title: Simultaneous determination of four tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines (TSNA) in human urine.
abstract: Tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines (TSNA) include 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK), N-nitrosonornicotine (NNN), N-nitrosoanabasine (NAB) and N-nitrosoanatabine (NAT). TSNA are suggested to play an important role in tobacco smoke carcinogenesis. We have developed and validated an LC-MS/MS method for the determination of total (free and conjugated) TSNA in human urine. The limits of detection (LOD) were 2.0, 0.8, 1.1 and 0.7 pg/ml for NNAL, NNN, NAB and NAT, respectively. Smokers were found to have significantly higher levels of TSNA in their urine than nonsmokers. In conclusion, the newly developed method is suitable for assessing the tobacco use-related exposure to NNK, NNN, NAB and NAT.
authors.affiliation: Analytisch-biologisches Forschungslabor GmbH, Goethestrasse 20, 80336 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kavvadias
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scherer
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Urban
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Errington
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shepperd
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McEwan