Detection of BPDE-DNA adducts in human umbilical cord blood by LC-MS/MS analysis

Benzo [a]pyrene (BaP) is a model compound for the study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) carcinogenesis. Upon metabolism, BaP is metabolized to the ultimate metabolite, BaP trans-7,8-diol-anti-9,10-epoxide (BPDE), that reacts with cellular DNA to form BPDE-dG adducts responsible for BaP-induced mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, and teratogenicity. In this study, we employed our developed LC-MS/MS method to detect and quantity BPDE-dG adducts present in 42 normal human umbilical cord blood samples and 42 birth defect cases. We determined that there is no significant difference in the level of BPDE-dG formation between the normal and birth defect groups. This represents the first time to use an LC-MS/MS method to quantify BPDE-dG in human umbilical blood samples. The results indicated that under experimental conditions, BPDE-dG adducts were detected in all the human umbilical cord blood samples from the normal and birth defect groups.