Determination of ximelagatran, melagatran and two intermediary metabolites in plasma by mixed-mode solid phase extraction and LC–MS/MS

Biological sample preparation: attempts on productivity increasing in bioanalysis

Sample preparation is an important step of any biomedical analysis. Development and validation of fast, reproducible and reliable sample preparation methods would be very helpful in increasing productivity. Except for a few direct injection methods, almost all biological samples should at least be diluted before any analysis. Sometimes dilution is not possible because of the low concentration of the target analyte in the sample, and alternative pretreatments, such as filtration, precipitation and sample clean up using different extraction methods, are needed. This review focuses on the recent achievements in the pretreatment of biological samples and investigates them in six categories (i.e., dilution, filtration/dialysis, precipitation, extraction [solid-phase extraction, liquid–liquid extraction], novel techniques [turbulent flow chromatography, immunoaffinity method, electromembrane extraction] and combined methods). Each category will be discussed according to its productivity rate and suitability for routine analysis, and the discussed methods will be compared according to the mentioned indices.

Sample treatment based on extraction techniques in biological matrices

The importance of sample preparation methods as the first stage in bioanalysis is described. In this article, the sample preparation concept and strategies will be discussed, along with the requirements for good sample preparation. The most widely used sample preparation methods in the pharmaceutical industry are presented; for example, the need for same-day rotation of results from large numbers of biological samples in pharmaceutical industry makes high throughput bioanalysis more essential. In this article, high-throughput sample preparation techniques are presented; examples are given of the extraction and concentration of analytes from biological matrices, including protein precipitation, solid-phase extraction, liquid–liquid extraction and microextraction-related techniques. Finally, the potential role of selective extraction methods, including molecular imprinted phases, is considered.

Determination of perfluorinated compounds in wastewater and river water samples by mixed hemimicelle-based solid-phase extraction before liquid chromatography–electrospray tandem mass spectrometry detection

A comparative study on the use of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-coated silica and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS)-coated alumina mixed hemimicelles-based solid-phase extraction (SPE) for the pre-concentration of six perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in environmental water samples was presented. The six analytes heptafluorobutyric acid (HFBA), perfluoroheptanic acid (PFHeA), perfluorooctanic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctanic sulfonic (PFOS), perfluorononanic acid (PFNA) and perfluorodecanic acid (PFDeA) were quantitatively retained on both sorbent materials. The cationic surfactant (CTAB adsorbed onto silica) was more appropriate for SPE of PFCs. The main factors affecting adsolubilization of PFCs including the amount of surfactant, pH of solution, sample loading volume and desorption were investigated and optimized. Concentration factor of 500 were achieved by SPE of 500 mL of several environmental water samples. The method detection limits obtained for HFBA, PFHeA, PFOA, PFOS, PFNA and PFDeA were 0.10, 0.28, 0.07, 0.20, 0.10 and 0.05 ng/L, respectively. The relative standard deviation of recoveries ranged from 2 to 8%, which indicated good method precision.