A method was developed and validated to quantify 3,4-dideoxyglucosone-3-ene in peritoneal dialysis fluids by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection after derivatization with o-phenylenediamine. The advantages of this method compared with direct HPLC analysis are (i) the possibility of quantifying 3,4-dideoxyglucosone-3-ene simultaneously together with other glucose degradation products, (ii) the compatibility of the method with MS detection for unequivocal identification of the analyte and (iii) a bathochromic shift of the UV absorbance maximum which leads to higher selectivity. The validated method was used to measure 3,4-dideoxyglucosone-3-ene concentrations additionally to the glucose degradation products 3-deoxyglucosone, methylglyoxal, glyoxal, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, 2-furaldehyde, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde in 19 commercial products for peritoneal dialysis.

Coffee, a highly processed food, and Maillard mixtures are able to activate nuclear factor kappaB translocation in macrophages via generation of hydrogen peroxide. In this study, a substructure library was prepared and used to identify Maillard products that are responsible for this effect. Three different Maillard reaction products with aminoreductone substructure (C(6)-aminoreductone, C(4)-aminoreductone, and aminohexose reductone) strongly induce nuclear factor kappaB translocation in macrophages. The effect was almost completely blocked by co-incubation with catalase, indicating that cellular activation was mediated by the ability of the test compounds to generate hydrogen peroxide. The cellular effect of a Maillard mixture, which was produced under conditions favoring aminoreductone formation, could be almost completely related to the presence of C(6)-aminoreductone.