Determination of sialic acids in infant formula by chromatographic methods: a comparison of high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography methods

Sialic acid determination in an infant formula presents many challenges, including efficient sialic acid release from glycoconjugates, effective sample preparation, and rugged chromatography. This work compares 2 chromatographic assays developed for determination of sialic acids in infant formula. Prior to chromatography, both assays release sialic acids by acid hydrolysis and treat the hydrolysate with a subsequent anion-exchange sample preparation. Both high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD) and fluorescence ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) sample analysis methods were evaluated to compare assay performance and convenience. Calibration ranges were chosen to encompass the expected amounts of 2 sialic acids in infant formula: N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) and N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc). Response was linear by either method with coefficients of determination of 1.00 by HPAEC-PAD between 5.0 and 100pmol of Neu5Ac and between 0.34 and 6.8 pmol of Neu5Gc and >0.99 by UHPLC between 5.0 and 260 pmol of Neu5Ac and between 0.20 and 9.8 pmol of Neu5Gc. Both methods had sufficient sensitivity to determine these sialic acids in infant formula. Three infant formulas were analyzed to evaluate accuracy and precision of the assays. The HPAEC-PAD assay was found to be faster overall and the UHPLC assay was more sensitive. Reaction efficiency, and therefore sensitivity, was dependent on the sample matrix. This work illustrates sample-specific complexity that must be considered in choosing an assay.     

Determining Neu5Ac in infant formula with ultra‐performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

The aim of this work was to measure N‐acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) in milk‐based infant formulas. The analysis was performed by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC‐MS/MS). The total Neu5Ac were released using trichloroacetic acid and hydrochloric acid and purified using a HLB column. The linearity from 0.05 to 5.0 μg/mg Neu5Ac was adequate. Sialic acid recoveries ranged from 91.8% to 112.4%. The detection and quantification limits (limit of detection, 0.01 μg Neu5Ac/mg; limit of quantitation, 1.08 μg Neu5Ac/mg) were low enough to determine the sialic acid in infant formulas. The validated method is highly reproducible and sensitive, and it is easy to perform.     

高效液相色谱-荧光检测法测定红肉及其加工肉中唾液酸含量

采用高效液相色谱-荧光检测法对红肉及其加工肉中两种唾液酸N-乙酰神经氨酸（N-acetylneuraminic acid,Neu5Ac）和N-羟乙酰神经氨酸（N-glycolylneuraminic acid,Neu5Gc）进行定性和定量分析。利用单因素试验对衍生化与样品酸解条件进行优化,并借助超声缩短酸解时间。结果表明,以盐酸作为酸解试剂,超声辅助酸解30 min,4,5-亚甲二氧基-1,2-邻苯二胺盐作为衍生化试剂,衍生化试剂浓度为13 mmol/L,样品与衍生化试剂比值为1∶1,衍生化时间120 min时,检测效果最佳。Neu5Ac和Neu5Gc在0.1～10 μg/mL范围内线性良好,回收率为91.2%～119.7%,检出限分别为0.003 mg/kg和0.01 mg/kg,重复性的相对标准偏差（relative standard deviation,RSD）为0.7%～1.8%,精密度RSD分别为1.4%和1.2%。本方法具有灵敏度高、分析时间短、重复性及准确性好等特点。     

N-丙酰-唾液酸衍生物的化学酶法合成及在测定禽蛋中唾液酸含量的应用

为实现禽类蛋黄和蛋清中N-乙酰神经氨酸（N-acetylneuraminic acid,Neu5Ac）的准确定量,消除禽蛋样品中分析物以外的物质产生的基质效应对分析结果造成的影响,本研究以甘露糖胺为底物采用化学酶法合成了非天然唾液酸衍生物5-溴-4-氯-3-吲哚-β-D-半乳糖苷-N-丙酰-唾液酸（5-Bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-β-D-galactopyranoside-N-propionyl-sialic acid,X-Gal-α-2,6-Neu5Prop）,对该衍生物在酸性条件下的水解特性以及稳定性进行研究,并以该衍生物为内标测定了鹌鹑、鹅、珍珠鸡、鸵鸟、鸭、鸽子、火鸡等9种禽类蛋黄和蛋清中Neu5Ac的含量。禽蛋样品和内标物在酸性条件下处理,唾液酸糖缀合物被解离为游离的唾液酸后经荧光标记物邻苯二胺衍生,采用高效液相色谱-荧光检测器对样品进行分析。结果表明,相同浓度的X-Gal-α-2,6-Neu5Ac和X-Gal-α-2,6-Neu5Prop在2 mol/L的醋酸溶液80℃的水解条件下水解程度相当,90 min后能够完全转化为游离的唾液酸。Neu5Ac和Neu5Prop在10 h内仍保持相似的稳定性。蛋清中Neu5Ac的含量在不同物种之间表现出很大的差异。鹌鹑蛋清中Neu5Ac的含量最低（0.13 mg/g）,而鸵鸟蛋清中的最高（2.20 mg/g）,比鹌鹑蛋清Neu5Ac含量高出近17倍。该方法能够消除生物样品中的基质效应,实现对Neu5Ac的准确定量,且样品前处理简单。因此,适合常规食品中Neu5Ac的检测与分析。     

Rapid and simple method for the determination in sialic acid of yak milk fat globule membrane

A rapid and simple method for the determination of sialic acid (Neu5Ac) of yak milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) by HPLC with a diode array detector was developed and validated. Samples were cleaned up just by hydrolysis and derivatization before HPLC analysis. Separation was achieved with an Agilent TC-C18 column. The method showed a good linearity (r=0.997), the sensitivity results showed that the limits of detection and limits of quantification for sialic acid were 10.0 and 21.0 μg/mL, respectively. The recovery of Neu5Ac was 95–97%. The method proved very simple and rapid for Neu5Ac analysis since separation was completely achieved at 12 min.     

牛免疫球蛋白G的体外人源唾液酸化及Fc片段的制备

建立将牛免疫球蛋白G（bovine immunoglobulin G,bIgG）糖链末端N-羟乙酰神经氨酸酶切并连接人源N-乙酰神经氨酸（N-acetylneuraminic acid,Neu5Ac）的方法,在实现bIgG转化为人源IgG（human IgG,hIgG）的基础上,研究hIgG可结晶（Fc）片段的制备。结果表明：以170 U/mL神经氨酸酶酶切bIgG（4.0 mg/mL）后,通过β-1,4-半乳糖基转移酶和α-2,6-唾液酸转移酶分别转移半乳糖（galactose,Gal）和Neu5Ac残基,可制备增加8.4 个Gal残基和42 个Neu5Ac残基的hIgG分子。此外,在10.0 mg/mL hIgG、m（木瓜蛋白酶）∶m（hIgG）＝0.05、10.0 mmol/L半胱氨酸激活剂、2.0 mmol/L EDTA溶液、pH 7.0条件下,酶解3 h可制得hIgG的较高纯度Fc片段,最终hIgG得率为71.7%,Fc片段得率为20.8%。本研究为bIgG的产品开发和营养价值评价提供科学依据。     

Large-scale preparation and glycan characterization of sialylglycopeptide from bovine milk glycomacropeptide and its bifidogenic properties

Bovine glycomacropeptide (GMP) is a 7,000-Da glycopolypeptide released from κ-casein during cheese making. The O-glycan chains linked to GMP have many biological activities, but their utilization for nutraceutical products is limited due to their low content. To concentrate the functional glycan chains of GMP, we prepared sialylglycopeptide concentrate (SGC) from GMP-containing whey protein concentrate via proteolytic digestion of peptide chains and concentration of sialylglycopeptide by ultrafiltration using membranes with a molecular weight cut-off of 1,000 Da. The abundant saccharides detected in the prepared SGC were N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac: 32.3% wt/wt), N-acetylgalactosamine (11.3%), and galactose (10.2%), which constitute O-glycans attached to GMP. The Neu5Ac content in SGC was found concentrated at approximately 4.8-fold of its content in GMP-containing whey protein concentrate (6.8%). Structural analysis of O-glycopeptides by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry identified 88 O-glycopeptides. Moreover, O-acetylated or O-diacetylated Neu5Ac was detected in addition to the previously characterized O-glycans of GMP. Quantitative analysis of O-glycan in SGC by fluorescence labeling of chemically released O-glycan revealed that a disialylated tetrasaccharide was the most abundant glycan (76.6% of the total O-glycan). We further examined bifidogenic properties of SGC in vitro, which revealed that SGC served as a more potent carbon source than GMP and contributes to the growth-promoting effects on certain species of bifidobacteria. Overall, our study findings indicate that SGC contains abundant O-glycans and has a bifidogenic activity. Moreover, the protocol for the preparation of SGC described herein is relatively simple, providing a high yield of glycan, and can be used for large-scale preparation.     

UPLC and HPLC of caffeoyl esters in wild and cultivated Arctium lappa L.

Analytical methods including ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with photodiode array (PDA) detector were developed for the analysis of caffeoylquinic acid derivatives in seeds, leaves and roots of Arctium lappa L. Separation was performed on C₁₈ column utilising 5% (v/v) acetic acid in water and acetonitrile at 330 nm. Both methodologies were validated in terms of linearity, precision, and recovery. The results showed that the major advantages of UPLC, over HPLC were the fast analysis, narrow peaks, high sensitivity, and reduction of solvent consumption. Subsequently the methods were applied for the identification and quantification of chlorogenic acid (5-CQA) and 1,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (1,5-DCQA) as main compounds in samples. The total phenolic content of samples ranged from 3.93 to 14.13 g of 5-CQA equivalent/100 g dry weight (DW). There was a significant variability from 89 to 571 mg/100 g for 5-CQA and 48 to 486 mg/100 g for 1,5-DCQA in dry material.     

Analysis of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furoic acid (HMFA) the main metabolite of alimentary 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (HMF) with HPLC and GC in urine

A liquid chromatographic method with UV detection was developed to analyse 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural and its main metabolite 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furoic acid in urine. For the analysis on a reversed phase column was used with 5% methanol in water and 5 mM tetramethylammoniumhydrogen sulphate as ion-pair reagent as eluent. The detection was done at the UV absorption maximum of HMFA at 255 nm. The limit of quantification for HMFA was 7 mg/L with a recovery of 89%. For sample preparation the urine was centrifuged and the supernatant diluted with water. Three hundred samples of human urine were analysed. The concentration of HMFA was in the range of 0–100 mg/L with most of the samples around 10 mg/L.     

传统中式火腿加工过程中N-羟乙酰神经氨酸的动态变化

为探究传统中式火腿加工过程中不同形态N-羟乙酰神经氨酸（N-glycolylneuraminic acid，Neu5Gc）之间的关系，采用高效液相色谱-荧光检测（high performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detector，HPLC-FLD）法测定样品中总Neu5Gc、游离态Neu5Gc、结合态Neu5Gc的含量。结果表明：上述3 种形态的Neu5Gc含量随着加工时间的延长均呈前期上升后期降低的趋势；浅层肌肉半膜肌和深层肌肉股二头肌中总Neu5Gc和结合态Neu5Gc的含量变化规律相似，因水分含量降低程度的不同而使股二头肌的变化规律滞后。发酵后期水分损失幅度变缓，股二头肌中Neu5Gc解离速率高于半膜肌；新鲜猪后腿原料中游离态Neu5Gc含量极少，甚至低于检测限，结合态Neu5Gc含量与总Neu5Gc含量（15.00～30.62 μg/g）接近。发酵半年、1 年和2 年的火腿中总Neu5Gc含量分别为（15.09±0.39）、（14.52±0.38）、（28.30±0.43）μg/g，均与猪后腿原料中的Neu5Gc含量相近。为进一步探究Neu5Gc的变化，对样品进行冷冻干燥处理以避免水分含量变化对Neu5Gc含量的影响，结果表明，随着加工时间的延长，总Neu5Gc、结合态Neu5Gc的含量逐渐降低，且发酵期降低明显，具有显著差异性（P＜0.05）；游离态Neu5G变化无明显规律，但与空白样品相比，其含量呈增加趋势。