Identification of N-(2-propenal)ethanolamine as a urinary metabolite of malondialdehyde

N-(2-propenal)ethanolamine was isolated from rat and human urine using anion exchange, cation exchange, size exclusion and high performance liquid chromatography. Acid hydrolysis of the isolate yielded malondialdehyde (MDA) and ethanolamine (E) in a 1:1 molar ratio. A 1:1 E-MDA adduct was synthesized and found to be chromatographically inseparable from the urinary metabolite. Its NMR and UV spectra and lack of fluorescence were consistent with those of an enaminal formed by a Schiff's base reaction. The identification in urine of an adduct of MDA with ethanolamine, and the previous identification of an adduct with serine, constitutes direct evidence for the oxidative decomposition in vivo of polyunsaturated fatty acids present in the relevant phospholipids. The absence in urine of MDA adducts with other alpha-amino compounds (at least in comparable amounts) indicates that the ethanolamine and serine derivatives are formed in situ and not as a result of reactions with MDA generated in enzymatic processes.