Micellar Electrokinetic Capillary Chromatography as an Alternative Method for the Determination of Estrogens

Electrochemical sensor highly selective for estradiol valerate determination based on a modified carbon paste with iron tetrapyridinoporphyrazine

This work reports the use of iron tetrapyridinoporphyrazine (FeTPyPz) as a highly selective catalyst in the construction of an electrochemical sensor for estradiol valerate (EV) determination. The sensor was prepared by modifying a carbon paste with FeTPyPz. The best results were obtained in a mixture of acetonitrile (MeCN) and 0.1 mol L(-1) phosphate buffer solution (pH 6.0) in a volume ratio of 47 : 53. A linear response range was observed between 45 and 450 micromol L(-1) with a sensitivity of 12160 +/- 306 microA L mol(-1) and quantification and detection limits of 45 and 13 micromol L(-1), respectively. The repeatability, expressed as the relative standard deviation (RSD) for n = 10, was 5.9% ([EV] = 50 micromol L(-1)). The reproducibility (RSD) for the sensor construction was better than 4% and the operational stability (RSD) over 50 measurements was 1.8%. A detailed investigation regarding the selectivity and electrochemical characteristics was carried out. Finally, in a first step to evaluate the application potential of the sensor, it was successfully applied to determine EV in a commercial formulation.

Adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetric assay of the estrogen drug ethinylestradiol in pharmaceutical formulation and human plasma at a mercury electrode

The electroreduction of ethinylestradiol at the hanging mercury drop electrode in the Britton-Robinson universal buffer of pH 2-11 was studied and its interfacial adsorptive character onto the mercury electrode surface was identified. A validated simple, rapid, sensitive, specific, precise and inexpensive square-wave voltammetric procedure is described for the determination of ethinylestradiol following its accumulation onto a hanging mercury drop electrode in a Britton-Robinson universal buffer of pH 7. The optimal procedural conditions were: accumulation potential E(acc)=-0.7 V versus Ag/AgCl/KCl(s), accumulation duration=60s, pulse-amplitude=70 mV, scan increment=10 mV and frequency=120 Hz. Limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) of 5.9x10(-10)M and 1.9x10(-9)M bulk ethinylestradiol, respectively, were achieved. The proposed procedure was successfully applied to the quantification of ethinylestradiol in pharmaceutical formulation (Ethinyl-oestradiol tablets) and in human serum and plasma without the necessity for sample pretreatments and/or time-consuming extraction or evaporation steps prior to the analysis. LOD of 8.7x10(-10)M and 3x10(-9)M and LOQ of 2.9x10(-9)M and 1x10(-8)M of ethinylestradiol were achieved in human serum and plasma, respectively.

On-line coupling of pressurized capillary electrochromatography with end-column amperometric detection for analysis of estrogens

An improved technique, pressurized capillary electrochromatography (pCEC) coupling with end-column amperometric detection (AD), was developed and used for the separation and determination of estrogens. The effects of pH value, composition of mobile phase, concentration of the surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and applied voltage on separation were investigated. The electrochemical oxidation of diethylstilbestrol (DES), dienestrol (DE), and hexestrol (HEX) could be reliably monitored with a carbon electrode at 0.9 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). The pCEC analyses were performed on a capillary separation column packed with 3 microm C18 particles with an acetonitrile/water (31%: 69%) mobile phase containing Tris buffer (5 mmol/L, pH 4.5) and 4 mmol/L SDS. High voltage up to 12 kV reduced the retention time dramatically and still provided a baseline resolution. In addition, supplementary pressure prevented bubble formation and provided reliability and reproducibility of the pCEC performance. The detection limits for the three estrogens ranged from 1.2 to 2.2x10(-7) mol/L, about 10 20-fold lower than those obtained with pCEC-UV detection. To evaluate the feasibility and reliability of this system, the proposed pCEC-AD method was further demonstrated with fish muscle samples spiked with estrogens.

Quantitative analysis of estrogens in human urine using gas chromatography/negative chemical ionisation mass spectrometry

A sensitive procedure for the determination of estrogens in urine has been developed, using enzymatic hydrolysis and ether extraction followed by capillary gas chromatography with negative chemical ionisation mass spectrometry (GC/NCI-MS) of the pentafluorobenzoyl derivatives. These derivatives were superior for GC/NCI-MS to trifluoroacetyl, heptafluorobutyl, pentadecafluorooctanoyl and perfluorotolyl derivatives, giving characteristic negative molecular ions as the base peak for each of the naturally occurring estrogens estrone, estradiol and estriol, and for the synthetic estrogen ethynylestradiol used in contraceptive pills. The method was also suitable for determination of some metabolites of estrone and estradiol. The specificity and sensitivity of the GC/NCI-MS method simplifies sample preparation. Recovery of spiked samples was in the range 84-101% for the natural estrogens based on additions to increase the concentration by 5 and 1 microg L(-1). The repeatability of the method was 1-8% for all estrogens.