Sensitive and Rapid UHPLC-MS/MS for the Analysis of Tomato Phenolics in Human Biological Samples
Miriam Martínez-Huélamo,
Sara Tulipani,
Olga Jáuregui,
Palmira Valderas-Martinez,
Anna Vallverdú-Queralt,
Ramón Estruch,
Xavier Torrado,
Rosa M. Lamuela-Raventós
Affiliations
Miriam Martínez-Huélamo
Department of Nutrition and Food Science-XARTA-INSA, School of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, Barcelona 08028, Spain
Sara Tulipani
Biomedical Research Institute (IBIMA), Service of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Hospital Virgen de la Victoria, Teatinos Campus, University of Malaga, Malaga 29010, Spain
Olga Jáuregui
Scientific and Technological Centers of the University of Barcelona (CCiTUB), Barcelona 08028, Spain
Palmira Valderas-Martinez
Centre for Biomedical Network Research on the Pathophysiology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN). Carlos III Health Institute, Madrid 28029, Spain
Anna Vallverdú-Queralt
Centre for Biomedical Network Research on the Pathophysiology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN). Carlos III Health Institute, Madrid 28029, Spain
Ramón Estruch
Centre for Biomedical Network Research on the Pathophysiology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN). Carlos III Health Institute, Madrid 28029, Spain
Xavier Torrado
Department of Nutrition and Food Science-XARTA-INSA, School of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, Barcelona 08028, Spain
Rosa M. Lamuela-Raventós
Department of Nutrition and Food Science-XARTA-INSA, School of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, Barcelona 08028, Spain
An UHPLC-MS/MS method for the quantification of tomato phenolic metabolites in human fluids was optimized and validated, and then applied in a pilot dietary intervention study with healthy volunteers. A 5-fold gain in speed (3.5 min of total run); 7-fold increase in MS sensitivity and 2-fold greater efficiency (50% peak width reduction) were observed when comparing the proposed method with the reference-quality HPLC-MS/MS system, whose assay performance has been previously documented. The UHPLC-MS/MS method led to an overall improvement in the limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) for all the phenolic compounds studied. The recoveries ranged between 68% and 100% in urine and 61% and 100% in plasma. The accuracy; intra- and interday precision; and stability met with the acceptance criteria of the AOAC International norms. Due to the improvements in the analytical method; the total phenolic metabolites detected in plasma and urine in the pilot intervention study were 3 times higher than those detected by HPLC-MS/MS. Comparing with traditional methods; which require longer time of analysis; the methodology described is suitable for the analysis of phenolic compounds in a large number of plasma and urine samples in a reduced time frame.
