Quantitative analysis of 20 purine and pyrimidine metabolites by HILIC-MS/MS in the serum and hippocampus of depressed mice

Purine and pyrimidine metabolism are vital metabolic pathways in the development, proliferation or repairment of cells or tissues associated with various diseases. Here, a simple, all-in-one injection hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for simultaneous determination of 20 metabolites: adenine, adenosine, deoxyadenosine, adenosine 5′-monophosphate, cyclic adenosine monophosphate, hypoxanthine, xanthine, inosine, deoxyinosine, xanthosine, xanthosine 5′-monophosphate and uric acid, which are products of purine metabolism; uridine, deoxyuridine, uridine 5′-monophosphate and uracil, are products of pyrimidine metabolism; and corticosterone, methionine, acetylcholine and serotonin. To minimize interference of endogenous molecules in sample matrixes, a combination of activated carbon adsorption and a serum substitute matrix (5% bovine serum albumin in phosphate buffered saline) was utilized and jointly applied. The sensitivity, linearity, stability, precision, accuracy and extraction recovery were evaluated, and the method was demonstrated to be accurate, sensitive and reliable. An analytical strategy was successfully applied to quantitatively determine 20 metabolite levels in the serum and hippocampus of mice with chronic social defeat stress-induced depression. The results showed greatly perturbed purine metabolism in the depressed mice, which was primarily characterized by dramatic increases in hypoxanthine, xanthine and inosine in serum and reduced levels of adenine, adenosine and adenosine 5′-monophosphate in the hippocampus. These findings suggest that this novel strategy can facilitate the quantitative analysis of adenine and other purine and pyrimidine metabolites in tissue and serum and exhibits great potential in the exploration of metabolism-related mechanisms of relevant diseases. [Display omitted] •20 purine and pyrimidine metabolites were simultaneously quantified within 14 min by HILIC-MS/MS.•Activated carbon adsorption was utilized to minimize interference of endogenous molecules in sample matrixes.•The method showed excellent performance and profiled mice serum or hippocampal purines and pyrimidines.•Greatly perturbed purine metabolism occurred in the depressed mice.