Use of chemical ionization in gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric screening of human urine for disaccharides containing inositol

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Abstract
Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) in the positive chemical ionization (CI) mode was used to screen normal urine for inositol‐containing disaccharides in the form of permethylated derivatives, after borodeuteride reduction of the reducing saccharides. Ammonia was the reactant gas. The results revealed the existence of deoxyhexosyl‐inositol and hexosyl‐inositol disaccharides, and of a new compound, N‐acetylhexosaminyl‐inositol disaccharide. Up to four isomers of deoxyhexosyl‐inositol could be present in the same sample even though only one of them has so far been fully characterized in man. As regards the hexosyl‐inositols, one to three isomers were present in the same sample and probably corresponded to the three isomers of galactosyl‐inositol recently described in man. N‐Acetylhexosaminyl‐inositol (identified elsewhere by us as N‐acetylgalactosaminyl‐α(1‐1)‐myo‐inositol) was seen in only a few samples. No relationship can be found between the excretion of all these inositol‐containing disaccharides on the one hand, ABO(H) blood group and ‘Secretor’ status (Se or sese) of the donors on the other. The gas chromatographic CI mass spectrometric technique used here with various ammonia pressures can be applied to the screening of other biological fluids or tissues for inositol glycosides.