Simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate in human plasma by on‐capillary preconcentration with field‐amplified sample stacking

Advancements in Preprocessing and Analysis of Nitrite and Nitrate since 2010 in Biological Samples: A Review

As a substance present in organisms, nitrite is a metabolite of nitric oxide and can also be ingested. Nitrate is the metabolite of nitrite. Therefore, it is necessary to measure it quickly, easily and accurately to evaluate the health status of humans. Although there have been several reviews on analytical methods for non-biological samples, there have been no reviews focused on both sample preparation and analytical methods for biological samples. First, rapid and accurate nitrite measurement has significant effects on human health. Second, the detection of nitrite in biological samples is problematic due to its very low concentration and matrix interferences. Therefore, the pretreatment plus measuring methods for nitrite and nitrate obtained from biological samples since 2010 are summarized in the present review, and their prospects for the future are proposed. The treatment methods include liquid-liquid microextraction, various derivatization reactions, liquid-liquid extraction, protein precipitation, solid phase extraction, and cloud point extraction. Analytical methods include spectroscopic methods, paper-based analytical devices, ion chromatography, liquid chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, electrochemical methods, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and capillary electrophoresis. Derivatization reagents with rapid quantitative reactions and advanced extraction methods with high enrichment efficiency are also included. Nitrate and nitrate should be determined at the same time by the same analytical method. In addition, much exploration has been performed on formulating fast testing through microfluidic technology. In this review, the newest developments in nitrite and nitrate processing are a focus in addition to novel techniques employed in such analyses.

Sensitive paper-based analytical device for fast colorimetric detection of nitrite with smartphone

On-site rapid monitoring of nitrite as an assessment indicator of the environment, food, and physiological systems has drawn extensive attention. Here, electrokinetic stacking (ES) was combined with colorimetric reaction on a paper-based device (PAD) to achieve colorless nitrite detection with smartphone. In this paper, nitrite was stacked on the paper fluidic channel as a narrow band by electrokinetic stacking. Then, Griess reagent was introduced to visualize the stacking band. Under optimal conditions, the sensitivity of nitrite was 160-fold increased within 5 min. A linear response in the range of 0.075 to 1.0 μg mL^-1 (R² = 0.99) and a limit of detection (LOD) of 73 ng mL^-1 (0.86 μM) were obtained. The LOD was 10 times lower than the reported PAD, and close to that achieved by a desktop spectrophotometer. The applicability was demonstrated by nitrite detection from saliva and water with good selectivity, adding 100 times more concentrated co-ions. High recovery (91.0~108.7%) and reasonable intra-day and inter-day reproducibility (RSD < 9%) were obtained. This work shows that the sensitivity of colorless analyte detection-based colorimetric reaction can be effectively enhanced by integration of ES on a PAD. Graphical abstract Schematic of the experimental setups (left) and the corresponding images (right) of the actual portable device.

Analysis of nitrites and nitrates in hams and sausages by open-tubular capillary electrochromatography with a nanolatex-coated capillary column

In this work, a new open-tubular capillary electrochromatography (OT-CEC) method with the nanolatex-coated column was proposed for the determination of nitrites and nitrates in foodstuffs. The method was simple and repeatable as a result of avoiding the introduction of an electroosmotic flow reverse additive (such as cetyltrimethylammonium chloride) in electrophoretic buffer. The limits of quantitation were 0.89 and 1.05 mg kg⁻¹ for nitrate and nitrite, respectively, whereas the overall recoveries ranged from 94 to 103%. The developed OT-CEC method was successfully applied for 12 samples, and the residue profiles of nitrites and nitrates in hams and sausages were obtained and evaluated.

Recent advances in enhancing the sensitivity of electrophoresis and electrochromatography in capillaries and microchips (2010-2012)

CE has been alive for over two decades now, yet its sensitivity is still regarded as being inferior to that of more traditional methods of separation such as HPLC. As such, it is unsurprising that overcoming this issue still generates much scientific interest. This review continues to update this series of reviews, first published in Electrophoresis in 2007, with updates published in 2009 and 2011 and covers material published through to June 2012. It includes developments in the field of stacking, covering all methods from field amplified sample stacking and large volume sample stacking, through to isotachophoresis, dynamic pH junction and sweeping. Attention is also given to online or inline extraction methods that have been used for electrophoresis.

Contemporary sample stacking in analytical electrophoresis

Sample stacking is a term denoting a multifarious class of methods and their names that are used daily in CE for online concentration of diluted samples to enhance separation efficiency and sensitivity of analyses. The essence of these methods is that analytes present at low concentrations in a large injected sample zone are concentrated into a short and sharp zone (stack) in the separation capillary. Then the stacked analytes are separated and detected. Regardless of the diversity of the stacking electromigration methods, one can distinguish four main principles that form the bases of nearly all of them: (i) Kohlrausch adjustment of concentrations, (ii) pH step, (iii) micellar methods, and (iv) transient ITP. This contribution is a continuation of our previous reviews on the topic and brings an overview of papers published during 2010-2012 and relevant to the mentioned principles (except the last one which is covered by another review in this issue).

Dietary nitrate improves muscle but not cerebral oxygenation status during exercise in hypoxia

Exercise tolerance is impaired in hypoxia, and it has recently been shown that dietary nitrate supplementation can reduce the oxygen (O2) cost of muscle contractions. Therefore, we investigated the effect of dietary nitrate supplementation on arterial, muscle, and cerebral oxygenation status, symptoms of acute mountain sickness (AMS), and exercise tolerance at simulated 5,000 m altitude. Fifteen young, healthy volunteers participated in three experimental sessions according to a crossover study design. From 6 days prior to each session, subjects received either beetroot (BR) juice delivering 0.07 mmol nitrate/kg body wt/day or a control drink (CON). One session was in normoxia with CON (NORCON); the two other sessions were in hypoxia (11% O2), with either CON (HYPCON) or BR (HYPBR). Subjects first cycled for 20 min at 45% of peak O2 consumption (VO2peak; EX45%) and thereafter, performed a maximal incremental exercise test (EXmax). Whole-body VO2, arterial O2 saturation (%SpO2) via pulsoximetry, and tissue oxygenation index of both muscle (TOIM) and cerebral (TOIC) tissue by near-infrared spectroscopy were measured. Hypoxia per se substantially reduced VO2peak, %SpO2, TOIM, and TOIC (NORCON vs. HYPCON, P < 0.05). Compared with HYPCON, VO2 at rest and during EX45% was lower in HYPBR ( P < 0.05), whereas %SpO2 was higher ( P < 0.05). TOIM was ∼4-5% higher in HYPBR than in HYPCON both at rest and during EX45% and EXmax ( P < 0.05). TOIC as well as the incidence of AMS symptoms were similar between HYPCON and HYPBR at any time. Hypoxia reduced time to exhaustion in EXmax by 36% ( P < 0.05), but this ergolytic effect was partly negated by BR (+5%, P < 0.05). Short-term dietary nitrate supplementation improves arterial and muscle oxygenation status but not cerebral oxygenation status during exercise in severe hypoxia. This is associated with improved exercise tolerance against the background of a similar incidence of AMS.