Identification of N-ethylglycine in urine of cancer patients with metastatic bone disease.
BACKGROUND
Previously, a HPLC method for the determination of N-terminal prolyl dipeptides, proline and hydroxyproline in urine with fluorescence detection after pre-column derivatization with 4-(5,6-dimethoxy-2-phthalimidinyl)-2-methoxyphenylsulfonyl chloride (DMS-Cl) [Inoue H, Iguchi H, Kono A, Tsuruta Y. Highly sensitive determination of N-terminal prolyl dipeptides, proline and hydroxyproline in urine by high-performance liquid chromatography using a new fluorescent labelling reagent, 4-(5,6-dimethoxy-2-phthalimidinyl)-2-methoxyphenylsulfonyl chloride. J Chromatogr 1999;724:221-230] was developed to study the relation between those analytes and bone diseases. When the urinary analytes were measured, a large peak due to an unknown substance was recognized in the chromatograms of cancer patients with metastatic bone disease, although it was scarcely present in normal subjects. In this study, we identified the unknown substance.


METHODS
The fluorescent fraction based on the unknown substance was collected using HPLC and the structure of the fluorescence product was analyzed with MS, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR.


RESULTS
The fluorescence product based on the unknown substance was established to be a DMS-derivative of N-ethylglycine.


CONCLUSIONS
Excretion of N-ethylglycine in the urine of cancer patients with metastatic bone disease is recognized, although N-ethylglycine is scarcely excreted in the urine of normal subjects.
Tsuruta
Yasuto
Y
Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Fukuyama University, Fukuyama, Hiroshima 729-0292, Japan. tsuruta@fupharm.fukuyama-u.ac.jp
Matsumoto
Maya
M
Inoue
Hirofumi
H
Munemura
Sayaka
S
Ishizu
Takashi
T
Yamano
Shigeru
S
Iguchi
Haruo
H
D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000556:secondary; D015394:Molecular Structure; D034442:N-substituted Glycines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000652:urine*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
C518321:N-ethylglycine; D034442:N-substituted Glycines