An Ussing chamber study was conducted in order to investigate the transport behavior of copper glycinate complexes through a porcine gastrointestinal membrane. Organic copper complexes such as copper tri- and tetraglycinates (GGG-Cu(II) and GGGG-Cu(II)) were used as model system. In a novel analytical approach the Ussing chamber was combined with mass spectrometry. Therefore, relevant analytical methods based on MALDI-MS and a coupling of capillary electrophoresis to ICP-MS and ESI-MS were developed for the determination of copper complexes in the mucosal and serosal half-chambers. It was found that 86.1+/-8.5% of copper triglycinate but only 20.8+/-9.9% of copper tetraglycinate penetrated the digestive membrane without modification. Furthermore, inorganic copper species were not detected but a new copper complex (m/z 442) was found to be formed in both compartments of the Ussing chamber.
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