Development of innovative chromatography-mass spectrometry analytical methods for the qualitative and quantitative determination of target analytes in complex matrices

The present thesis deals with the development of chromatography-mass spectrometry analytical methods for the analysis of target molecules in complex matrices. These compounds have different applications, ranging from nutraceutical to pharmaceutical or archaeological. Generally, the main aim was to provide accurate quantification of one or several analytes within real samples and then, in order to fulfil the requested standards, several efforts have been put on the development and validation of specific analytical methods, suitable for the system under investigation. The developed methods proved to be able to face the analytical challenges raised by the presence of complex matrices able to interfere with the accuracy of the result and the data interpretation. During the first year of PhD, my research focused on the analysis of glucosinolates, compounds occurring in the plants of Brassica order. Glucosinolate metabolism leads to compounds called isothiocyanates, known for their anticancer activity. Glucosinolates and isothiocyanates are compounds of strong interest for nutraceutical applications and functional food development, while their analysis is important for the evaluation of the product quality, especially in terms of available amount and stability. Another important project involved the in vivo evaluation of the biodistribution and metabolism of obeticholic acid in a cirrhosis induced rat model. Considering that obeticholic acid has been recently approved for the treatment of cirrhosis, the importance of this study resides in the necessity to assess a safety profile in case of administration to patients with liver diseases, where dangerous accumulation or unexpected metabolites might occur as consequence of the liver impairment. During my third year of PhD, I worked on the target analysis of different lipid classes in archaeological samples. The determination of specific biomarkers in archaeological finds, indeed, is important because it can address historical questions about past diets, ancient practices, but also vessel production and related use.