Dudley Edward, Lemiere Filip, Van Dongen Walter, Langridge James I, El-Sharkawi Salah, Games David E, Esmans Eddy L, Newton Russell P
Biochemistry Group, School of Biological Sciences, Wallace Building, University of Wales Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK.
Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2003;17(11):1132-6. doi: 10.1002/rcm.1034.
Modified nucleosides in the urine have been postulated to be diagnostic indices of disease, particularly of cancer. The urine of a patient with terminal head and neck cancer has been found to contain a modified nucleoside with a protonated molecule of m/z 228. By means of high-performance liquid chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry (HPLC/ITMS) and capillary liquid chromatography/triple quadruple mass spectrometry (CapLC/TQMS) we have identified the compound as 5'-deoxycytidine. This is the first report of 5'-deoxycytidine in man: in addition to the elucidation of its structure, its possible origins and the potential significance of its occurrence are discussed.