Quantification of S-carboxymethyl-(R)-cysteine in human plasma by high-performance ion-exchange liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry.

The determination of S-carboxymethyl-(R)-cysteine (SCMC) in human plasma during extended bioequivalence studies demands a rapid, accurate and selective assay technique. A liquid chromatographic/mass spectrometric method was developed which involves rough protein precipitation followed by high-performance liquid chromatographic separation with an ion-exchange column and atmospheric pressure ionization (API) mass spectrometric detection, with the instrument operating with electrospray ionization (ESI) and in the selected-ion monitoring mode. The drug and the internal standard S-[(R)-1-carboxyethyl]-(R)-cysteine (SCEC) are detected by focusing the first quadrupole of the triple stage system on MH+ ions, thus permitting elimination of endogenous interfering substances and allowing a detection limit of 0.

Effects of cadmium on cytotoxic functions of human natural killer cells.

The effect of cadmium (Cd(2+)) was studied on natural killer (NK) cell-mediated cytotoxicity as well as on antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) of human peripheral blood lymphocytes. The results show that cadmium chloride inhibits human NK and ADCC activities against K562 and Ab-coated P815 target cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Maximal inhibition (80-90%) was observed in the presence of 100 mum-cadmium chloride, and it does not appear to be due to toxic effects on effector cells.