Profile of volatile metabolites in urine by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Profiles of volatile metabolites of 150 urine samples from normal individuals and 40 samples from subjects with diabetes mellitus have been studied by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The technique involves adsorption of the urinary headspace volatiles on Tenax GC, heat desorption with helium, trapping on a cooled precolumn, and chromatography on 100-m X 0.50-mm i.d. nickel columns. Individual profiles were observed over a period of 2 months. Characteristic constituents in normal urines are 2-butanone, 2-pentanone, 4-heptanone, dimethyl disulfide, several alkyl furans, pyrrole, and carvone. In subjects with diabetes mellitus under insulin treatment, high concentrations of pyrazines, cyclohexanone, lower aliphatic alcohols, and octanols were found.