Selenium is an essential trace element in human health and therefore its concentration in biological samples (biofluids and tissues) is used as an indicator of health and nutritional status. In humans, selenium's biological activity occurs through the 25 identified selenoproteins. As total selenium concentration encompasses both functional selenoproteins, small selenocompounds and other selenium-binding proteins, selenium speciation, rather than total concentration, is critical in order to assess functional selenium. Previously, quantitative analysis of selenoproteins required laborious techniques that were often slow and costly. However, more recent advancements in tandem mass spectrometry have facilitated the qualitative and quantitative identification of these proteins. In light of the current alternatives for understanding selenium biochemistry, we aim to provide a review of the modern applications of electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) as an alternative to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for qualitative and quantitative selenium speciation.

中文翻译：

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扩展到ICP-MS之外，以更好地了解硒的生物化学。

硒是人类健康中必不可少的微量元素，因此，其在生物样品（生物流体和组织）中的浓度可以用作健康和营养状况的指标。在人类中，硒的生物活性通过25种已鉴定的硒蛋白发生。由于总硒浓度涵盖功能性硒蛋白，小型硒化合物和其他硒结合蛋白，因此硒形态分析而非总浓度对于评估功能性硒至关重要。以前，对硒蛋白的定量分析需要费力的技术，这些技术通常很慢且成本很高。但是，串联质谱的最新进展促进了这些蛋白质的定性和定量鉴定。