid-phase extraction and derivatized with pentafluorophenacyl trifluoromethanesulfonate. Acylcarnitine pentafluorophenacyl esters were eluted in 14min chromatograms. Data demonstrating quantitative stability and method robustness over a five year time period are shown and these results validate the method's accuracy and robustness. Urine from patients with isovaleric acidemia (with the disease marker isovalerylcarnitine) and with pivaloylcarnitine present are shown. These results demonstrate the method's ability to distinguish true isovaleric acidemia from pivalate derived interference. Our method for acylcarnitine quantitation is shown to be accurate, precise, and robust for selective quantitation of isovalerylcarnitine, and thus is recommended for confirmatory testing of suspected isovaleric acidemia patients.

Correcting false positive medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency results from newborn screening; synthesis, purification, and standardization of branched-chain C8 acylcarnitines for use in their selective and accurate absolute quantitation by UHPLC-MS/MS

While selectively quantifying acylcarnitines in thousands of patient samples using UHPLC-MS/MS, we have occasionally observed unidentified branched-chain C8 acylcarnitines. Such observations are not possible using tandem MS methods, which generate pseudo-quantitative acylcarnitine "profiles". Since these "profiles" select for mass alone, they cannot distinguish authentic signal from isobaric and isomeric interferences. For example, some of the samples containing branched-chain C8 acylcarnitines were, in fact, expanded newborn screening false positive "profiles" for medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD). Using our fast, highly selective, and quantitatively accurate UHPLC-MS/MS acylcarnitine determination method, we corrected the false positive tandem MS results and reported the sample results as normal for octanoylcarnitine (the marker for MCADD). From instances such as these, we decided to further investigate the presence of branched-chain C8 acylcarnitines in patient samples. To accomplish this, we synthesized and chromatographically characterized several branched-chain C8 acylcarnitines (in addition to valproylcarnitine): 2-methylheptanoylcarnitine, 6-methylheptanoylcarnitine, 2,2-dimethylhexanoylcarnitine, 3,3-dimethylhexanoylcarnitine, 3,5-dimethylhexanoylcarnitine, 2-ethylhexanoylcarnitine, and 2,4,4-trimethylpentanoylcarnitine. We then compared their behavior with branched-chain C8 acylcarnitines observed in patient samples and demonstrated our ability to chromographically resolve, and thus distinguish, octanoylcarnitine from branched-chain C8 acylcarnitines, correcting false positive MCADD results from expanded newborn screening.