Diagnostic Approach to Disease Using Non-invasive Samples Based on Derivatization and LC-ESI-MS/MS

The determination of biologically-active molecules is very important in order to understand biological functions. A novel approach for the highly sensitive and specific determination seems to be essential for this purpose. Based on this consideration, we synthesized various types of fluorogenic and fluorescent reagents for the derivatization of chiral and achiral molecules. The fluorescence analysis is excellent for the analysis of target molecules and generally provides good expected results. However, the trace analysis of the bioactive molecules in complex matrices, such as plasma and urine, is not always satisfactory even using high-performance fluorometry. In such a situation, mass spectrometry (MS) is another technique for the selective and sensitive determination of biological components. Therefore, various derivatization reagents for MS/MS detection were developed and used for the determination of amines and carboxyls including chiral molecules. These newly developed reagents were also adopted for the biomarker detection related to diseases using non-invasive samples (i.e., saliva, nail, hair). Although the determination of the targeted chiral molecules is relatively easy, it is very difficult to identify and/or determine the enantiomeric biomarker in real samples. To solve this difficulty, we proposed the strategy called "chiral metabolomics," which means the total analysis of the enantiomers of various chiral metabolites in complex matrices. This review paper focused on the development of various new derivatization reagents for amines and carboxyls by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis and the detection of the biomarker candidates related to several diseases in non-invasive samples (i.e., hair, nail, saliva) using these reagents.