Quality management of preanalytical phase: impact of lithium heparin vacuum tubes changes on clinical chemistry tests

The validation process is essential in accredited laboratory medicine, but is rarely regarded as an issue in the preanalytical management. The aim of this study was to validate five kinds of lithium heparin vacuum tubes for routine clinical chemistry laboratory testing. Blood specimens from 100 volunteers in five different plasma vacuum tubes (Tube I: VACUETTE^®, Tube II: LABOR IMPORT^®, Tube III: S-Monovette^®, Tube IV: PST^® and Tube V: PST II^®) were collected by a single expert phlebotomist. The routine clinical chemistry tests were performed on a Cobas^® 6000 <c501> module. The significance of the differences between samples was statistically assessed at p < 0.005. The biases from the different tubes were compared with the current desirable quality specifications. Basically, significant differences could be confirmed by RM ANOVA for the results of the clinical chemistry tests on the following components: glucose, urea, creatinine, alkaline phosphatase, amylase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, total bilirubin, phosphate, Ca, Mg, Fe and K. Clinically significant variations as compared with the current desirable quality specifications were found for glucose, creatinine, amylase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, Ca, Mg and K. In conclusion, our results do not support arbitrary interchange among brands of plasma vacuum tubes. Future investigations are needed to understand the reasons of these observations; in the meantime, we suggest that laboratory managers standardize the procedures and frequently evaluate the quality of in vitro diagnostic devices.     

SPE for Endo- and Exo-Iohexol Analysis with HPLC in Canine Serum and Rat Urine

A new solid-phase extraction, using LiChrolut^® EN cartridges, was developed and validated as sample preparation for analysis of the iodinated contrast medium iohexol in canine serum and rat urine. Samples were further analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and UV detection at 246 nm. Iohexol ((±)-N,N′-Bis (2,3-dihydroxypropyl)-5-[N-(2,3-dihydroxypropyl)-acetamido]-2,4,6-triiodisophthalamid, trade name Omnipaque^®) consists of the two isomers endo- and exo-iohexol. Excellent separation of these isomers could be achieved with the C30 column (Prontosil^®200, 250 × 4.6 mm, pore size 5 μm). A multistep gradient elution was followed, using methanol and a phosphate buffer at pH 7.4 (15 mM dipotassium hydrogen phosphate trihydrate and 1.5 mM tetrabutylammonium chloride) and a flow rate of 1 mL min^?1. Validation of the method showed good sensitivity, reproducibility, and precision. The analysis was linear from 20 to 200 μg mL^?1. Recovery rates for serum samples ranged from 73.6 to 82.6%. For urine samples, recovery rates of 77.0–83.1% were observed. Throughout sample preparation and HPLC-UV analysis, the contrast medium sodium diatrizoate dihydrate served as a control substance.     

Validation of <Superscript>239,240</Superscript>Pu, <Superscript>238</Superscript>Pu separation method using molecular recognition product AnaLig<Superscript>®</Superscript> Pu02 gel and extraction chromatography TRU<Superscript>®</Superscript> resin

Two separation techniques for plutonium determination using AnaLig^® Pu02 molecular recognition technology product (MRT) and extraction chromatography TRU^® resin were tested. The methods performance was investigated by analysis of National Physical Laboratory (NPL-Alpha-Beta High, ABH 2003, 2005) intercomparison test samples. The results obtained for both procedures were compared in terms of activities and recoveries. Data analysis showed good agreement with the reference values. The AnaLig^® Pu02 separation method for ^239,240Pu, ²³⁸Pu determination was successfully validated with the same performance as the TRU^® resin method.     

Validation of <Superscript>90</Superscript>Sr separation method using molecular recognition product AnaLig<Superscript>®</Superscript> Sr01 gel and extraction chromatography Sr<Superscript>®</Superscript> resin

Two separation techniques for strontium determination using AnaLig^® Sr01 molecular recognition technology and extraction chromatography Sr^®  resin were tested. The methods performance was investigated by analysis of NPL (High Alpha–Beta 2003) intercomparison sample. The results obtained for both procedures were compared in terms of activities and recoveries. Data analysis proved a good agreement with the reference values. The AnaLig^® Sr01 separation method for ⁹⁰Sr determination was successfully validated with the same performance as the Sr^® resin method.     

A new method for the determination of plutonium and americium using high pressure microwave digestion and alpha-spectrometry or ICP-SMS

Plutonium and americium are radionuclides particularly difficult to measure in environmental samples because they are α-emitters and therefore necessitate a careful separation before any measurement, either using radiometric methods or ICP-SMS. Recent developments in extraction chromatography resins such as Eichrom^® TRU and TEVA have resolved many of the analytical problems but drawbacks such as low recovery and spectral interferences still occasionally occur. Here, we report on the use of the new Eichrom^® DGA resin in association with TEVA resin and high pressure microwave acid leaching for the sequential determination of plutonium and americium in environmental samples. The method results in average recoveries of 83 ± 15% for plutonium and 73 ± 22% for americium (n = 60), and a less than 10% deviation from reference values of four IAEA reference materials and three samples from intercomparisons exercises. The method is also suitable for measuring ²³⁹Pu in water samples at the μBq/l level, if ICP-SMS is used for the measurement.     

Ion Chromatographic Analysis of Monosaccharides and Disaccharides in Raw Sugar

A simple and effective method using ion chromatography was developed for the simultaneous determination of five monosaccharides (arabinose, glucose, fructose, xylose, and ribose) and two disaccharides (sucrose and lactose) in raw sugar samples. The separation was performed on a CarboPac PA 10 column using the gradient elution of sodium hydroxide and water as the mobile phase. Monosaccharides and disaccharides were detected by an integrated pulsed amperometric detection (IPAD) using gold working electrode. Acid hydrolysis was used for sample preparation before the analysis of glucose and fructose. All the studied sugars showed good linear ranges within 0.5–100 µg mL⁻¹ with the correlation coefficients higher than 0.997. The limits of detection were all less than 0.5 µg mL⁻¹. The RSDs of the method were less than 10 %. The recoveries of the sugars that spiked in raw sugar samples ranged from 96.1 to 102.4 %. The method was successfully applied for the analysis of sugars in raw sugar samples. Sucrose is the major constituent found in the samples at 97 %.

     

A Simple and Sensitive LC–MS/MS Method for Simultaneous Determination of Temsirolimus and Its Major Metabolite in Human Whole Blood

A simple, fast and sensitive LC–MS/MS method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of the concentrations of temsirolimus and its major metabolite, sirolimus, in human whole blood. The blood sample (100 μL) after adding temsirolimus-d7 and sirolimus-d3 internal standards was precipitated with 0.200 mL of methanol/0.300 M zinc sulfate (70/30, v/v), then analyzed by a Shimatzu LC system coupled to a Sciex API-5000 mass spectrometer. The chromatographic separation was carried out on a BDS Hypersil C8 column (50 × 3.0 mm, 5 μm) at 50 °C with a mobile phase composed of methanol/water/formic acid (72/28/0.1) (v/v/v) containing 2.50 mM ammonium acetate. Mass spectrometric detection was performed using electrospray positive ionization with multiple reaction monitoring mode. This method was validated from 0.250 to 100 ng mL⁻¹ for temsirolimus and 0.100 to 40.0 ng mL⁻¹ for sirolimus. The lower limits of quantitation were 0.25 ng mL⁻¹ for temsirolimus and 0.1 ng mL⁻¹ for sirolimus. The intra-day and inter-day precisions (CV %) of spiked quality control (QC) samples were less than 10.4 and 9.6 %, respectively. The accuracies as determined by the relative error for QC samples were less than 12.1 % for intra-day and 7.3 % for inter-day. No significant matrix effect was observed. This method has been successfully applied to analyze clinical pharmacokinetic study samples. The assay reproducibility was also demonstrated by using incurred samples.

     

A candidate reference measurement procedure for Cyclosporine A in whole blood

Monitoring of Cyclosporine A (CsA) concentrations in whole blood is widely performed due to the narrow therapeutic index of the drug. Required standardisation for routine analysis of CsA is still missing. The candidate reference measurement procedure presented here is designated for the assignment of CsA values in hemolysed blood associated with expanded measurement uncertainty. Separate stock solutions for calibration and control materials were prepared by spiking hemolysed blood with CsA under gravimetric control. The essential sample pretreatment step was protein precipitation. Analysis was performed using isotope dilution LC-MS/MS with online solid phase extraction. Interference by matrix components was investigated. Using [²H₄]-CsA as the internal standard, no interference from the investigated matrices were detected. Measurement repeatability using three pools of whole blood as samples revealed coefficients of variation (CV) ranging from 1.0 % to 1.6 %. Intermediate measurement precision was determined by repeated analysis of self-prepared control materials taken from different stock solutions of pooled whole blood. CVs were between 0.8 % and 2.4 %. Measurement accuracy was checked using three control materials prepared from three different stock solutions. The recoveries of the mean of mean values obtained on four measurement days ranged from 99.4 % to 101.3 %. The combined expanded uncertainty of measurement based on 5 days of measurement and was evaluated according to the GUM as U = 2.0 % (k = 2).     

Determination of Carbamazepine in Pharmaceutical Dosage Form Using GC-FID

The present work describes the methodology and validation of gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID) for the determination of carbamazepine with internal standard (diazepam) in pharmaceutical preparations. The method was linear from 2–30 μg mL⁻¹. The RSD values for precision was less than 9%, accuracy (relative error) was better than 11% (n = 6). The developed method was successfully applied for the assay of pharmaceutical dosage forms which do not require any preliminary separation or treatment of the samples. The RSD values for Tegretol^® tablets (200 mg) and Karberol^® tablets (200 mg) was found to be 4.03 and 3.25%, respectively. The results obtained from this method were compared with the reference method (LC) reported in literature and no significant difference was found statistically.

     

Automated Method for the Total Creatinine Determination in Dehydrated Broths

Abstract

In order to improve the quality control of dehydrated broth, a new automated method was developed to determine total creatinine in dehydrated broths. The sample pretreatment was coupled on‐line with the Flow Injection Analysis (FIA) system for analyte determination by the classical Jaffé reaction, stopped flow methodology, and spectrophotometric detection. The time consumed was reduced from 7 h, which is necessary with the official method, to 25 min. The calibration graph is linear between 0.342–1.368 mg creatinine/100 mL. The relative standard deviation (RSD%) was 1.7%, the sample throughput was 7 h^?1, and the detection limit was 0.185 mg creatinine/100 mL. The validation of the proposed method was carried out with real samples. The obtained results were compared with those obtained from the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) reference method.     

Evaluation of ammonium fluoride for quantitative microwave-assisted extraction of silicon and boron from different solid samples

A novel, simple, efficient and environmentally friendly closed-microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) method of silicon and boron from a variety of industrial and environmental samples using ammonium fluoride as an extractant was developed. This method avoids handling the corrosive and toxic HF and prevents the potential risk of analyte loss due to the creation of volatile SiF₄ and BF₃ in the presence of HF. Atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry were employed for the subsequent analysis of the resulting supernatant for determination of Si and B, respectively. Certified reference material BCR^®-032 Natural Moroccan Phosphate Rock (phosphate fertiliser) was taken to optimise the extraction parameters such as the sample amount, extraction temperature and time and the volume of the extractant. The optimum extraction parameters evaluated using a fractional factorial design were as follows: 50 mg of the sample extracted with 5 mL of 100 g L^?1 NH₄ F for 15 min at 180°C. The optimised MAE procedure was successfully applied to nine different matrix reference materials intended primarily for validation of methods for determination of components in fertilisers, sludge, plants and fly ash. The obtained results were in a good agreement with the certified or comparative values with an overall precision better than 10% in all cases. The proposed method is recommended for fast and reliable preparation of samples with silicon content <8.2% (w/w). However, further decreasing the sample mass to 10 mg enabled the quantitative extraction of silicon from fly ashes at levels of 23% (w/w).     

Identification of Acepromazine and Its Metabolites in Horse Plasma and Urine by LC–MS/MS and Accurate Mass Measurement

Acepromazine maleate (Sedalin^®) was administered orally to six thoroughbred horses at a dose of 0.15 mg kg⁻¹. Urine and blood samples were collected up to 412 h post-administration. Plasma and urine were hydrolysed; plasma samples were then processed using liquid–liquid extraction and urine samples using solid-phase extraction. A sensitive tandem mass spectrometric method was developed in this study, achieving a lower limit of quantification for acepromazine of 10 pg mL⁻¹ in plasma and 100 pg mL⁻¹ in urine. Acepromazine, hydroxyethylpromazine, hydroxyacepromazine, hydroxyethylpromazine sulphoxide, hydroxyethylhydroxypromazine, dihydroxyacepromazine and dihydroxyhydroxyethylpromazine were detected in the post-administration samples. The parent drug and its metabolites were identified using a combination of UPLC–MS/MS and accurate mass measurement. Separation of the structural isomers hydroxyethylpromazine sulphoxide and hydroxyethylhydroxypromazine was another significant outcome of this work and demonstrated the advantages to be gained from investing in chromatographic method development.

     

Determination of Orciprenaline Using a Flow Injection Analysis System with Sequential Potentiometric and Spectrophotometric Detection

Abstract

This work describes an attempt to have a flow injection analysis (FIA) system for Orciprenaline with potentiometric and spectrophotometric detectors working sequentially. The potentiometric detection was performed using an orciprenaline ion-selective electrode made of orciprenaline ion-associate with phosphotungstic acid incorporated in a PVC matrix membrane, followed by sequential spectrophotometric detection of the same sample using the reaction of orciprenaline with phosphomolybdic acid in alkaline medium and measurement at 670 nm using a USB2000 fiber-optic spectrophotometer. The method was applied and validated for the assay of different samples that are 1.0 × 10^?2–1.0 × 10^?7 M orciprenaline, and the recovery values for Alupent® tablets, plasma and urine sample ranged from 99.39–100.93, 99.87–100.57, and 98.83–100.64 respectively for the potentiometric detector and 99.66–100.58, 99.78–100.69 and 99.12–100.92 respectively for the sequential spectrophotometric detector. It was found that using the double detection system compensated for both the unselectivity of the spectrophotometric method and the low detection limit of the potentiometric method (6.3 × 10^?4 M). Although two detectors were used in the measurements, the method is still very simple to design and apply, in addition to being rapid and less expensive than other more sophisticated techniques applied in the literature and can therefore be used for other pharmaceutical compounds as well.     

LC Determination and Pharmacokinetic Study of Gemfibrozil in Human Plasma

A simple and sensitive LC method for the quantitative determination of gemfibrozil in human plasma samples is described. Mometasone furoate was used as the internal standard. Plasma samples were pretreated by protein precipitation using methanol. Separation was performed at 40 °C on a YMC^® ODS-A reverse phase column (5 μm particle size, 150 mm × 4.6 mm i.d.) using 0.2% (v/v) triethylamine in water (adjusting to pH 4.0 with phosphoric acid) and acetonitrile (45:55, v/v) as mobile phase which was delivered at 1.5 mL min^?1. Ultraviolet detection was performed at 230 nm. The linear concentration range for gemfibrozil was 0.25–50 μg mL^?1. The detection limit of this method was 0.1 μg mL^?1. Intra- and inter-assay RSD ranged from 0.63 to 2.04% and 1.37 to 4.27%, respectively. The method was sensitive, simple and repeatable enough to be used in pharmacokinetic studies.     

Enzymes Immobilized on a Tubular Reactor for Fast Amperometric Determination of Glucose in Brazilian Honey

Abstract

Glucose present in honey was rapidly determined by the differential amperometric method using two tubular reactors containing glucose oxidase and peroxidase. The linear dynamic range extends from 5 × 10^?5 to 2 × 10^?4mol L^?1, at pH 7.0. At flow rate of 1.5 mL min^?1 and injecting 150-µL sample volumes, a sampling frequency of the 33 determinations per hour is afforded. The reproducibility of the methods showed a relative standard deviation (RSD) < 4%. The detection limit of this method is 1.7 × 10^?5 mol L^?1. The samples analyses were compared with the parallel spectrophotometric determination.     

Development of carbon paste electrode modified with cadmium ion-imprinted polymer for selective voltammetric determination of Cd2+

A simple and fast voltammetric method based on a new electrode composed of carbon paste electrode/bifunctional hybrid ion imprinted polymer (CPE/IIP) was developed for the quantification of Cd²⁺ in water samples. The voltammetric measurements by Differential Pulse Voltammetry were performed by using CPE containing 11.0 mg of IIP under phosphate buffer solution at concentration 0.1 mol L^?1 and pH 6.5. The electrochemical method was carried out by Cd²⁺ preconcentration at ?1.2 V during 210 s, followed by anodic stripping. The performance of IIP towards Cd²⁺ determination was evaluated by comparison to non-imprinted polymer, whose detectability of IIP was much higher (45%). The sensitivity of the sensor was found to be 0.0105 µA/µg L^?1. The limits of detection and limits of quantification were found to be 4.95 μg L^?1 and 16.4 μg L^?1, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied to Cd²⁺ determination in mineral, tap and lake water samples, whose results are in agreement with thermospray flame furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (TS-FF-AAS) used as reference analytical technique. According to achieved results, the developed method can be used for routine analysis of quality control of water samples from different sources.     

Certification of the mass fractions of Pt, Pd and Rh in a used car catalyst reference material

The high economic value of catalysts containing the platinum group elements platinum, rhodium and palladium as active components causes the need to be able to measure the precious metal loading with small uncertainty and to have suitable certified reference materials fulfilling high demands on the quality of the certified values. In European Reference Material ERM^®-EB504, a used cordierite-based car catalyst material, mass fractions of platinum, palladium and rhodium were certified. The raw material was milled, homogenised and annealed before analysis. Seventeen laboratories experienced in precious metals analysis participated in the certification interlaboratory comparison, most of them analysing with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry using different sample pretreatment techniques. Homogeneity testing was carried out using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The certified mass fractions of Pt, Pd and Rh and their expanded uncertainties (k = 2) in ERM^®-EB504 are (1777 ± 15), (279 ± 6) and (338 ± 4) mg/kg respectively.     

LC-MS-MS Method for Simultaneous Determination of Icariin and Its Active Metabolite Icariside II in Human Plasma

An LC-MS-MS method was revised and validated for simultaneous determination of icariin and its active metabolite icariside II in human plasma. The analytes and daidzein (IS) were extracted by liquid–liquid extraction and analyzed by LC-MS-MS. The separation was performed by a Zorbax SB-C₁₈ column (3.5 μm, 2.1 × 100 mm) with an isocratic mobile phase consisting of methanol–water–formic acid (65:35:0.035, v/v/v) at a flow rate of 0.25 mL min^?1. Detection was performed on a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrum by multiple reaction monitoring mode using the electrospray ionization technique in positive mode. The method had lower limits of quantitation 0.2 and 0.1 ng mL^?1 for icariin and icariside II, respectively, using 500 μL plasma sample. The linear calibration curves were obtained in the concentration range of 0.2–100 ng mL^?1 for icariin and 0.1–100 ng mL^?1 for icariside II. The RSD values of intra- and inter-day precision calculated from quality control (QC) samples were less than 7.2% for icariin and less than 6.5% for icariside II. The accuracy as determined from QC samples was within 3.8% for each analyte. The method has been applied to determine and evaluate the pharmacokinetic of icariin and its metabolite icariside II in volunteers following oral administration of icariin and extract of Epimedium, respectively.     

Non-volatile organic analysis of uranium ore concentrates

In support of nuclear safeguards and non-proliferation efforts, Oak Ridge National Laboratory is responsible for characterizing uranium ore concentrate (UOC) samples obtained from two ore mining and milling sites. A sorptive extraction method has been developed for analysis of non-volatile organic compounds that might be used to identify characteristics of the purification process by which uranium was separated from these ores. This method utilizes Gerstel Twister^® stir bars coated with polydimethylsiloxane to extract organic components from aqueous media. A slurry of UOC is extracted with the Twister^® stir bar in 20 % methanol/80 % water containing deuterated internal hydrocarbon standards. Following extraction of non-volatile organics, the Twister^® stir bar is analyzed directly in the inlet of a gas chromatograph fitted with a quadrupole mass spectrometric detector. Results have been consistent and have shown excellent recoveries of internal standards, with the average recovery being 97.5 %. Both qualitative and quantitative differences have been identified between the two sources of UOC utilizing this method. One source contained an increased concentration of amines which commonly are used in the recovery and purification of ores. Amines that were identified in this UOC source include dioctylamine, triisoctylamine, and Alamine^® 336, a common industrial complexant. Also, when comparing both sources, the same UOC source contained various decanol and C20 compounds. Based on the results from this study, non-volatile organic analysis of UOC using sorptive extraction with Twister^® stir bars and GC–MS is a tool that can be used to facilitate sourcing of unknown UOC.     

Rapid Determination of Polar and Non-Polar Pesticides in Human Serum, Using Mixed-Mode C-C18 Monolithic Spin Column Extraction and LC–MS/MS

Organophosphates and carbamates are pesticides whose acute toxicities are caused by inhibition of acetylcholinesterase. A liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the quantification of 16 organophosphate and carbamate insecticides in human serum. Nonpolar and polar pesticides were simultaneously extracted from serum samples using a simple and fast monolithic spin column procedure using mixed-mode C-C₁₈ cartridges. Recovery was achieved in the range 11.9–99.2 %. Chromatography was carried out on an InertSustain^® C₁₈ HP 3 μm analytical column with gradient elution. Mass spectrometric analysis was performed using an Agilent 6410 Triple Quad Tandem mass spectrometer coupled with an electrospray ionization source in the positive ion mode. The assay was validated over a large concentration range and the limits of detection for all compounds ranged from 0.1 to 50 ng mL^?1. The precision for both intra- and inter-day determination of all analytes was found to be acceptable (< 12.9 %) and no significant matrix effect was observed. The developed method was effectively applied to clinical samples from patients presenting at hospital with symptoms of acute intentional organophosphate or carbamate poisoning, demonstrating its applicability to diagnostic applications.