Human biomonitoring (HBM) is an essential tool for making evidence-based policy decisions upon assessment of human exposure to pollutants. In contrast, the heterogeneity of data reliability across studies has been identified as a weakness in current HBM research. The scientific community is currently encountering measurement challenges due to gaps in the availability of quality...
Adeno-associated virus (AAV) viral vector-based gene therapy is advancing rapidly, offering potential treatments for rare and severe diseases. The AAV capsid consists of a combination of three viral proteins (VPs), VP1, VP2, and VP3, ranging from 59 to 81 kDa and present at a theoretical bulk ratio of 1:1:10. This study employed hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography...
Hair cortisol concentration is a retrospective, long-term measure of cortisol secretion, often used as a biomarker for chronic stress or suspected cyclic Cushing’s syndrome. Various methods for hair cortisol extraction, typically involving intact, minced, or milled hair incubated with methanol or extraction buffers, may not achieve complete extraction. Incomplete extraction can...
Body odor consists of a complex matrix of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which has garnered increasing interest in fields like medicine for its potential in disease diagnosis. However, the field of body odor analysis is advancing slowly, partly due to a lack of standardized methodologies. Although gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is widely used for VOC analysis...
Biomarkers are needed to verify suspected exposure to chlorine gas in chemical attacks. Here, we aimed to expand upon the array of known biomarkers of chlorine gas exposure. 1-Palmitoyl- 2-oleoyl-sn-glycero- 3-phosphocholine (POPC), a phospholipid belonging to the phosphatidylcholine (PC) class, was chosen as the study material. The lipids were chlorinated using chlorine gas...
We propose a bimetallic alloy composed of Pt and Ni embedded within laser-induced carbon nanofibers (Pt/Ni-LCNFs) as an enzyme-free transducer for the detection of glucose under physiological pH. Laser exposure on electrospun polyimide nanofibers, embedded with Pt and Ni precursors, facilitated not only the formation of LCNFs but also the generation of Pt/Ni nanoparticles with a...
A spectrophotometric enzymatic method for the determination of atropine (Atp) and scopolamine (Scp), two tropane alkaloids (TAs), has been developed. The method is based on a previous basic hydrolysis to tropine (Trp) and scopine (Sci) respectively, and a subsequent enzymatic oxidation catalyzed by a tropinone reductase 1 (TRase) using NAD as oxidant; the absorbance of NADH (340...
Fusarium fungi cause Fusarium head blight (FHB) in oats, reducing yield and contaminating grains with harmful trichothecene mycotoxins. FHB symptoms in oats are often not visually distinct, necessitating alternative detection methods. We developed digital PCR (dPCR) assays as the most accurate DNA-based method to detect trichothecene-producing Fusarium species commonly found in...
Reference materials (RMs) and certified reference materials (CRMs) are essential for ensuring compliance of food products with international standards. In fish, mercury content is closely monitored due to associated human health risks. This study developed and certified a CRM for total mercury (Hg) and methylmercury (MeHg) in striped catfish (Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum) from the...
Mass spectrometry (MS) is a versatile technique for elucidating the chemical composition of biological samples. Beyond analysis of crude extracts, MS can be further applied to spatially resolve compounds across the area of a sample with a technique called mass spectrometry imaging (MSI). The infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (IR-MALDESI) platform combines...
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are released by all cell types into the extracellular environment. A subset of EVs, known as exosomes, range in size from 30 to 200 nm and are of biochemical interest due to their function as vehicles of intercellular communication. Their ability to transport proteinaceous species and genetic material at the cellular level makes them prime candidates...
The quantification of harmful elements in cannabis is a relevant analytical task that requires metrological tools to ensure the reliability of the measurement results. This work reports the preparation and characterization of a certified reference material (CRM) for toxic elements—arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb)—in pulverized, lyophilized cannabis leaf tissue. To...
High-resolution mass spectrometers, particularly when paired with liquid chromatography, are the instrument of choice for untargeted metabolomics approaches. Instruments, such as the Orbitrap, offer high sensitivity, selectivity, and exceptional mass accuracy, though they pose certain technical challenges, complicating absolute and comparative quantification. Consequently, method...
Fluorescence microscopy is increasingly seen as a fast, user-friendly, and high-throughput method for detecting microplastics (MPs) in soil; however, its effectiveness across diverse MP types and soil properties remains underexplored. This study tested a fluorescence microscopy–Nile red (NR) staining approach on eight MP types, covering both biodegradable and non-biodegradable...
Recently, the use of mass distribution–based isotopic shifts in high-resolution ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry–based separations have enabled isomer delineation by measuring the relative arrival times of their heavy and light isotopologues. However, all previous efforts to induce such shifts have focused solely on the introduction of one type of isotopic substitution...
Glypican-3 (GPC-3) is universally regarded as an early diagnostic biomarker and plays a crucial role in the sensitive detection and treatment efficacy evaluation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, a novel self-autocatalytic DNAzyme reaction and catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA)-integrated molecular circuit amplification strategy is developed for realizing an aptamer-based...
Plasma amino acid analysis plays a vital role in monitoring inherited metabolic diseases (IMDs), such as phenylketonuria (PKU), where dietary therapy is the cornerstone of management and patients are regularly monitored using blood or plasma phenylalanine throughout life. Recent findings from external quality assessment (EQA) schemes demonstrate large variability between results...
This study presents the development of a sophisticated liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry approach leveraging hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) for the quantification of kanamycin and spectinomycin in fermentation media. The method was validated per International Council for Harmonisation guidelines, demonstrating robust linearity, precision, and accuracy. To...
Epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) are vasoactive eicosanoids with vasodilatory, anti-inflammatory, and nephroprotective properties, and metabolized to low-bioactive dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acids (DHETs) by soluble epoxide hydrolase. Evidence from animal studies suggests that EETs may be potential biomarkers for diabetic kidney disease (DKD). The aim of this study was to establish...
Foodborne pathogens, a major cause of foodborne illness due to their high virulence, pose a serious threat to public health. Consequently, identification of foodborne pathogens is essential for the prevention and treatment of foodborne infections. Consequently, there is an immediate need to establish a highly specific and precise approach for the concurrent detection of several...