Dried urine spots as sampling technique for multi-mycotoxin analysis in human urine

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Toxicology
• Environmental Health

Background:

• Mycotoxin exposure is a significant public health concern, necessitating reliable biomonitoring tools.
• Traditional urine analysis methods can be complex and require laboratory-based sample collection.
• Dried urine spots (DUS) offer a promising alternative for on-site sampling and simplified logistics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a simple, effective HPLC-MS/MS method for multi-mycotoxin analysis in human urine using DUS.
• To enable on-site sampling and quantitation of 14 mycotoxins and their metabolites.
• To assess the stability and applicability of the DUS method for human biomonitoring.

Main Methods:

• Development of a High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method.
• Application of dried urine spots (DUS) for on-site sample collection and storage.
• Sample preparation involving enzymatic cleavage of conjugates and stable isotope dilution analysis.

Main Results:

• The DUS method successfully detected and quantified 14 mycotoxins and metabolites with low limits of detection (pg/mL).
• Analyte stability was confirmed over 28 days at room temperature.
• Analysis of a Swedish cohort (n=91) revealed widespread detection of deoxynivalenol (DON), ochratoxin A (OTA), and tenuazonic acid (TeA).

Conclusions:

• The developed DUS-based HPLC-MS/MS method is a simple, sensitive, and effective tool for human biomonitoring of mycotoxin exposure.
• The DUS approach provides a robust alternative to traditional urine sampling, facilitating wider on-site application.
• The method's higher sensitivity compared to established approaches identified a greater number of positive samples.