8-Hydroxyguanosine as a possible RNA oxidative modification marker in urine from colorectal cancer patients: Evaluation by ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

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Oxidative RNA damage has been found to be associated with a variety of diseases, and 8-hydroxyguanosine (8-OHG) is a typical marker of oxidative modification of RNA. This guanosine modification is an emerging biomarker for disease detection and determination of 8-OHG in human urine is favored because it is noninvasive to patients. However, due to its poor ionization efficiency in mass spectrometry and trace amount in urine, accurate quantification of this modified nucleoside is still challenging. Herein, a rapid, accurate, sensitive and robust method using solid-phase extraction (SPE) combined with isotope dilution ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was developed for detection of this oxidative RNA modification in human urine. The limit of detection can reach 1.5 fmol and the method exhibits good precision on intra-day (1.8–3.3%) and inter-day (0.6–1.2%) analyses. Satisfactory recovery (87.5–107.2%) at three spiked levels was achieved by using HLB cartridge for urine pretreatment. Using this method, we quantified 8-OHG in urine from 65 colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and 76 healthy volunteers. The measured level of urinary 8-OHG for CRC patients and healthy controls is 1.91 ± 0.63 nmol/mmol creatinine and 1.33 ± 0.35 nmol/mmol creatinine, respectively. We found the content of 8-OHG in urine was raised in CRC patients patients, implying this oxidative RNA modification marker could act as a potential noninvasive indicator for early screening of CRC. In addition, this study will make contributions to the investigations of the influences of oxidative stress on the formation and development of CRC.