Urine, protein-carbohydrate compounds

As with urine, saliva (spumm) is easy to collect. The levels of protein and lipids in saliva or spumm are low (compared to blood samples). These matrices are viscous, which is why extraction efficiency of xenobioties amoimts to only 5 to 9%. By acidifying the samples, extraction efficiencies are improved as the samples are clarified, and proteinaceous material and cellular debris are precipitated and removed. Some xenobioties and their metabohtes are expressed in hair. Hair is an ideal matrix for extraction of analytes to nonpolar phases, especially when the parent xenobioties are extensively metabolized and often nondetectable in other tissues (parent molecules of xenobioties are usually less polar than metabolites). Hair is a popular target for forensic purposes and to monitor drug compliance and abuse. Human milk may be an indicator of exposure of a newborn to compounds to which the mother has been previously exposed. The main components of human milk are water (88%), proteins (3%), lipids (3%), and carbohydrates in the form of lactose (6%). At present, increasing attention is devoted to the determination of xenobioties in breath. This matrix, however, contains only volatile substances, whose analysis is not related to PLC applications. 

Clinical Chemistry (see Chapter 10). Gas chromatography is adaptable to such samples as blood, urine, and/or biological fluids. Compounds such as proteins, carbohydrates, amino acids, fatty acids, steroids, triglycerides, vitamins, and barbiturates are handled by this technique, directly or after preparation of appropriate volatile derivatives. 

McGale, E. H. F, Protein-Carbohydrate Compounds in Human Urine, 24, 435-452... 

Modulation of liver and kidney function. Nutrients and xenobiotics (such as secondary metabolites) are transported to the liver after resorption in the intestine. In the liver, the metabolism of carbohydrates, amino acids, and lipids takes place with the subsequent synthesis of proteins and glycogen. The liver is also the main site for detoxification of xenobiotics. Lipophilic compounds, which are easily resorbed from the diet, are often hydroxylated and then conjugated with a polar, hydrophilic molecule, such as glucuronic acid, sulfate, or amino acids (312). These conjugates, which are more water soluble, are exported via the blood to the kidney, where they are transported into the urine for elimination. 

It should be evident from the previous pages of this Chapter that a complex mixture of protein-carbohydrate compounds is normally excreted in urine. The components of this mixture show considerable, individual variation with respect to their molecular weight, composition, chemical and physical properties, and origin. 

The urine of a mammal is a rich source of organic compounds that may range in molecular mass from components as large as proteins to relatively small molecules (<100 D of mass), presumably various secondary metabolism products. On a less absolute scale, volatility of various urinary metabolites will be limited by both their molecular mass and polarity. Based on the presence of polar and ionizable groups in the molecule, some very small molecules (e.g., urinary acids, peptides or carbohydrates) are very unlikely to... 

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