Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid-Protein Adducts: Potential Non-invasive Biomarkers of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid-Induced Liver Toxicity and Exposure

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are phytochemicals present in hundreds of plant species from different families widely distributed in many geographical regions around the world. PA-containing plants are probably the most common type of poisonous plants affecting livestock, wildlife, and humans. There have been many large-scale human poisonings caused by the consumption of food contaminated with toxic PAs. PAs require metabolic activation to generate pyrrolic metabolites to exert their toxicity. In this study, we developed a novel method to quantify pyrrole-protein adducts present in the blood. This method involves the use of AgNO3 in acidic ethanol to cleave the thiol linkage of pyrrole-protein (DHP-protein) adducts, and the resulting 7,9-di-C2H5O-DHP is quantified by HPLC-ES-MS/MS multiple reaction monitoring analysis in the presence of a known quantity of isotopically labeled 7,9-di-C2D5O-DHP internal standard. Using this method, we determined that diester-type PAs administered to rats produced higher levels of DHP-protein adducts than other types of PAs. The results suggest that DHP-protein adducts can potentially serve as minimally invasive biomarkers of PA exposure.