Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method of urine analysis for determining human variation in carcinogen metabolism

We developed a solid-phase extraction LC-MS-MS method for the analysis of t he four major metabolites of PhIP (2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]p ridine) in human urine after a meal of well-done chicken. Ten volunteers ea ch ate either 150 or 200 g of well-done chicken breast containing 9-21 mug of PhIP. Among the individual volunteers there is 8-fold variation in the t otal amount of metabolites and 20-fold variation in the relative amounts of individual metabolites, showing individual differences in carcinogen metab olism. PhIP metabolites were also detected in urine from a subject consumin g chicken in a restaurant meal, demonstrating the method's sensitivity afte r real-life exposures. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.