Simultaneous Determination of Trace Elements in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Tissue by Sector Field Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

An analytical method using sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS) for rapid simultaneous determination of Na, Mg, K, Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Sr, Mo, and Cd elements in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue is reported. The sample was dissolved in HNO₃ and H₂O₂ by microwave digestion and then the aforementioned 15 elements in the solution were analyzed directly by SF-ICP-MS. Most of the spectral interferences were avoided by measuring in medium resolution mode (MRM, M/▵M = 4400) and high resolution mode (HRM, M/ΔM = 8000). Correction for matrix effects was made using Sc and Rh as internal standards. The optimum conditions for the determination were tested and discussed. The results showed that SF-ICP-MS is a useful tool for simultaneous determination of multi-elements in HCC tissue and could be widely used in other biological samples analysis.

Keywords:

• Hepatocellular carcinoma
• Matrix effect
• Sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
• Spectral interferences
• Trace elements

Acknowledgments

The authors compliment the Educational Commission of Chongqing City of China (KJ121311) and Chongqing Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. cstc2011jjA0780, cstc2012jjA0108) on financially supporting this research work.

Notes

^a Mean value ± SD (standard deviation), n = 5.

^b {(M_obs−M_cer)/M_cer} × 100, where M_obs and M_cer are observed and certified values, respectively.