Quantitative UPLC-MS/MS analysis of the gut microbial co-metabolites phenylacetylglutamine, 4-cresyl sulphate and hippurate in human urine: INTERMAP Study

The role of the gut microbiome in human health, and non-invasive measurement of gut dysbiosis are of increasing clinical interest. New high-throughput methods are required for the rapid measurement of gut microbial metabolites and to establish reference ranges in human populations. We used ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) - positive and negative electrospray ionization modes, multiple reaction monitoring transitions - to simultaneously measure three urinary metabolites (phenylacetylglutamine, 4-cresyl sulphate and hippurate) that are potential biomarkers of gut function, among multi-ethnic US men and women aged 40-59 from the INTERMAP epidemiologic study (n = 2000, two timed 24-hr urine collections/person). Metabolite concentrations were quantified via stable isotope labeled internal standards. The assay was linear in the ranges 1ng mL(-1) (lower limit of quantification) to 1000ng mL(-1) (phenylacetylglutamine and 4-cresyl sulfate) and 3ng mL(-1) to 3000ng mL(-1) (hippurate). These quantitative data provide new urinary reference ranges for population-based human samples: mean (standard deviation) 24-hr urinary excretion for phenylacetylglutamine was: 1283.0 (751.7) mu mol/24-hr (men), 1145.9 (635.5) mu mol/24-hr (women); for 4-cresyl sulphate, 1002.5 (737.1) mu mol/24-hr (men), 1031.8 (687.9) mu mol/24-hr (women); for hippurate, 6284.6 (4008.1) mu mol/24-hr (men), 4793.0 (3293.3) mu mol/24-hr (women). Metabolic profiling by UPLC-MS/MS in a large sample of free-living individuals has provided new data on urinary reference ranges for three urinary microbial co-metabolites, and demonstrates the applicability of this approach to epidemiological investigations.