title: Analysis of volatile organic compounds in pleural effusions by headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with cryotrap gas chromatography and mass spectrometry.
abstract: Headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with cryotrap gas chromatography and mass spectrometry was applied to the analysis of volatile organic compounds in pleural effusions. The highly volatile organic compounds were separated successfully with high sensitivity by the employment of a cryotrap device, with the construction of a cold column head by freezing a segment of metal capillary with liquid nitrogen. A total of 76 volatile organic compounds were identified in 50 pleural effusion samples (20 malignant effusions and 30 benign effusions). Among them, 34 more volatile organic compounds were detected with the retention time less than 8 min, by comparing with the normal headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry method. Furthermore, 24 volatile organic compounds with high occurrence frequency in pleural effusion samples, 18 of which with the retention time less than 8 min, were selected for the comparative analysis. The results of average peak area comparison and box-plot analysis showed that except for cyclohexanone, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, and tetramethylbenzene, which have been reported as potential cancer biomarkers, cyclohexanol, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, n-heptane, ethylbenzene, and xylene also had differential expression between malignant and benign effusions. Therefore, the proposed approach was valuable for the comprehensive characterization of volatile organic compounds in pleural effusions.
authors.affiliation: College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Zhongping
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Peipei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Respiratory Department, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Zaifa
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010996:Pleural Effusion; D052617:Solid Phase Microextraction; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
keywords: Cryotrap; Gas chromatography with mass spectrometry; Headspace solid-phase microextraction; Pleural effusions; Volatile organic compounds