Trimethylselenonium ion determination in human urine by high-performance liquid chromatography–hydride generation–atomic fluorescence spectrometry optimization of the hydride generation step

This work describes the intricacies of the determination of the trimethylselenonium ion (TMSe) in human urine via high-performance liquid chromatography–hydride generation–atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HPLC-HG-AFS). By definition, this technique requires that the separated TMSe can be online converted into a volatile compound. Literature data for the determination of TMSe via the hydride generation technique are contradictory; i.e., some authors claim that direct formation of volatile compounds is possible under reduction with NaBH 4 , whereas others reported that a digestion step is mandatory prior to conversion. We studied and optimized the conditions for online conversion by varying the mobile phase composition (pyridine, phosphate, and acetate), testing different reaction coils, and optimizing the hydride generation conditions, although technically no hydride (H 2 Se) is formed but a dimethylselenide (DMSe). The optimized conditions were used for the analysis of 64 urine samples of 16 (unexposed) volunteers and the determination of low amounts of TMSe (LOD = 0.2 ng mL −1 ). Total (specific gravity–corrected) selenium concentrations in the urine samples ranged from 7.9 ± 0.7 to 29.7 ± 5.0 ng mL −1 for individual volunteers. Four volunteers were characterized as TMSe producers (hINMT genotype GA) and 12 were non-producers (hINMT genotype GG). Urine of TMSe producers contained 2.5 ± 1.7 ng mL −1 of TMSe, compared to 0.2 ± 0.2 ng mL −1 for non-producers.