Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric study of volatile organic metabolites in urines of patients with diabetes mellitus.

Abnormally increased concentrations of the aliphatic alcohols ethanol, n-propanol, isobutanol, n-butanol and isopentanol and the ketones 4-heptanone and cyclohexanone in human urine reflect metabolic disorders related to diabetes mellitus. For the determination of these low-molecular-weight metabolites, the components are trapped on an absorbent, separated by gas chromatography and identified by mass spectrometry. After standardization of the adsorption and desorption techniques, the procedure is applicable for comparative studies and for screening.

Gas-chromatographic and mass-spectrometric detection of low-molecular-weight aliphatic alcohols in urine of normal individuals and patients with diabetes mellitus.

We studied the aliphatic alcohols in 100 urines from 25 patients with diabetes mellitus under treatment with insulin, oral antidiabetic medication, or special diet. The procedure involves adsorption of the low-molecular-weight urinary metabolites on a porous polymer of 2,6-diphenyl-p-phenylene oxide (Tenax GC), gas-chromatographic separation, mass spectrometric identification, and mass fragmentographic representation of the primary alcohols by a computer. The concentrations of ethanol, n-propanol, isobutanol, n-butanol, and isopentanol are increased as compared with urine from normal persons.