The electroanalysis of mannitol, xylose and lactulose at copper electrodes: voltammetric studies and bioanalysis in human urine by means of HPLC with electrochemical detection

Facile preparation of nanostructured copper-coated carbon microelectrodes for amperometric sensing of carbohydrates

We report a novel method for fabricating nanostructured copper-coated carbon cylindrical fiber microelectrodes with high efficiency in carbohydrate non-enzymatic and label-free amperometric sensing in batch and flow-detection arrangements.

Modern approach for determination of lactulose, mannitol and sucrose in human urine using HPLC-MS/MS for the studies of intestinal and upper digestive tract permeability

A new analytical procedure was described for the simultaneous determination of lactulose, mannitol and sucrose in urine, in which HILIC chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry detection are used. Sugars are orally administered for the estimation of intestinal permeability in children digestive tract. Samples were purified by dispersive solid phase extraction (d-SPE) using Amberlite MB150 resin. Raffinose was selected as an internal standard. The chosen chromatographic separation was carried out on ZIC(®)-HILIC column in 10 min at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min, using mixture of acetonitrile (ACN) and ammonium acetate (NH(4)Ac) in water (H(2)O) as the mobile phase. Within-run precision (CV) measured at three concentrations was 1.08%, 0.32% and 0.49% for lactulose; 1.88%, 0.47% and 0.75% for mannitol, 2.95%, 1.31% and 0.6% for sucrose. Between-run CVs were 0.75%, 1.1% and 1.2% for lactulose; 1.1%, 1.02% and 1.01% for mannitol; 1.17%, 1.4% and 1.05% for sucrose. Analytical recovery of all three sugar probes was 95.06-99.92%. The detection limits were: 15.94 ng/mL for lactulose, 17.10 ng/mL for sucrose and 11.48 ng/mL for mannitol. The proposed method is rapid, simple, sensitive and suitable for the determination of intestinal permeability of the sugar derivatives in children.

Analysis of four alkaloids of Coptis chinensis in rat plasma by high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection

A sensitive and precise high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-electrochemical detection (ECD) method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of four isoquinoline alkaloids including berberine, jatrorrhizine, coptisine and palmatine in Chinese medicine Coptis chinensis. The typical HPLC analysis was performed on WondaSil(®) C18-WR column (250×4.6 mm, 5 μm) with the mobile phase comprising 40 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0)-acetonitrile (40:60, v/v) at the flow rate of 0.8 mL min(-1). The electrochemical detection employed a three electrode system with a bare glassy carbon electrode at +1.3 V versus the Ag/AgCl reference electrode. The limits of detection (LODs) of four alkaloids ranged from 0.01 to 0.03 μmol L(-1) and the LOD of berberine was 80 times lower than LOD obtained by UV detection. The rat plasma samples were assayed after oral administration of the traditional Chinese medicine Coptis chinensis by the proposed HPLC-ECD method. The recoveries of this method were ranging from 88.0 to 116%, with the relative standard deviation lower than 3.1% for intra-day precision and 5.7% for inter-day precision. These results show that HPLC-ECD is a useful tool for the quality control of herbal medicine Coptis chinensis and also for pharmacokinetic studies.

Simultaneous measurement of urinary polyols using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

In the present study, we simultaneously measured several polyols, such as adonitol, arabitol, dulcitol, glucose, myo-inositol, mannitol, sorbitol, and xylitol, in urine by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry-positive chemical ionization. We also examined possible relationship between the levels of these metabolites and age in normal individuals. In order to proceed to its quantification by GC/MS, 200 microL of a urine sample were diluted with 3 ml of distilled water, lyophilized, acetylated, and then analyzed them. Using this method, we were able to quantify as little as 0.5-1.0 ng/microL, and we made the calibration curves to be linear from 0.25 to 250 ng/microL (r(2)>0.991). Analytical recoveries were over 89.4%, and the inter-day and intra-day variability for accuracy and reproducibility was less than 20%. In the normal urine sample, the levels of polyols were gender-differentiated and age-related. This simple GC/MS method is sensitive and allows the measurement of wide ranges of polyols using small amounts of urine. We conclude that the quantitation of urinary polyols using GC/MS appears to be a clinically useful method for assessing polyol-pathway activity.

Analysis of mannitol in pharmaceutical formulations using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography with evaporative light-scattering detection

This study demonstrates the use of hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) for the separation of both active and inactive ingredients in pharmaceuticals from a single injection. Excipients commonly used in parenteral formulations were separated using a gradient method employing increasing aqueous composition. An evaporative light-scattering detector (ELSD) provided direct detection of inactive excipients and inorganic salts lacking UV chromophores. Analyses of Gemzar parenteral formulations using optimized isocratic HILIC-ELSD method conditions were performed based on retention time screening from the gradient assay. All of the components were efficiently separated using a TSK-Gel Amide 80 column including gemcitabine, mannitol, and sodium cation demonstrating the qualitative capability of the technique. The method was thoroughly validated for mannitol content to access the quantitative potential of the technique. Validation parameters included linearity, accuracy, specificity, solution stability, repeatability, and intermediate precision. Overall, the method described in this report proved to be very robust and represents a novel technique to conveniently separate and detect the active and inactive components in pharmaceuticals both quickly and accurately.

Electro-deposit polyaniline on carbon electrode for voltammetric detection of lipase

Normally, the pancreatic digestive enzymes are created and carried into the duodenum in an inactive form. During pancreatitis attacks, these enzymes are inhibited from reaching the duodenum, become activated while still in the pancreas, and begin to autodigest and destroy the pancreas. In order to accurately detect lipase within seconds, a square wave technique was explored without immobilizing enzyme and any other biomolecules over the electrode surface. The cyclic voltammetric (CV) technique was used to coat a carbon electrode with a thin layer of polyaniline. This modified electrode proved to be highly sensitive and specific to detect lipase between 0 and 225 IU/L, which is well within the normal physiological range. The consistency and reliability of this technique proved to be a very formidable detector of lipase present in abnormal quantities due to pancreatitis and other pathological disorders. The interference test has been performed to detect the lipase in the presence of amylase 50, 100, and 150 IU/L to understand the interference phenomenon with lipase detection. There is no significant effect of the amylase concentration over lipase detection resulting from using a modified carbon electrode. The response time of the modified carbon electrode is approximately 5s and the electrode has shown to be stable for 4 weeks at room temperature without special storage condition.

Studies on intestinal permeability of cirrhotic patients by analysis lactulose and mannitol in urine with HPLC/RID/MS

The method for separation and determination of lactulose (L) and mannitol (M) in urine was developed by HPLC with a refractive index detector (RID). The linearity ranged from 5 to 1000 microg/mL for L and M, respectively. Recoveries ranged from 93.1% to 97.1%. The intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations of peak area were between 0.8-1.4% (n=3) and 1.4-3.6% (n=3). The limits of detection were obtained with 1.40 microg/mL for L and 1.65 microg/mL for M. The ratios of L/M in the urine samples for the spontaneous ascitic fluid infection (SAI), sterile ascitic fluid (SA) patients, and healthy volunteers (HV) were determined. The results showed well the correlations among the L/M ratio, intestinal permeability (IP) and the illness status of patients, and also indicated lactulose could improve the IP of SAI patients. The peaks of L and M in chromatograms were identified by electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry (ESI/MS), which ensured the accurate measurement of the ratio L/M. This method presented a rapid, accurate, and practical technique for determining IP in clinical practice and investigating the pathology of hepatocirrhosis.