Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry detection of naturally occurring thiouracil in urine of untreated livestock, domesticated animals and humans

Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess. 2011 Feb;28(2):166-72. doi: 10.1080/19440049.2010.544681. Epub 2011 Jan 21.

Abstract

Thiouracil belongs to the xenobiotic thyreostats, which are growth-promoting agents illegally used in animal production. Recently it has been reported that thiouracil is suspected to have a natural origin. The European Union of Reference Laboratory guidance paper of 2007 acknowledged this by stating that thiouracil concentrations below 10 µg l⁻¹ might have a natural origin derived from the consumption of Brassicaceae. The present research aimed at endorsing this possible natural occurrence. Urine samples of animals (livestock and domesticated) with known and unknown clinical backgrounds were analysed for thiouracil with a newly developed ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometric analysis method without derivatisation. In addition, a small-scale 9-day human experiment with Brassicaceae vegetables was performed to investigate if this natural prevalence could be extrapolated to the human population. The untreated animals had thiouracil concentrations below 10 µg l⁻¹ acknowledging the alleged natural occurrence of thiouracil. As for the humans, in 66.7% of the urine samples thiouracil was found above the CC(α) of 2.2 µg l⁻¹. However, the correlation with the Brassicaceae diet proved to be non-significant (p = 0.095). Nevertheless, these results clearly demonstrate the natural occurrence of thiouracil in urine of animals and humans. The exact origin of this natural thiouracil trace still needs to be identified.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Controlled Clinical Trial

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Animals
  • Animals, Domestic
  • Brassicaceae
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Cross-Over Studies
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Limit of Detection
  • Livestock
  • Male
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry
  • Thiouracil / chemistry
  • Thiouracil / urine*
  • Vegetables

Substances

  • Thiouracil