OBJECTIVE: To develop a method for determining ethyl glucuronide (EtG) in blood and urine by liquid chromatograph coupled with tandem mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS). METHODS: After blood and urine de-proteined by acetonitrile, the supernate obtained from a centrifuge was analyzed by LC-MS/MS. RESULTS: Determination limit of EtG in both blood and urine was 0.05 pg/mL, with a linear range of 0.10-5.00 microg/mL (r > 0.999). Accuracy in both matrixes was 95%-109%. Inter- and intra-day RSD were less than 12%. The method showed an excellent performance when it was used to analyze authentic blood and urine samples for EtG. CONCLUSION The method is capable for blood and urine EtG analysis.
Alcoholism/urine* ; Biomarkers/urine* ; Chromatography, Liquid/methods* ; Ethanol/metabolism* ; Forensic Toxicology/methods* ; Glucuronates/urine* ; Humans ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Substance Abuse Detection/methods* ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry/methods*

BACKGROUNDSericin peptide (SP) has shown a powerful anti-oxidant property in a host of studies. The present study was designed to investigate the possible protective effects of SP against alcohol-induced gastric lesions in mice and to explore the potential mechanisms.

METHODSAnimals were randomly divided into 5 groups: control, alcohol (56%, 14.2 ml/kg), SP-treated mice (0.2, 0.4, 0.8 g/kg). Mice were pretreated with SP before administering alcohol, the concentration of ethanol in serum and urine, the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH) and the glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities in the gastric mucosa were measured, subsequently, the pathological evaluation of stomach was also observed.

RESULTSOf the animals pre-treated with SP (0.4, 0.8 g/kg), the concentration of ethanol in serum was significantly decreased, while increased in urine as compared to the alcohol-administered alone animals. Alcohol administration caused severe gastric damage as indicated by markedly increased MDA levels and decreased antioxidants, such as reduced GSH, GSH-PX and SOD in the gastric tissue while the CAT activity was not altered. On SP administration there was a reversal in these values towards normal. Histopathological studies confirmed the beneficial role of SP, which was in accordance with the biochemical parameters.

CONCLUSIONSSP could protect gastric mucosa from alcohol-induced mucosal injury. These gastroprotective effects might be due to increasing 'first-pass metabolism' in the stomach and hastening ethanol elimination directly through the urine. SP might also play an important role in the protection of the structure and function of gastric mitochondria, at least partly based on their anti-oxidant effect.

Amino Acids ; analysis ; Animals ; Cytoprotection ; Ethanol ; blood ; toxicity ; urine ; Gastric Mucosa ; drug effects ; pathology ; Glutathione ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Sericins ; analysis ; pharmacology ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism

The blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is an important evidence to determine the alcohol level at the time of death. But due to the postmortem synthesis and diffusion of alcohol, the cadaveric BAC can not always represent the original BAC at the time of death. It is a crucial problem to determine the original level in corpse. The article reviewed the following points: the distribution in corpse, and how to sample, the influences on the diffusion of alcohol and putrefaction, the discussion about alcohol mass concentration measure methods.
Body Fluids/chemistry* ; Cadaver ; Ethanol/urine* ; Forensic Medicine/methods* ; Gastrointestinal Contents/chemistry* ; Humans ; Myocardium/metabolism* ; Postmortem Changes ; Time Factors ; Vitreous Body/chemistry* ; Wounds and Injuries/metabolism*

OBJECTIVETo ascertain the biomarkers capable to characterize the animal composite model of Chinese medicine (CM) yinhuang syndrome induced by triplet factors of rhubarb, ethanol, and α-nephthylisothiolyanate (abbreviated as R, E, and A below) through metabolomic study and to evaluate the established model by means of studying the sources of markers based on the changes of metabolites produced from various combinations of the three modeling drugs.

METHODSEighty Wistar rats allocated equally in eight groups (A-H) were treated with saline, R+E+A, R, E, A, R+E, R+A, and E+A, respectively. Rats' 12 h urine in the 14 successive experimental days were collected separately using metabolic cages and analyzed by ultra performance liquid chromatograph/time of flight mass spectrometer (UPLC/TOF-MS) to create the metabolic contour graph of urine in different groups for identifying the differences between them. The similarities and differences of metabolic network among various groups were represented from microcosmic viewpoint by pattern recognition method (principal component analysis).

RESULTSControlled by group A, the landing points in principal component map of various groups were apparently assorted, especially obvious on the 14th day; 19 biomarkers, which capable to represent the genesis and development process of the yinhuang syndrome in the triplet factors-induced rat model, were identified.

CONCLUSIONMetabolomic method is successfully used in evaluating the animal model of CM syndrome. Furthermore, according to the holistic view and substance changes in vivo, the influences of disease on organism were comprehensively analyzed, and the pathogenic mechanism of CM yinhuang syndrome was explored at the level of metabolomics in vivo as well.

1-Naphthylisothiocyanate ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Biomarkers ; urine ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Ethanol ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Male ; Mass Spectrometry ; Metabolomics ; methods ; Models, Animal ; Principal Component Analysis ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Reproducibility of Results ; Rheum ; chemistry