Differentiation of Dihydroxylated Vitamin D Isomers Using Tandem Mass Spectrometry

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 D compounds 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D and 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. 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 D isomers that can be used to distinguish between them. Isomer-specific fragments were observed for the 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, which were clearly absent in the 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D MS/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 D compound demonstrate that the fragile OH groups were retained during fragmentation, thus enabling differentiation between the two dihydroxylated vitamin D isomers without the need for prior chromatographic separation or derivatization.