Filtern
Dokumenttyp
- Dissertation (3)
Sprache
- Englisch (3)
Referierte Publikation
- nein (3)
Schlagworte
- Antibody (1)
- Coffee (1)
- ELISA (1)
- Fluorophore tracer (1)
- Hydrazinchemie (1)
- Isomerisierung (1)
- Isotopenstandard (1)
- SPE-HPLC Automatisierung (1)
- Wastewater (1)
- Zearalenon (1)
Trans-Zearalenone(ZEN)is a non-steroidal estrogenic mycotoxin which frequently contaminates cereal grains worldwide. Ingestion of food and feed containing ZEN causes numerous mycotoxicoses in animals and possibly humans with pronounced estrogenic effects. Due to the trans-configurated double bond, ZEN isomerizes to the cis-configuration upon the influence of light. This work investigates the instrumental analysis, metabolism and toxicity of ZEN and cis- ZEN. The first part focused on the determination of ZEN in edible oils. Due to a maximum level of 400 µg/kg ZEN in the European Union (EU), reliable analytical methods are needed. A comprehensive method comparison proved dynamic covalent hydrazine chemistry (DCHC) to be the most suitable approach. Thus, an automated solid phase extraction (SPE) coupled online to high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed with the novelty of a covalent SPE step comprising the DCHC principle. The automated online system allows an accurate, selective and reliable quantification of ZEN in edible oils in compliance with EU performance criteria while significantly reducing workload and thereby personnel costs. In contrast to ZEN, reference standards and analytical methods are missing for cis- ZEN which causes a lack of data on the occurrence, fate and risks of cis-ZEN. Therefore, a native and an isotopically labeled cis-ZEN standard were synthesized and implemented in an existing stable isotope dilution analysis HPLC tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method. Using this method, a large extent of cis-ZEN formation was observed for ZEN contaminated maize germ oils when exposed to daylight which confirms that cis-ZEN can be a relevant food contaminant and should be considered in the analysis of food and feed. Furthermore, this work investigated the in vitro phase I metabolism of ZEN and cis-ZEN in rat and human liver microsomes by using HPLC-MS and -MS/MS analyses. The metabolic pathways of cis-ZEN were found to be essentially similar to ZEN including reduction and oxidation reactions generating α- and β-cis- zearalenol as well as 13- and 15-OH-cis-ZEN. A previously unidentified oxidative metabolic pathway for both isomers of ZEN results in the formation of cis-ZEN-11,12-oxide and ZEN-11,12-oxide in human liver microsomes. The estrogenicity of cis-ZEN and its reductive metabolites was assessed using the E-Screen assay. cis-ZEN proved to be slightly more estrogenic than ZEN. Biotransformation of cis-ZEN to β-cis-ZEL corresponds to a detoxification, whereas metabolism to α-cis-ZEL resembles a metabolic activation as its estrogenicity considerably exceeds that of cis-ZEN. The catecholic metabolites can be expected to show a decreased estrogenicity as demonstrated for 15-OH- ZEN. Independent of the estrogenic effects, the catecholic and epoxidic metabolites identified in this work can be expected to act genotoxic and carcinogenic. The epoxides in particular could fundamentally change the widely accepted view of ZEN causing adverse effects exclusively through endocrine disrupting actions.
Generally accepted quality criteria for the comparison of immunoassays are still missing and assay conditions vary greatly between different laboratories. To address this problem, the influence of different parameters on the overall assay performance was assessed, specifically for different enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) for the anthropogenic markers caffeine (CAF) and carbamazepine (CBZ). Special emphasis was dedicated to the parameters temperature, assay format and enzyme-substrate combination. The temperature parameter was systematically studied for all incubation steps of the direct EIA formats employing the photometric horseradish peroxidase (HRP) substrate 3,3’,5,5’- tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and the fluorometric HRP substrate 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid for both analytes. A temperature decrease only during the competition step led to an increase in assay sensitivity by a factor of 10 to 15 for CBZ and CAF, respectively, independent of the enzyme substrate used. Room temperature experiments yielded the smallest coefficients of variations, minimizing the edge effect. The influence of the assay format on different performance parameters was studied with the determination of CAF in consumer products. In addition to the HRP substrates, the enzyme alkaline phosphate (AP) and its chromogenic substrate para-nitrophenyl phosphate and a fluorescent substrate, 4-methylumbelliferyl phosphate, were employed. Seven quality criteria were defined and validated to compare these immunoassays. The evaluation of the four criteria (sensitivity, measurement range, relative dynamic range and goodness of fit) for the standard curves revealed that the direct format is superior to the indirect format, with the HRP TMB format showing the best performance. Three additional criteria for an applicationdriven analysis of real samples, in this case CAF-containing beverages and cosmetics, confirmed this result in terms of accuracy as well as intra- and inter-plate precision. The enzyme-substrate combination was investigated when several direct CBZ assays were applied to the analysis of water samples; here, three HRP assays and four AP assays were studied, along with luminescence detection. The HRP assays reached better sensitivities and lower quantifiable concentrations compared to the AP assays. Only the HRP assays and the chemiluminescent AP juice assay fulfilled the requirements for the four criteria applied to standard curves; all other AP assays were not considered for application to real samples based on these criteria. The AP juice assay can only be employed for influent samples whereas all HRP assays are applicable to influent and effluent wastewater samples according to intra- and inter-plate precision. Furthermore, the HRP assays alone are suitable for surface water analysis; here, the chromogenic HRP TMB assay yielded the best results, as any type of water sample can be quantified with high precision. Whether these quality criteria, derived here for standard curves as well as their application to real samples, can be transferred to other immunoassay formats for quality assurance remains to be shown.
Pharmacologically active compounds are omnipresent in contemporary daily life, in our food and in our environment. The fast and easy quantification of those substances is becoming a subject of global importance. The fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) is a homogeneous mix-and-read format and a suitable tool for this purpose that offers a high sample throughput. Yet, the applicability to complex matrices can be limited by possible interaction of matrix compounds with antibodies or tracer.
Caffeine is one of the most frequently consumed pharmacologically active compounds and is present in a large variety of consumer products, including beverages and cosmetics. Adverse health effects of high caffeine concentrations especially for pregnant women are under discussion. Therefore, and due to legal regulations, caffeine should be monitored. Automated FPIA measurements enabled the precise and accurate quantification of caffeine in beverages and cosmetics within 2 min. Samples could be highly diluted before analysis due to high assay sensitivity in the low μg/L range. Therefore, no matrix effects were observed.
The antiepileptic drug carbamazepine (CBZ) is discussed as a marker for the elimination efficiency of wastewater treatment plants and the dispersion of their respective effluents in surface water. The development of a FPIA for CBZ included the synthesis and evaluation of different tracers. Using the optimum tracer CBZ-triglycine-5-(aminoacetamido) fluorescein, CBZ concentrations in surface waters could be measured on different platforms: one sample within 4 min in tubes or 24 samples within 20 min on microtiter plates (MTPs). For this study, a commercially available antibody was used, which led to overestimations with recovery rates up to 140% due to high cross-reactivities towards CBZ metabolites and other pharmaceuticals.
For more accurate CBZ determination, a new monoclonal antibody was produced. In this attempt, methods for improving the monitoring during the production process were successfully applied, including feces screening and cell culture supernatant screening with FPIA. The new monoclonal antibody is highly specific for CBZ and showed mostly negligible cross-reactivities towards environmentally relevant compounds. Measurements at non-equilibrium state improved the sensitivity and selectivity of the developed FPIA due to slow binding kinetics of the new antibody. Additionally, this measure enables for CBZ determination over a measurement range of almost three orders of magnitude. The comprehensively characterized antibody was successfully applied for the development of sensitive homogeneous and heterogeneous immunoassays.
The new antibody made the development of an on-site measurement system for the determination of CBZ in wastewater possible. After comprehensive optimization, this automated FPIA platform allows the precise quantification of CBZ in wastewater samples only pre-treated by filtration within 16 min. Recovery rates of 61 to 104% were observed. Measurements in the low μg/L range are possible without the application of tedious sample preparation techniques.
Different FPIA platforms including MTPs, cuvettes and tubes were successfully applied. For the choice of the right format, the application field should be considered, e.g. desired sample throughput, usage for optimization or characterization of antibodies or if a set-up for routine measurements is sought for. For high sample throughput and optimization, FPIA performance on MTPs is advantageous. The best results for the application to real samples were obtained using kinetic FP measurements in cuvettes.