QUANTIFICATION OF MAMMALIAN LIGNANS IN BIOLOGICAL-FLUIDS USING GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH ION MOBILITY DETECTION

A method is presented to quantify selected mammalian lignans in human physiological fluids by gas chromatography (GC) coupled with ion mobil ity spectrometry (IMS). The use of IMS following GC permitted the sele ctive and sensitive measurement of 2,3-bis(3-hydroxybenzyl)butane-1,4- diol (i.e., enterodiol) and trans-2,3-bis(3-hydroxybenzyl)-gamma-butyr olactone (i.e., enterolactone) concentrations in urine and plasma foll owing dietary supplementation with whole wheat/flaxseed bread high in mammalian lignan precursors. Following six weeks of flaxseed feeding, urinary and plasma levels of enterodiol and enterolactone were elevate d, exceeding the amounts found at baseline by a factor of 3-5. The app roach to mammalian lignan methodology presented herein provides novel analytical phytochemical procedures for assessing the impact of lignan consumption in human health and disease.