Simultaneous analysis of oxidized and reduced glutathione in cell extracts by capillary zone electrophoresis

Glutathione (GSH) and glutathione disulfide (GSSG) levels in cells constitute a thiol redox system. They can be used as an indicator of oxidative stress of the cell. In this study, a capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method is described that enables quantitation of GSH and GSSG from cellular extracts. The CZE buffer used was 20 mM ammonium acetate containing 5% (v/v) acetic acid at pH 3.1 in conjunction with a polybrene coated capillary operated in reverse polarity mode. Effects of different acids used to prepare cell samples were investigated on CZE performance. The acids include meta phosphoric acid (MPA), trichloroacetic acid (TCA), phosphoric acid (PA) and sulfosalicylic acid (SSA) and are used to stabilize GSH and GSSG before performing CZE analysis. The method features a limit of detection of 4 microM and a limit of quantitation of 12 microM for both GSSG and GSH and recoveries of 94% for GSH and 100% for GSSG. Quantitative analysis of GSSG and GSH in HaCaT cell extracts (5% SSA, w/v) was performed with this method and changes in the ratio of GSH to GSSG in N-ethylmaleimide treated cell sample was observed by comparing with control cell samples.     

Quantitation of oxidized and reduced glutathione in plasma by micellar electrokinetic capillary electrophoresis.

A method for the separation of reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione was optimized in terms of buffer concentration, sodium dodecyl sulfate concentration, buffer pH, detection wavelength, run voltage and injection volume. The method demonstrated good linearity (r2 > 0.999) and reproducibility (internal standard corrected peak area RSD < 2.3%) in the range of interest (16-81 microM GSH and 8-40 microM GSSG). A detection limit of less than 1 microM GSH and GSSG was obtained using a high sensitivity flow cell. When the optimized method was applied to plasma samples, concentrations of 1.6 microM GSH and 0.8 microM GSSG were easily detected without the need for derivatization. The on-capillary detection was calculated to be 38.6 fmol of GSH and 18.3 fmol of GSSG.     

High-voltage capillary zone electrophoresis of red blood cells

The high-voltage wide-bore capillary zone electrophoresis of red blood cells was investigated. The reproducibility of the retention time (electrophoretic mobility) is excellent and the differentiation among various species is good. The peaks in the electropherogram describe the distribution of the size and/or surface charge of the cells and are therefore broad. The relationship between the peak height and the number of cells injected is good, with linear correlation coefficients better than 0.98. Details of the preparation of cell suspensions and support electrolytes are given, which is essential for obtaining reproducible results. The inner surface of FEP capillary tubing is degraded by the application of high voltage and a pause is necessary between successive experiments if good and reproducible peak shapes are to be obtained. The length of the pause increases with the number of experiments made, and finally the tubing becomes useless. Inspection of the inner surface by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed the breakdown of CHF bonds, but the actual mechanism is not known.     

Capillary electrophoresis method for determination of related substances in glutathione reduced drug substance

Summary A sensitive capillary electrophoretic method using low pH with direct UV detection has been developed to evaluate the impurity profile of reduced glutathione obtained from its production and purification. The method is characterized by high detection sensitivity and selectivity. Validation has been performed with model mixtures consisting of the main known related substances—oxidized glutathione, glutamylcystein, cysteinylglycine and cysteine. The results from this study show that with respect to quantification criteria the method is acceptable for routine control of reduced glutathione for pharmaceutical application.     

In-line preconcentration of oxidized and reduced glutathione in capillary zone electrophoresis using transient isotachophoresis under strong counter-electroosmotic flow

Transient isotachophoresis (tITP) can improve the sensitivity of capillary electrophoresis (CE). In general, it was carried out under the condition of suppressed electroosmotic flow (EOF). However, some special conditions, such as extreme low pH background electrolyte and coating were needed to achieve the requirements of suppressed EOF. In this work, an approach of tITP under the strong counter-EOF in open system (counter-EOF-tITP) is presented for the rapid and sensitive preconcentrating the reduced glutathione (GSH) and the oxidized glutathione (GSSG) without modifying the capillary and the commercial CE instrument. The parameters of the experimental system, such as the concentration of leading electrolyte, the injected amount of terminating electrolyte and the injected pressure of sample were investigated in detail to understand the mechanism of counter-EOF-tITP. The sensitivity enhancement factors were of 320 for GSH and 280 for GSSG. In addition, the detection limit of 23.4 and 18.0 μg L⁻¹ for GSH and GSSG was achieved, respectively. The method's applicability was demonstrated by determining GSH and GSSG in tomato and human serum.     

Rapid determination of globin chains in red blood cells by capillary electrophoresis using INSTCoated fused‐silica capillary

A laboratory‐made INSTCoated fused‐silica capillary has been newly used for CE separation of four mixtures of proteins in sodium phosphate BGEs at pH 3.0 and 2.5, respectively. The obtained separation efficiencies range from 145 000 theoretical plates per meter for myoglobin to 1 216 000 m^?1 for lysozyme. A total of 49–89% of the number of theoretical plates was obtained in a commercial polyvinyl alcohol coated capillary compared to the INSTCoated capillary under the same experimental conditions, 0–86% was obtained in a laboratory polyacrylamide‐coated capillary, and only 0–6% was obtained in an uncoated fused‐silica capillary. The RSD values for the intraday repeatability for an INSTCoated capillary were 0.1–1.0% (migration time) and 0.3–2.4% (peak area); RSD values for the interday repeatability in the same capillary are 0.6–1.4% (migration time) and 2.4–5.5% (peak area); RSD values for interday repeatability between different capillaries equaled 1.7–2.1% (migration time) and 2.8–10.9% (peak area). The INSTCoated capillary has been further used for rapid determination of globin chains isolated from red blood cells. A separation of α and β chains prepared from adult blood has been completed in 3 min with a peak resolution of 1.3, and the separation of α and ^Gγ chains prepared from newborn blood took 3 min with a peak resolution of 3.6.     

Capillary zone electrophoresis with electrochemical detection for the determination of glutathione in human red blood cells without preseparation of hemoglobin

Interference is studied for the determination of glutathione (GSH) in human red blood cells by using capillary zone electrophoresis with end-column amperometric detection at a gold-mercury amalgam microelectrode. It is found that when interference substances such as hemoglobin (Hb) in the hemolysate flow off from the end of the separation capillary, they can be adsorbed on the surface of the electrode and interfere with the signal of GSH. If the concentration of hemolysate is lower than 0.5% (v/v), this phenomenon can be overcome because they are adsorbed on the surface of the capillary wall and do not flow off from the capillary. A method is developed for the determination of GSH in human erythrocytes without the preseparation of Hb.     

Determination of oxidized and reduced glutathione, by capillary zone electrophoresis, in Brassica juncea plants treated with copper and cadmium

A rapid method of capillary zone electrophoresis is described to determine the oxidized (GSSG) and reduced (GSH) form of glutathione in plant tissue. In order to separate both analytes in a fused-silica capillary, the pH and composition of the electrolyte solution were optimized. The electrolyte composition was 100 mmol/L, borate 25 mmol/L Tris, and 0.2% w/v metaphosphoric acid (MPA), pH 8.2. Some instrumental conditions used to run the samples were hydrostatic injection for 30 s, 30 kV applied voltage, and UV detection (185 nm) at 25 degrees C. Linearity and useful range obtained for the calibration curves were optimum, with correlation coefficients about 0.999 in the 0-120 micromol/L range. The migration time was highly reproducible, less than 5 min being afforded to run a sample. Electrolyte buffer and samples required a careful pH control for optimal separation of both analytes. This aspect constitutes a critical analytical step when acids are used in the procedure for sample preparation. Simultaneous analysis of GSH and GSSG may provide a useful tool for comparative studies of plants in order to select those species with a potential capacity for detoxification from toxic elements or those appearing promising from phytoremediation for these elements.     

Coupling chemiluminescence with capillary electrophoresis to analyze single human red blood cells

In this paper, we describe a new method for determination of hemoglobin of single red blood cells by coupling chemiluminescence with capillary electrophoresis (CL-CE). The chemiluminescent detection is based on the catalytic effects of hemoglobin on the luminol-hydrogen peroxide reaction. The conditions of chemiluminescent reaction and capillary electrophoresis were investigated. Hemoglobin in human blood samples was detected with the present method, the linear range from 1.7 μg mL⁻¹ to 6.8 μg mL⁻¹ was tested, and the correlation coefficient of 0.997 and low detection limit of 0.17 μg mL⁻¹ (approximately 2.2 pg, S/N = 3) were obtained. Cell injection procedure was improved, and the method was successfully used to determine hemoglobin of single red blood cells and the statistical result of the average content of hemoglobin in 26 human red blood cells was 23.6 pg. Compared to other current methods, CE with CL system is simple, sensitive and will become an attractive alternative method for single cell analysis.     

甲氧苄啶的毛细管电泳快速检测新方法

建立了毛细管电泳高频电导法测定药物和尿液中的甲氧苄啶。考察了各种条件对分离和检测的影响。以4.0 mmol/L HAc 体积分数10%甲醇(pH4.0)为电泳介质,分离电压20.0 kV,重力虹吸进样。在优化条件下,甲氧苄啶峰形良好,出峰时间小于6 min,线性范围为1.5~120.0μg/mL,检出限0.5μg/mL。该方法样品处理过程简单,可用于药物制剂的质量控制和临床检验。     

Determination of glutathione in single HepG2 cells by capillary electrophoresis with reduced graphene oxide modified microelectrode

Determination of intracellular bioactive species will afford beneficial information related to cell metabolism, signal transduction, cell function, and disease treatment. In this study, the electrochemically reduced graphene oxide modified carbon fiber microdisk electrode (ER‐GOME) was used as a detector of CZE‐electrochemical detection and developed to detect glutathione (GSH). The electrocatalytic activity of the modified microelectrode was characterized by cyclic voltammetry. Under optimized experimental conditions, the concentration linear range of GSH was from 1 to 60 μM. When the S/N ratio was 3, the concentration detection limit was 1 μM. Compared with the unmodified carbon fiber microdisk electrode, the sensitivity was enhanced more than five times. With the use of this method, the average contents of GSH in single HepG2 cells were found to be 7.13 ± 1.11 fmol (n = 10). Compared with gold/mercury amalgam microelectrode, which was usually used in determining GSH, the electrochemically reduced graphene oxide modified carbon fiber microdisk electrode was friendly to environment for free mercury. Furthermore, there were several merits of the novel electrochemical detector coupled with CE, such as comparative repeatability, easy fabrication, and high sensitivity, hold great potential for the single‐cell assay.     

Determination of glutathione in blood via capillary electrophoresis with pH-mediated stacking

A new approach has been developed for the direct determination of reduced (glutathione [GSH]) and oxidized (glutathione disulfide [GSSG]) GSH in whole blood by means of capillary electrophoresis. Its features include GSH-stabilizing sample preparation, the use of an internal standard, and pH-mediated stacking. Blood stabilized with acid citrate and K₃EDTA was treated with acetonitrile with N-ethylmaleimide, and then the analytes were extracted with diethyl ether. The total analysis time was 8 min using a 50-µm (i.d.) by 32.5-cm (eff. length) silica capillary. The background electrolyte was 0.075-M citrate Na pH 5.8 with 200-µM cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and 5-µM sodium dodecyl sulfate, and the separation voltage was −14 kV. The quantification limit (S/N = 15) of the method was 1.5 µM for GSSG. The accuracy levels of GSH and GSSG analysis were 104% and 103%, respectively, and between-run precision levels were 2.6% and 3.2%, respectively. Analysis of blood samples from healthy volunteers (N = 24) showed that the levels of GSH and GSSG and the GSH/GSSG ratio in the whole blood were 1.05 ± 0.14 mM, 3.9 ± 1.25 µM, and 256 ± 94, respectively. Thus, the presented approach can be used in clinical and laboratory practice.     

Simultaneous and ultrarapid determination of reactive oxygen species and reduced glutathione in apoptotic leukemia cells by microchip electrophoresis

A microchip electrophoresis method coupled with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection was established for simultaneous determination of two kinds of intracellular signaling molecules (reactive oxygen species, ROS, and reduced glutathione, GSH) related to apoptosis and oxidative stress. As the probe dihydrorhodamine-123 (DHR-123) can be converted intracellularly by ROS to the fluorescent rhodamine-123 (Rh-123), and the probe naphthalene-2,3-dicarboxaldehyde (NDA) can react quickly with GSH to produce a fluorescent adduct, rapid determination of Rh-123 and GSH was achieved on a glass microchip within 27 s using a 20 mM borate buffer (pH 9.2). The established method was tested to measure the intracellular ROS and GSH levels in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL)-derived NB4 cells. An elevation of intracellular ROS and depletion of GSH were observed in apoptotic NB4 cells induced by arsenic trioxide (As(2)O(3)) at low concentration (1-2 microM). Buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), in combination with As(2)O(3) enhanced the decrease of reduced GSH to a great extent. The combined treatment of As(2)O(3) and hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) led to an inverse relationship between the concentrations of ROS and GSH obtained, showing the proposed method can readily evaluate the generation of ROS, which occurs simultaneously with the consumption of the inherent antioxidant.     

Development of a capillary zone electrophoresis method for caseinoglycomacropeptide determination

Caseinoglycomacropeptide (CGMP) is a polypeptide of 64 amino acid residues, derived from the C-terminal part of bovine κ-casein. A sensitive and selective capillary zone electrophoresis method has been developed and validated for the analysis and quantitation of CGMP. Separation is carried out at 30 kV, using an uncoated fused-silica capillary and 20 mM sodium citrate buffer at acidic pH 3.5. The described method allows the separation of various CGMP subcomponents. The validation data proves that the method has the requisite selectivity, sensitivity, reproducibility and linearity for CGMP assay and for quality control during CGMP manufacturing (batch-to-batch reproducibility).     

Improved capillary electrophoresis method for the determination of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin in patient sera

Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with a dynamic double coating formed by charged polymeric reagents represents an effective tool for the separation of iron-saturated transferrin (Tf) isoforms and thus the determination of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT, sum of asialo-, monosialo- and disialo-Tf in relation to total Tf) in human serum. Using the CEofix-CDT reagents, a 50 microm inner diameter (ID) capillary of 60 cm total length and the P/ACE MDQ under optimized instrumental conditions (20 kV and 30 degrees C) is demonstrated to provide outstanding assay precision for the determination of CDT in human serum. For CDT levels of 1.0% and 4.5%, precision relative standard deviation (RSD) values (n = 8) were determined to be < 3.0% and < 1.5%, respectively. During the first year of operation under routine conditions, more than 600 patient samples were analyzed in a total of 62 sets of runs. Except for selected samples of patients with severe liver diseases, interference-free Tf patterns were detected. Asialo-Tf was not detected in control sera and in patient sera with a CDT level < 1.70%, but became detectable in 89.6% of sera with > 2.3% disialo-Tf. Monosialo-Tf was only detected in two sera containing > 13.3% CDT. The optimized CZE assay was applied to confirm positive CDT results produced by an immunoassay during long-term monitoring of a patient which led to the determination of the elimination kinetics of asialo-Tf, disialo-Tf, and CDT after an episode of high alcohol consumption (estimated apparent half lifes of 4.86, 7.24, and 6.74 days, respectively). The optimized CZE assay with an upper reference limit for CDT of 1.70% represents an attractive alternative to high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). It features simpler sample preparation, faster analysis time, and higher isoform resolution compared to the most recent HPLC approach and can thus be regarded as a new candidate of a reference method for CDT.     

A novel capillary electrophoresis method for the determination of d-serine in neural samples

A capillary electrophoresis method has been developed for the determination of d-serine in neural samples. d/l-serine was tagged with naphthalene-2,3-dicarboxaldehyde (CBI-d/l-Ser), and the separation of CBI-d/l-Ser enantiomer was achieved by using a dual chiral selector system consisting of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and chiral micelles formed by sodium deoxycholate (SDC). No resolution was observed when either β-CD or SDC was used alone. Moreover, the combined use of β-CD with achiral micelles of sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) exhibited no resolving effect. With laser induced fluorescence detection, the limit of detection was 3.0 × 10⁻⁸ M Ser. Under the separation conditions selected, no other amino acids co-eluted with l-/d-Ser enantiomers. Using the present method, d-Ser level in Aplysia ganglia homogenates was found to vary significantly from animal to animal. Interestingly, d-Ser was not detected in single neurons isolated from Aplysia ganglia.     

Rapid capillary zone electrophoresis method for the determination of metal cations in beverages

A rapid and reliable capillary zone electrophoresis method for the determination of inorganic cations was developed. The complete separation of K⁺, Ba²⁺, Ca²⁺, Na⁺, Mg²⁺, Mn²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cd²⁺, Li⁺ and Cu²⁺ can be achieved in 4 min with a simple electrolyte composed by 10 mM imidazole as the carrier buffer and background absorbance provider and acetic acid as the complexing agent (pH 3.60). Injection was performed hydrostatically by elevating the sample at 10 cm for 30 s. The running voltage was +25 kV at room temperature. Indirect UV-absorption detection was achieved at 185 nm. The detection limit was in the range between 0.06 mg/l (Mg²⁺) and 0.57 mg/l (K⁺) and the quantification limits ranged from 0.10 mg/l (Ni²⁺) to 0.80 mg/l (Cu²⁺). The calibration graphs were linear in the concentration range from the quantification limit till at least 1 g/l in K⁺, 10 mg/l in Ba²⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Mn²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Cd²⁺, 40 mg/l in Na⁺ and 12 mg/l in Li⁺ and Cu²⁺. The repeatability, intraday and interday analysis were ≤1.55% and ≤3.64% for migration time and ≤3.38% and ≤3.63% for peak area. The method developed has been applied to several beverage samples with only a simple dilution and filtration treatment of the sample. The proposed method is simple, fast, cheap and it is achieved with common products in either laboratory. For these reasons, it is a very useful method for routine analysis.     

Rapid method for the determination of amino acids in serum by capillary electrophoresis

Ion-pair and hydrophilic interaction chromatographies are considered to be complementary methods of choice for analyzing intact glucosinolates from broccoli. Ion-pair chromatography resolves non-polar glucosinolates, such as those containing indole moieties, while hydrophilic interaction chromatography is superior for separating polar glucosinolates, such as glucoraphanin and glucoiberin. Reversed-phase separations using hydrophilic endcapped C18-bonded silica and a 50 mM ammonium acetate-methanol gradient mobile phase resolve both polar and non-polar glucosinolates negating the need for switching columns.     

Validation of capillary electrophoresis method for determination of N-methylpyrrolidine in cefepime for injection

The present study relates to a new capillary electrophoresis method for the determination of N-methylpyrrolidine, an impurity considered to be toxic and also potential degradation impurity in cefepime hydrochloride drug substance. The newly developed capillary electrophoresis method for determining the content of N-methylpyrrolidine in cefepime for injection has been validated as per International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines to prove the selectivity, sensitivity, suitability, robustness, and ruggedness of the method. This simple, efficient, and rapid methodology may be used by pharmaceutical industry for routine analysis as well as during stability studies. The newly developed capillary electrophoresis method to determine the content of N-methylpyrrolidine in cefepime for injection requires 10 min for data acquisition, and uses an indirect UV photometry method to detect the analyte signal at 240 nm against the reference signal at 210 nm. The electrophoretic system is optimized to get stable base line, higher signal to noise ratio and peaks with narrow peak width. The method employs bare fused silica capillary with extended light path, effective length of capillary is 56 cm and inner diameter of capillary is 50 μm, 5 mmole of imidazole buffer adjusted to pH 5.1 with 3 molar acetic acid solution is used as background electrolyte. The sample is introduced in hydrodynamic mode employing pressure of 50 mbar for 5 s, and the desired separation is achieved with constant applied voltage of 25 kV at ambient temperature (~25°C).     

Rapid colorimetric determination of reduced and oxidized glutathione using an end point coupled enzymatic assay

A simple and rapid colorimetric coupled enzymatic assay for the determination of glutathione is described. The proposed method is based on the specific reaction catalyzed by γ-glutamyltransferase, which transfers the γ-glutamyl moiety from glutahione to an acceptor, with the formation of the γ-glutamyl derivative of the acceptor and cysteinylglycine. The latter dipeptide is a substrate of leucyl aminopeptidase, which hydrolyzes cysteinylglycine to glycine and cysteine that can be easily measured spectrophotometrically. The proposed method was used to measure the content of glutathione in acid extracts of bovine lens, to follow the NADPH-dependent reduction of glutathione disulfide (GSSG) to reduced glutathione (GSH) catalyzed by the enzyme glutathione reductase and to determine the glutathione content in human astrocytoma ADF cells subjected to oxidative stress. The results obtained showed that the method can be suitably used for the determination of GSH and GSSG in different biological samples and to monitor tissue or cell redox status under different conditions. It is also applicable for following reactions involving GSH and/or GSSG.