Capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductometric detection for rapid screening of formate in blood serum after methanol intoxication

Integration of glutathione disulfide-mediated extraction and capillary electrophoresis for determination of Cd(II) and Pb(II) in edible oils

A novel method is introduced for extracting and enriching Cd(II) and Pb(II) from edible oils using glutathione disulfide (GSSG) as both an extractant and a phase-separation agent. The ions in the oils were initially extracted into an aqueous solution containing GSSG. After mixing the solution with acetonitrile at the appropriate volume ratio, a new phase formed, resulting in enrichment of the analytes. The experimental conditions were optimized using response surface methodology with a central composite design. Under optimal conditions, the method offered a combined enrichment factor of >660, with combined extraction efficiencies of 84.31% and 83.35% for Cd(II) and Pb(II), respectively. Finally, the method was conjugated to capillary electrophoresis to determine Cd(II) and Pb(II) in edible oil samples, with detection limits of 0.45 and 1.24 ppb, respectively. In comparison to traditional approaches, the GSSG-based method demonstrates rapidity, efficiency, and recyclability in extracting heavy metal ions from complex matrices.

Application of capillary electrophoresis with capacitively contactless conductivity detection for biomedical analysis

The coupling of capillary electrophoresis (CE) with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C4 D) has become convenient analytical method for determination of small molecules that do not possess chromogenic or fluorogenic group. The implementations of CE with C4 D in the determination of inorganic and organic ions and amino acids in biomedical field are demonstrated. Attention on background electrolyte composition, sample treatment procedures, and the utilize of multi-detection systems are described. A number of tables summarizing highly developed CE-C4 D methods and the figures of merit attained are involved. Lastly, concluding remarks and perspectives are argued.

Progress in on-line, at-line, and in-line coupling of sample treatment with capillary and microchip electrophoresis over the past 10 years: A review

The review presents an evaluation of the development of on-line, at-line and in-line sample treatment coupled with capillary and microchip electrophoresis over the last 10 years. In the first part, it describes different types of flow-gating interfaces (FGI) such as cross-FGI, coaxial-FGI, sheet-flow-FGI, and air-assisted-FGI and their fabrication using molding into polydimethylsiloxane and commercially available fittings. The second part deals with the coupling of capillary and microchip electrophoresis with microdialysis, solid-phase, liquid-phase, and membrane based extraction techniques. It mainly focuses on modern techniques such as extraction across supported liquid membrane, electroextraction, single drop microextraction, head space microextraction, and microdialysis with high spatial and temporal resolution. Finally, the design of sequential electrophoretic analysers and fabrication of SPE microcartridges with monolithic and molecularly imprinted polymeric sorbents are discussed. Applications include the monitoring of metabolites, neurotransmitters, peptides and proteins in body fluids and tissues to study processes in living organisms, as well as the monitoring of nutrients, minerals and waste compounds in food, natural and wastewater.

Sensitive and Facile HCOOH Fluorescence Sensor Based on Highly Active Ir Complexes’ Catalytic Transfer Hydrogen Reaction

With several major polarity and weak optical properties, the sensitive detection of HCOOH remains a major challenge. Given the special role of HCOOH in assisting in the catalytic hydrogenation process of Ir complexes, HCOOH (as a hydrogen source) could rapidly activate Ir complexes as catalysts and further reduce the substrates. This work developed a facile and sensitive HCOOH fluorescence sensor utilizing an optimal catalytic fluorescence generation system, which consists of the phenyl-pyrazole-type Ir-complex PP-Ir-Cl and the coumarin-type fluorescence probe P-coumarin. The sensor demonstrates excellent sensitivity and specificity for HCOOH and formates; the limits of detection for HCOOH, HCOONa, and HCOOEt₃N were tested to be 50.6 ppb, 68.0 ppb, and 146.0 ppb, respectively. Compared to previous methods, the proposed sensor exhibits good detection accuracy and excellent sensitivity. Therefore, the proposed HCOOH sensor could be used as a new detection method for HCOOH and could provide a new design path for other sensors.

Sub-Minute Analysis of Lactate from a Single Blood Drop Using Capillary Electrophoresis with Contactless Conductivity Detection in Monitoring of Athlete Performance

A simple and fast method for the analysis of lactate from a single drop of blood was developed. The finger-prick whole blood sample (10 µL) was diluted (1:20) with a 7% (w/v) solution of [tris(hydroxymethyl)methylamino] propanesulfonic acid and applied to a blood plasma separation device. The device accommodates a membrane sandwich composed of an asymmetric polysulfone membrane and a supporting textile membrane that allows the collection of blood plasma into a narrow glass capillary in less than 20 s. Separated and simultaneously diluted blood plasma was directly injected into a capillary electrophoresis instrument with a contactless conductivity detector (CE-C⁴D) and analyzed in less than one minute. A separation electrolyte consisted of 10 mmol/L l-histidine, 15 mmol/L dl-glutamic acid, and 30 µmol/L cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. The whole procedure starting from the finger-prick sampling until the CE-C⁴D analysis was finished, took less than 5 min and was suitable for monitoring lactate increase in blood plasma during incremental cycling exercise. The observed lactate increase during the experiments measured by the developed CE-C⁴D method correlated well with the results from a hand-held lactate analyzer (R = 0.9882). The advantage of the developed CE method is the speed, significant savings per analysis, and the possibility to analyze other compounds from blood plasma.

Application of Capillary Electrophoresis with Capacitively Coupled Contactless Conductivity Detection (CE-C4D): 2017-2020

Capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C⁴D) has emerged as influential to detect analytes that do not have chromogenic or fluorogenic functional group. Since our last review several new capillary electrophoresis (CE) methods coupled with (CE-C⁴D) have been communicated. The aim of this review is to give an update of the almost all the new applications of CE-C⁴D in the field of pharmaceutical, food and biomedical analysis covering the period from 2017 to April 2020. The utilization of CE with C⁴D in the areas of pharmaceutical, food and biomedical analysis is presented. Finally, concluding remarks and outlooks are discussed.

Portable capillary electrophoresis instrument with contactless conductivity detection for on-site analysis of small volumes of biological fluids

A novel, easy to use and portable capillary electrophoretic instrument for injection of small volumes of biological fluids equipped with contactless conductivity detection was constructed. The instrument is lightweight (<5 kg), all necessary parts including a tablet computer are accommodated in a plastic briefcase with dimensions 20 cm × 33 cm × 17 cm (w × l × h), allows hydrodynamic injection of small sample volumes and can continuously operate for at least 10 hours. The semi-automated hydrodynamic sample injection is accomplished via a specially designed PMMA interface that is able to repeatedly inject sample aliquots from a sample volume as low as 10 μL, with repeatability of peak areas below 5%. The developed interface and the instrument were optimized for the injection of biological fluids. Practical utility was demonstrated on the determination of formate in blood serum samples from acute methanol intoxication patients and on the analysis of ionic profile (nitrosative stress markers, including nitrite and nitrate) in the exhaled breath condensate from one single exhalation.

Sodium formate induces autophagy and apoptosis via the JNK signaling pathway of photoreceptor cells

Incidents associated with methanol intoxication resulting from the consumption of fake wine occur not infrequently worldwide. Certain individuals are made blind due to methanol poisoning. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of sodium formate exposure on photoreceptor cells (661W cells). The 661W cells were exposed to sodium formate for 6–24 h and cell viability was determined using a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Subsequently, the 661W cells were exposed to 15 or 30 mM sodium formate for 24 h. The level of apoptosis was determined using Hoechst 33342/propidium iodide staining, visualizing the cells under a fluorescence microscope, and annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate staining, using flow cytometric analysis. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured using 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) staining, followed by flow cytometric analysis. Autophagy of the 661W cells was measured by monodansylcadaverine staining. The activation of phosphorylated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (p-JNK), B-cell lymphoma (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X protein, cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-9 and microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3 (LC3) was assessed by western blotting. The effects of Z-VAD-fmk (a pan-caspase inhibitor) and SP600125 (a JNK inhibitor) on the viability of the sodium formate-induced 661W cells were determined using an MTT assay. Sodium formate treatment induced a decrease in the viability of the 661W cells in a time- and a dose-dependent manner. In addition, sodium formate at concentrations of 15 or 30 mM markedly increased the level of apoptosis and the ROS levels, as measured by DCFH-DA staining of the 661W cells. Additionally, 661W cells exposed to sodium formate for 24 h exhibited increased levels of p-JNK, Bax, cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-9 and LC3II (the phosphatidylethanolamine-modified form of LC3), although the level of Bcl-2 was decreased. Furthermore, cell cytotoxicity and autophagy were induced upon treatment with sodium formate. Z-VAD-fmk and SP600125 were able to effectively circumvent the effects of sodium formate on cell viability. These results suggested that the cytotoxicity induced by sodium formate induces the activation of the JNK signaling pathway, leading to caspase-dependent apoptosis. Increased levels of autophagy were also observed during the process of 661W cell damage induced by sodium formate.