Beta-hydroxybutyrate and pyroglutamate can be included in a rapid GC-MS screening method for differential diagnosis of metabolic acidosis

Abstract

A rapid gas chromatographic mass spectrometric method for measuring anions associated with acute anion gap metabolic acidosis is described. The method is an extension of a previous method. The method quantifies glycolic acid, beta-hydroxybutyric acid with good linearity and pyroglutamic acid with a reproducible curvature relation between 1 and 20 mmol/L and can help the clinician distinguish effectively between ethylene glycol poisoning, alcoholic and diabetic ketoacidosis and cysteine deficiency so early that it will have clinical consequences.

Keywords:

• Analytical techniques
• clinical pharmacology
• clinical toxicology
• gas chromatography
• mass spectrometry

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. There was no external funding.