Differentiation of Dihydroxylated Vitamin D3Isomers Using Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Vitamin D compounds are a group of secosteroids derived from cholesterol that are vital for maintaining bone health in humans. Recent studies have shown extraskeletal effects of vitamin D, involving vitamin D metabolites such as the dihydroxylated vitamin D3compounds 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3and 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. Differentiation and characterization of these isomers by mass spectrometry can be challenging due to the zero-mass difference and minor structural differences between them. The isomers usually require separation by liquid chromatography (LC) prior to mass spectrometry, which adds extra complexity to the analysis. Herein, we investigated and revisited the use of fragmentation methods such as collisional induced dissociation (CID), infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD), electron induced dissociation (EID), and ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD), available on a 12T Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FT-ICR MS) to generate characteristic fragments for the dihydroxylated vitamin D3isomers that can be used to distinguish between them. Isomer-specific fragments were observed for the 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, which were clearly absent in the 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3MS/MS spectra using all fragmentation methods mentioned above. The fragments generated due to cleavage of the C-6/C-7 bond in the 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3compound demonstrate that the fragile OH groups were retained during fragmentation, thus enabling differentiation between the two dihydroxylated vitamin D3isomers without the need for prior chromatographic separation or derivatization.