Analysis of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine in urine using high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

8-Hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) is a widely used biomarker of oxidative stress in research related to DNA, protein damage as well as lipid peroxidation. HPLC–MS/MS with electrospray ionization (ESI) and the use of isotopically labelled 8-OHdG as an internal standard allows a simple quantification of 8-OHdG in urine samples. HPLC separation utilized the peak cutting technique and a 1.5 mm × 120 mm analytical anion exchange column. Novel method entails only minimal sample handling including the addition of a buffer and an internal standard followed by centrifugation before the samples are ready for analysis. The levels of 8-OHdG in human urine samples (n = 246) varied from 0.16 to 16.48 μg/L and the corresponding creatinine-normalized values were ranged from 0.49 to 14.27 μg of 8-OHdG/g creatinine. The correlation between the developed HPLC–MS/MS method and the existing HPLC-EC method was good with an R2 value of 0.8707.