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Detection of in utero ethanol exposure via ethyl glucuronide and ethyl sulfate analysis in umbilical cord and placenta

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Abstract

Purpose

Alcohol exposure during pregnancy constitutes one of the leading preventable causes of birth defects, mental retardation and neurodevelopmental disorders in the exposed children. The ethanol marker ethyl glucuronide (EtG) is a specific long-term marker of ethanol in utero exposure in meconium; however, currently, there are scarce or no data about EtG and ethyl sulfate (EtS) in umbilical cord and placenta. These tissues are alternative matrices to meconium that offer critical advantages, such as always being available at birth with noninvasive and easy collection.

Methods

We developed and validated a method for the determination of EtG and EtS in umbilical cord and placenta. Tissues were homogenized in methanol, extracted using weak anion-exchange solid-phase extraction (SPE) and analyzed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. The umbilical cord and placenta method was applied to 59 authentic samples from newborns whose meconium samples were positive for EtG (EtG > 5 ng/g).

Results

The method in umbilical cord and placenta was fully validated, with a limit of quantification at 5 ng/g in umbilical cord and 10 ng/g in placenta for both compounds. EtG and/or EtS were detected in 25 umbilical cord samples (4.4–529 and 4.3–39 ng/g, respectively) and in 8 placenta samples (26.5–267 and 11–24.3 ng/g, respectively). EtG and EtS showed a homogenous distribution throughout umbilical cord tissue (n = 5).

Conclusions

We developed and validated a sensitive and specific method for the determination of EtG and EtS in umbilical cord and placenta. To date, this is the first method to investigate both direct metabolites of ethanol in umbilical cord and placenta samples for prenatal ethanol exposure.

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Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the Plan Nacional Sobre Drogas, Ministerio de Sanidad, Gobierno de España, grant 2016I005. E. Lendoiro would like to thank the Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria, Xunta de Galicia, for her postdoctoral contract (ED481B2016/103-0).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, 524 West 59th Street, New York, NY, 10019, USA

    Jennifer Hanna & Marta Concheiro-Guisan

  2. Sección de Toxicología, Instituto de Ciencias Forenses, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Elena Lendoiro, Ana de Castro, Angelines Cruz-Landeira & Manuel López-Rivadulla

  3. Sección de Neonatología, Complejo Hospitalario, Universitario de Vigo, Vigo, Spain

    Eva Gónzalez-Colmenero & Ana Concheiro-Guisan

  4. Sección de Ginecología y Obstetricia, Hospital Clínico, Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Patricia Peñas-Silva & Manuel Macias-Cortiña

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  1. Jennifer Hanna
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  2. Elena Lendoiro
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Correspondence to Marta Concheiro-Guisan.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain). All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Ethics Committee of the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Hanna, J., Lendoiro, E., de Castro, A. et al. Detection of in utero ethanol exposure via ethyl glucuronide and ethyl sulfate analysis in umbilical cord and placenta. Forensic Toxicol 37, 90–103 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-018-0439-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-018-0439-4

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