• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.561-567
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• 2012

Objectives: Parabens are widely used as antimicrobial agents in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics as well as by the food industry. Parabens have been reported to show weak estrogenic activity and be related to health effects such as allergic reactions and skin and breast cancer. We evaluated an online solid phase extraction (SPE) method coupled with LC-MS/MS technique using free and conjugated parent parabens in human urine for assessing human exposure to parabens. Methods: We employed LC/MS/MS through online solid phase extraction and column-switching techniques and analyzed free and conjugated parabens as biomarkers of human exposure. Four major parabens, methyl-paraben (MP), ethyl-paraben (EP), propyl-paraben (PP) and butyl-paraben (BP), were analyzed. Method validation was performed by sensitivity, accuracy, precision and comparison of the results of online SPE with offline SPE. Results: The limits of detection (LOD) were in the range of 0.2-2 ng/mL, and actual limits of quantification (LOQ) were in the range of 0.7-6 ng/mL urine, depending upon the compound. Accuracy was in the range of 98.3-106.4%, and precision was in the range of 1.3-8.7% (CV) depending upon the compound. We found a good correlation between the results of analysis by online SPE method and that by off-line SPE method. Conclusions: The online SPE method showed proper LOD and validated accuracy, precision and good correlation with the offline method for analyzing parabens in urine.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.56-60
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• 2019

Coptidis Rhizoma (CR) has been used widely in traditional medicine to treat common diseases. This study aimed to develop a high-sensitivity liquid chromatography-tandem mass (LC-MS) spectrometry method for the evaluation of the pharmacokinetics of a new natural product that contain CR extract with the main bioactive compound, berberine, at trace concentrations. Human plasma samples were pretreated with methanol by a protein precipitation method. Berberine was analyzed on a Kinetex C18 column ($2.1mm{\times}50mm$, $100{\AA}$, $1.7{\mu}m$) using a mobile phase of 10 mM ammonium formate/0.1% formic acid in water (A) and acetonitrile (B) (50:50, v/v) with a flow rate of 0.25 mL/min. The analyte was detected by using electrospray ionization in positive mode with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). The method was sensitive, with a lower limit of quantification of 1 pg/mL, which has not been previously obtained. The method was validated (over the range of 1-50 pg/mL) and applied successfully for the pharmacokinetic study of human plasma samples.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.40-44
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• 2001

Benomyl, one of the known endocrine disrupting chemicals, was analyzed to understand the its fate in water. Benomyl analysis process in water sample include the following sequential steps. Hydrolysis of benomyl into carbendazim, solvent extraction, concentration, and the concentration of final carbendazim solution was determined by LC/MS (TOF). Recoveries of the spiked samples were good with the range of 80.6 to 118.6% and the MDL was 1,600 times lower than that of LC/UVD method. The use of LC/MS (TOF) successfully eliminated the positive error incurred by interferencing materials in the matrix.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.201-208
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• 2006

Several carbonyl compounds are important because of their irritant and toxic properties, mutagenicity and carcinogenicity. Therefore, they are regulated in korean odor emission standard. In this study, atmospheric pressure ionization-mass spectrometry(API-MS) is used for the analysis of carbonyl compounds after derivatization with 2, 4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) and liquid chromatographic separation. In the negative ion mode, the $[M-H]^-$ pseudomolecular ions are most abundant for the carbonyls. Analytical parameters such as linearity, repeatability and minimum detection limit were evaluated. The linearities ($r^2$) for carbonyls were $0.9977{\sim}0.9999$ when analyte concentration ranges from $25\;to\;250{\mu}g/L$(n=6). The relative standard deviations (%RSD) for carbonyls were $0.55{\sim}3.51%$ for concentration of $100{\mu}g/L$(n=5). The minimum detection limit (MDL) was $1.88{\mu}g/L$(0.27 ppb) for i-valeraldehyde. It was shown that LC-MS method has a great potential for carbonyl compounds analysis.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.519-525
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• 2019

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) is amending its test methods for health functional foods (dietary food supplements) to establish regulatory standards and specifications in Korea. In this regard, we are continuing our research on analytical method development for the items listed in the Korean Health Functional Food Codex. In this study, we have developed a sensitive and selective test method that could simultaneously separate and determine coenzyme Q10 based on liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Calibration curves showed linearity with a correlation coefficient (R²) of > 0.999 and the limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantitation (LOQs) were in the range of 26.0 ㎍/L and 78.9 ㎍/L, respectively. The recovery results ranged between 98.6-107.0% at 3 different concentration levels with relative standard deviations (RSDs) less than 5%. The proposed analytical method was characterized with high resolution of the coenzyme Q10 and the assay was fully validated as well.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.193-198
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• 2017

Scutellaria baicalensis, Eleutherococcus senticosus, and Angelica sinensis have been used as raw materials for health functional foods. This study was conducted to develop a novel method to analyze levels of baicalin (Scutellaria baicalensis), eleutheroside E (Eleutherococcus senticosus), and ligustilide (Angelica sinensis) simultaneously in health functional foods. The methanol extracted samples were analyzed and quantified via liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in the positive ion mode and the negative ion mode using multiple reaction monitoring. Standard calibration curves confirmed linearity with the correlation coefficient ($r^2$) of > 0.99 at $100-2000{\mu}g/mL$ concentration range. The limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantitation (LOQs) were in the range of $13.0{\sim}35.2{\mu}g/L$ and $39.3{\sim}106.7{\mu}g/L$, respectively. The recovery results ranged between 91.4~109.9% at 3 different concentration levels with relative standard deviations (RSDs) less than 5%. The proposed analytical method was characterized with high accuracy and acceptable precision. The new method would be an effective tool to analyze baicalin, eleutheroside E, and ligustilide simultaneously in raw materials of health functional foods.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.16-25
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• 2018

Recently, the importance of analytical techniques related to food safety is emerging in the food industry due to changes in diet patterns, environmental changes, climate change and consumer's interest in food safety. In particular, food safety accidents in the food industry may cause economic losses such as media reports, product recalls, consumer distrust, and so on. Therefore, a systematic, proactive and comprehensive food safety management system is increasingly required to prevent food safety issues. Efforts to ensure the reliability of food safety are essential by introducing various analysis instruments such as LC, GC, ICP, LC/MS/MS, GC/MS/MS, ICP/MS, PCR, and RT-PCR. In addition, recent food safety analytical techniques used in food industry should be shifted paradigm by developing multi-component simultaneous analytical method, low cost with high efficient analytical method, and eco-friendly method.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.79-84
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• 1998

Tandem HPLC and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization(APcI) LC/MS method was used for the determination and confirmation of carbendazim residues in soybean sprout. Fluorescence(FL) detector was connected in tandem with the ultraviolet(UV) detector for dual detection of the carbendazim residue at the excitation and emission wavelength of 280 nm and 310 nm, respectively. The limit of detection for carbendazim was $0.1{\mu}g/kg$ sample. Recoveries of carbendazim from fortified soybean sprout at 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 ppm were averaged 89.1%. Mass spectrometry using a APcI source confirmed the carbendazim residue in the soybean sprout sample. Fragmentation pattern on the APcI LC/MS spectrum of carbendazim was simpler than that from electron impact(EI) mass spectrum. Carbendazim produced 3 major ions including m/z 133, m/z 159 and m/z 191($M^{+}$). This method was sensitive enough to provide reliable and reproducible results for practical applications.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.78-86
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• 2021

The objective of this study was to investigate urinary cut-off concentrations of quetiapine and risperidone for distinction between normal and abnormal/non-takers who were being placed on probation. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method was employed for determination of antipsychotic drugs in urine from mentally disordered probationers. The optimal cut-off values of antipsychotic drugs were calculated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The sensitivity and specificity of the method for the detection of antipsychotic drugs in urine were subsequently evaluated. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.927 for norquetiapine and 0.791 for 9-hydroxyrisperidone, respectively. These antipsychotic drugs are classified readily in the ROC curve analysis. The cut-off values for distinguishing regular and irregular/non-takers were 39.1 ng/mL for norquetiapine and 67.9 ng/mL for 9-hydroxyrisperidone, respectively. The results of this study suggest the cut-off values of quetiapine and risperidone were highly useful to distinguish regular takers from irregular/non-takers.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.421-429
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• 2011

For precise identification of a Lactobacillus K1 isolate, LC-MS/MS analysis of the putative surface layer protein was performed. The results obtained from LTQ-FT-ICR mass spectrometry confirmed that the analyzed protein spot is the surface layer protein originating from Lb. helveticus species. Moreover, the identified protein has the highest similarity with the surface layer protein from Lb. helveticus R0052. To evaluate the proteomic study, multilocus sequence analysis of selected housekeeping gene sequences was performed. Combination of 16S rRNA sequencing with partial sequences for the genes encoding the RNA polymerase alpha subunit (rpoA), phenylalanyl-tRNA synthase alpha subunit (pheS), translational elongation factor Tu (tuf), and Hsp60 chaperonins (groEL) also allowed to classify the analyzed isolate as Lb. helveticus. Further classification at the strain level was achieved by sequencing of the slp gene. This gene showed 99.8% identity with the corresponding slp gene of Lb. helveticus R0052, which is in good agreement with data obtained by nano-HPLC coupled to an LTQ-FT-ICR mass spectrometer. Finally, LC-MS/MS analysis of surface layer proteins extracted from three other Lactobacillus strains proved that the proposed method is the appropriate molecular tool for the identification of S-layer-possessing lactobacilli at the species and even strain levels.