title: Quantification of plasma myo-inositol using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Myo-inositol (MI) deficiency is associated with an increased risk for neural tube defects (NTDs), mental disorders and metabolic diseases. We developed a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method to detect MI in human plasma, which was accurate, relatively efficient and convenient for clinical application.
  
  
  METHODS
  An external standard method was used for determination of plasma MI. Samples were analyzed by GC-MS after derivatization. The stable-isotope labeled internal standard approach was used to validate the method's accuracy. Alpha fetal protein (AFP) was detected by chemiluminescence immunoassay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The method was validated by determining the linearity, sensitivity and recovery rate. There was a good agreement between the internal standard approach and the present method. The NTD-affected pregnancies showed lower plasma MI (P=0.024) and higher AFP levels (P=0.001) than control. Maternal MI level showed a better discrimination in spina bifida subgroup, while AFP level showed a better discrimination in anencephaly subgroup after stratification analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We developed a sensitive and reliable method for the detection of clinical plasma MI, which might be a marker for NTDs screening, and established fundamental knowledge for clinical diagnosis and prevention for the diseases related to disturbed MI metabolism.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of Child Development and Nutriomics, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing 100020, China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of Child Development and Nutriomics, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing 100020, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Environmental & Viral Oncology, College of Life Science and Bioengineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China.
authors.forename: Yingfei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Chinese Academy of Inspection & Quarantine, Beijing 100023, China.
authors.forename: Chengbao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Environmental & Viral Oncology, College of Life Science and Bioengineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China.
authors.forename: Rugang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Chinese Academy of Inspection & Quarantine, Beijing 100023, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of Child Development and Nutriomics, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing 100020, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of Child Development and Nutriomics, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing 100020, China; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, China. Electronic address: niub2004@126.com.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of Child Development and Nutriomics, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing 100020, China. Electronic address: fywjh@163.com.
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000757:Anencephaly / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007294:Inositol / Q000097:blood* / Q000172:deficiency; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000175:diagnosis; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D012015:Reference Standards; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016135:Spinal Dysraphism / Q000175:diagnosis
chemical_list: D007294:Inositol
keywords: Derivatives; Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry; Myo-inositol; Neural tube defects