Mercaptans in malodorants break disulfide bridges in human serum albumin and form adducts suitable as biomarkers of exposure in vitro

Abstract

Malodorants comprise notoriously smelling mercaptans and might be applied for crowd control. Because exposure to malodorants may lead to irritation of the respiratory system, choking, and coma, bioanalytical verification of poisoning might be required in a medical and forensic context. We herein present the detection and identification of novel biomarkers of exposure to ethyl mercaptan, n‐butyl mercaptan, tert‐butyl mercaptan, and iso‐amyl mercaptan. These alkyl thiol compounds were found to form disulfide adducts in human serum albumin (HSA) in plasma in vitro with the only non‐disulfide‐bridged Cys34 residue and with other residues being part of the disulfide‐bridged pattern in HSA. After proteinase K‐catalyzed proteolysis, adducts of all mercaptans were detected simultaneously as the tripeptide Cys34*ProPhe and the dipeptides Cys369*Tyr, ValCys316*, and Cysx*Ala (x denominates either Positions 91, 200, 253, 361, and/or 448) by a sensitive micro‐liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (μLC‐ESI MS/MS) method working in the scheduled multiple reaction monitoring (sMRM) mode. Time‐ and concentration‐dependent adduct formations while exposure and proteolysis were investigated and the suitability of adducts as biomarkers of exposure was elaborated. Adducts at Cys34 showed the lowest limits of identification (LOIs, 6 nM to 1.2 μM mercaptan in plasma) and superior stability in plasma at 37°C. Therefore, Cys34*ProPhe appears as the most promising target to prove exposure to mercaptans at least in vitro.