Simultaneous quantitation of twenty-two amino acids in nanolitre samples of biological fluid

The technique of thin-layer chromatography and 14C-dansylation has been used for simultaneous measurements of 22 individual amino acids, taurine, serotonin, and gamma-aminobutyric acid in nanolitre samples of glomerular and renal tubule fluid. Standard curves of each amino acid mixture containing all the others showed excellent linearity at amounts ranging from 5.7.10(-13) to 1.45.10(-11) mole (regression coefficients all greater than 0.95). With careful standardization of dansylation conditions, the technique permits highly reproducible measurement of less than 1 pmole of an amino acid.     

Determination of free amino acids by precolumn derivatization with phenylisothiocyanate. Application to wine samples

Summary A method to determine free amino acids by pre-column derivatization with phenylisothiocyanate is discussed. The method has been applied to determine free amino acids in wine samples, and the results have been compared with those obtained by means of an automatic orthophthal-aldehyde-9-fluorenylmethyloroformate (OPA-FMOC) method.     

GC-MS-SIM quantitation of amantadine in biological samples

Summary A simple, selective and sensitive method for the quantitation of amantadine in biological samples is described. After extraction from biological samples using a two-step procedure, amantadine is quantitatively converted into its isothiocyanate (NCS) derivative by treatment with carbon disulfide and then determined quantitatively using isobaric compounds, p-methoxyphenyl-ethylamine-NCS or N-acetylamantadine as external standards. The applicability of this method is illustrated by determining plasma levels of amantadine for pharmacokinetic studies and levels in dialysate samples of amantadine treated patients who were on dialysis machines.     

Efficient capillary electrophoresis separation and determination of free amino acids in beer samples

Simultaneous detection of various o‐phthalaldehyde (OPA)‐labeled amino acids (AAs) in food samples was reported based on CE separation. Ionic liquid was used for the first time for CE analysis of AAs with in‐capillary derivatization. Several other additives, including SDS, α/β‐CD, and ACN, as well as key parameters for CE separation (buffer pH value, separation voltage), were also investigated. Our results show that the multiple additive strategy exhibits good stable and repeatable character for CE analysis of OPA‐labeled AAs, for either in‐capillary derivatization or CE separation, and allows simultaneous quantification of different OPA‐labeled AAs in a large concentration range of 50 μM to 3.0 mM with LOD down to 10 μM. Seventeen OPA‐labeled AAs, except for two pairs of AAs (His/Gln and Phe/Leu), which were separated with resolutions of 1.1 and 1.2, respectively, were baseline separated and identified within 23 min using the present multiple additive strategy. The method was successfully applied for simultaneous analysis of AAs in seven beer samples and as many as eleven trace‐amount AAs were detected and quantified, indicating the valuable potential application of the present method for food analysis.     

Application of amino acid analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography with phenyl isothiocyanate derivatization to the rapid determination of free amino acids in biological samples.

An amino acid analysis by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography after precolumn derivatization with phenyl isothiocyanate was adapted to the determination of free amino acids in plasma or other biological fluids and in tissue homogenates. Preparation of samples included deproteinization by 3% sulphosalicylic acid, and careful removal under high vacuum of residual phenyl isothiocyanate after derivatization. A Waters Pico-Tag column (15 cm long) was used, immersed in a water-bath at 38 degrees C. In rat or human plasma, separation of 23 individual amino acids, plus the unresolved pair tryptophan and ornithine, was obtained within 13 min. Including the time for column washing and re-equilibration, samples could be chromatographed at 23-min intervals. Variability was tested for each amino acid by calculating the coefficients of variation of retention times (less than 1% in the average) and peak areas (less than 4% for both intra-day and inter-day determinations). The linearity for each standard amino acid was remarkable over the concentration range 3-50 nmol/ml. The mean recovery of amino acid standards added to plasma prior to derivatization was 97 +/- 0.8%, except for aspartate (82%) and glutamate (81%). This method is rapid (almost three samples per hour can be analysed, more than in any other reported technique), with satisfactory precision, sensitivity and reproducibility. Therefore, it is well suited for routine analysis of free amino acids in both clinical and research work.     

Determination of thallium in biological samples

Determination of thallium has become a major interest because of its high toxicity, especially as the monovalent cation. Thallium poisoning in the human body must be checked quickly by analysis of biological samples. This review highlights the development of highly sensitive detection techniques applied to the determination of thallium in biological samples, with or without pretreatment, based on the literature compiled in Analytical Abstracts from 1990.     

Determination of D- and L-amino acids in biological samples by two-dimensional column liquid chromatography

Summary A two-dimensional, column liquid chromatographic system is used for the determination of the D- and L-enantiomers of amino acids in biological samples. Separation of the amino acids is first on ion-exchange column by gradient elution with a sodium citrate-sodium chloride buffer. Enantioseparation is by subsequent injection of 3 μl heart-cuts of the individual amino acids onto a second column with a chiral crown ether stationary phase. Finally, fluorescence detection is after post-column labelling of the amino acids using ano-phthalaldehyde-2-mercaptoethanol reagent solution. The high separation power and selectivity of the system allow processing of complex samples with hardly any additional treatment and the determination of small quantities of D-amino acids in the presence of excess L-form. Applicability of the system is illustrated by the determination of D- and L-aspartate, serine, glutamate and alanine in various complex biological samples, such as protein hydrolysates, urine and biotechnological and food samples. Data are given on detectability, repeatability and linearity.     

Fast and quantitative analysis of branched-chain amino acids in biological samples using a pillar array column

In this study, a fast and quantitative determination method for branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), namely leucine, isoleucine, and valine, was developed using a pillar array column. A pillar array column with low-dispersion turns was fabricated on a 20?×?20-mm² microchip using multistep ultraviolet photolithography and deep reactive ion etching. The BCAAs were fluorescently labeled with 4-fluoro-7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (NBD-F), followed by reversed-phase separation on the pillar array column. The NBD derivatives of the three BCAAs and an internal standard (6-aminocaproic acid) were separated in 100 s. The calibration curves for the NBD-BCAAs had good linearity in the range of 0.4–20 μM, using an internal standard. The intra- and interday precisions were found to be in the ranges of 1.42–3.80 and 2.74–6.97 %, respectively. The accuracies for the NBD-BCAA were from 90.2 to 99.1 %. The method was used for the analysis of sports drink and human plasma samples. The concentrations of BCAAs determined by the developed method showed good agreements with those determined using a conventional high-performance liquid chromatography system. As BCAAs are important biomarkers of some diseases, these results showed that the developed method could be a potential diagnostic tool in clinical research.     

A facile and sensitive chemiluminescence detection of amino acids in biological samples after capillary electrophoretic separation

It was found that native amino acids enhanced the chemiluminescence (CL) reaction between luminol and BrO(-) in an alkaline aqueous solution. This has led to the development of a facile and highly sensitive CL detection scheme for the determination of amino acids in biological samples after capillary electrophoretic (CE) separation. The CE-CL conditions were optimized. An electrophoretic buffer of 2.5 x 10(-2) M sodium borate (pH 9.4) containing 1 x 10(-4) M luminol was used. The oxidizer solution of 8 x 10(-4) M NaBrO in 0.1 M sodium carbonate buffer solution (pH 12.5) was introduced post-column. Under the optimal conditions, the detection limits were 1.0 x 10(-7) M for glutamic acid (Glu) and 1.3 x 10(-7) M (S/N = 3) for aspartic acid (Asp). The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of peak area and migration time were in the ranges of 3.8-4.3% and 1.4-1.6%, respectively. The present method was applied to the determination of excitatory amino acids (i.e., Asp and Glu) in rat brain tissue and monkey plasma. The levels of these major excitatory amino acids in monkey plasma were quantified for the first time and found to be 1.17 +/- 0.17 x 10(-5) M (mean +/- SD, n = 6) for Glu and 1.64 +/- 0.19 x 10(-6) M for Asp, which were comparable with the levels in human plasma.     

Determination of D- and L-amino acids in biological samples by two-dimensional column liquid chromatography

Summary A two-dimensional, column liquid chromatographic system is used for the determination of the D- and L-enantiomers of amino acids in biological samples. Separation of the amino acids is first on ion-exchange column by gradient elution with a sodium citratesodium chloride buffer. Enantioseparation is by subsequent injection of 3 l heart-cuts of the individual amino acids onto a second column with a chiral crown ether stationary phase. Finally, fluorescence detection is after post-column labelling of the amino acids using ano-phthalaldehyde-2-mercaptoethanol reagent solution. The high separation power and selectivity of the system allow processing of complex samples with hardly any additional treatment and the determination of small quantities of D-amino acids in the presence of excess L-form. Applicability of the system is illustrated by the determination of D- and L-aspartate, serine, glutamate and alanine in various complex biological samples, such as protein hydrolysates, urine and biotechnological and food samples. Data are given on detectability, repeatability and linearity.     

Coherent manipulation of free amino acids fluorescence

Coherent manipulation of molecular wavepackets in biomolecules might contribute to the quest towards label-free cellular imaging and protein identification. We report the use of optimally tailored UV laser pulses in pump-probe depletion experiments that selectively enhance or decrease fluorescence between two aromatic amino acids: tryptophan (Trp) and tyrosine (Tyr). Selective fluorescence modulation is achieved with a contrast of ~35%. A neat modification of the time-dependent fluorescence depletion signal of Trp is observed, while the Tyr transient trace remains unchanged. The mechanism invoked for explaining the change of the depletion of Trp is a less efficient coupling between the fluorescing state and the higher non-radiative excited states by the optimally shaped pulse, than by the reference pulse.     

One-way and two-way pulsed electromembrane extraction for trace analysis of amino acids in foods and biological samples

In the present work, pulsed electromembrane extraction (PEME) was performed for the first time, as a new concept of electrically enhanced microextraction method, for extraction and quantification of histidine, phenylalanine and tryptophan in different matrices. PEME offers an alternative to conventional electromembrane extraction (EME), which faces problems such as serious instabilities in the analysis of real samples with high concentration levels of ions. In these samples, increasing of the ion transportation across the liquid membrane results in Joule heating during the extraction process which may follow by punctuation of the organic membrane, increasing of the current level and bubble formation due to electrolysis reactions. A mixture of 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether (NPOE), di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (DEHP) and tris-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP) was immobilized in the pores of hollow fiber as the organic liquid membrane. Other effective parameters such as extraction time, ion balance and pulse frequency were optimized using the experimental design. Extraction recoveries in the range of 7.1–21.6% and satisfactory repeatability (2.1 < CV% < 4.5) were obtained. Limits of detection were 5, 10 and 30 ng mL⁻¹ for tryptophan, phenylalanine and histidine, respectively. The method offers acceptable linearity with correlation coefficients higher than 0.9979. Furthermore, the figures of merit of PEME are compared with the results from conventional electromembrane extraction (EME), which proves the advantages of the proposed technique. The method was applied to the determination and quantification of amino acids in foods and biological samples. Also, two-way PEME was employed as a novel approach for highly selective extraction of tryptophan as a model analyte to introduce an interesting ability of the proposed technique.     

Determination of phospholipid fatty acids in biological samples by solid-phase extraction and fast gas chromatography

A new method for the determination of phospholipid fatty acids in biological samples, combination of solid-phase extraction (SPE) and fast gas chromatography (GC) was developed. Its application to human plasma and human erythrocytes showed to be robust and reliable for quick and correct identification in routine analysis.     

A predictive-kinetic method for the quantitation of amino acids with ninhydrin

The development and evaluation of a predictive-kinetic method for quantifying amino acids based on reactions with ninhydrin are described. Conditions are developed for which reactions are pseudo-first-order in the amino acid. Absorbance vs. time data from the kinetic region of the reaction (1–3 half-lives) are fitted to a first-order model to predict the total absorbance change that would occur if the reaction were monitored to completion. Computed absorbance changes vary linearly with amino acid concentration between 1 × 10^?5 and 5 × 10^?5 mol l^?1. Results are virtually independent of changes in temperature (± 1° C) and ninhydrin concentration (± 3 × 10^?3 mol l^?1).