Analytical Methods Blog

Determination of albumin concentration in medical devices using an improved and fast reverse-phase HPLC method.

Being able to determine the concentration of the plasma protein human serum albumin (HSA) in biological media and pharmaceuticals is important because of its key role in various types of human medicine.

Frank Eertmans and colleagues from FertiPro N.V. in Belgium present a robust HPLC assay to accurately and quickly measure HSA in media used for assisted reproductive techniques.  This method overcomes the inter-assay variabilities and accuracy issues of currently used colorimetric, electrophoretic and immunological assays.

Read the paper for free until 4th July.

Development and validation of a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the determination of human serum albumin (HSA) in medical devices
Frank Eertmans, Veerle Bogaert and Barbara Puype
Anal. Methods, 2011
DOI: 10.1039/C1AY05148B

Because of their use in food producing animals, the risk of occurrence of unwanted residues in edible products exists.

Read this Critical Review on sample preparation methods for the determination of veterinary residues in food matrices by porous monolith microextraction-based techniques. Several porous monolith microextraction formats, including in-tube solid-phase extraction, stir bar sorptive extraction and stir rod sorptive extraction modes, are described.  One referee commented that the review will be ‘a very useful guide for future study and application of correlative techniques.’

This is an important area of research as veterinary drugs are regularly administered via drinking water and feed with the aim of hindering the spread of disease amongst animals.  However, even low levels of these drugs, including antibiotics and pesticides, can cause health issues in humans.

You can access the critical review for free until 28th June.

Methods of sample preparation for determination of veterinary residues in food matrices by porous monolith microextraction-based techniques
Fang Wei and Yu-Qi Feng
Anal. Methods, 2011
DOI: 10.1039/C1AY05079F

Why not take a look at another paper we’ve published this year on veterinary drug residue analysis

Development and validation (according to the 2002/657/EC regulation) of a method to quantify sulfonamides in porcine liver by fast partition at very low temperature and LC-MS/MS
Renata Pereira Lopes, Daniella Vasconcellos Augusti, Leonardo Francisco de Souza, Flávio Alves Santos, Josefa Abucater Lima, Eugênia Azevedo Vargas and Rodinei Augusti
Anal. Methods, 2011, 3, 606-613
DOI: 10.1039/C0AY00587H

And some from our sister journal, Analyst:

Semi-targeted residue screening in complex matrices with liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry: current possibilities and limitations
Anton Kaufmann, Patrick Butcher, Kathryn Maden, Stephan Walker and Miryam Widmer
Analyst, 2011, 136, 1898-1909
DOI: 10.1039/C0AN00902D

Assessment of terahertz spectroscopy to detect antibiotic residues in food and feed matrices
Albert Redo-Sanchez, Gerard Salvatella, Regina Galceran, Eva Roldós, José-Antonio García-Reguero, Massimo Castellari and Javier Tejada
Analyst, 2011, 136, 1733-1738
DOI: 10.1039/C0AN01016B

High-throughput chemical residue analysis by fast extraction and dilution flow injection mass spectrometry
Sergio C. Nanita
Analyst, 2011, 136, 285-287
DOI: 10.1039/C0AN00720J

Read the review for up-to-date tables of recent methodologies and a detailed analysis of subsequent investigations

This timely review from Carlos Lledo-Fernandez and Craig Banks looks at method development for quantifying and screening drugs of abuse in biological samples. Pharmacokinetic studies on cannabinoids, amphetamines, cocaine, opioids and benzodiazepines in blood, oral fluids, sweat and urine from the last 35 years are included with the authors noting that ‘urine is still the primary matrix employed for the monitoring of drugs of abuse’.

The manuscript will be free until 1st June.

An overview of quantifying and screening drugs of abuse in biological samples: Past and present
Carlos Lledo-Fernandez and Craig E. Banks
Anal. Methods
DOI: 10.1039/C1AY05057E

A simple, one-step collection procedure and the availability of specimen for every donor make umbilical cord a simple alternative for newborn toxicology.

Reported in this paper is an interesting study describing the simultaneous analysis of caffeine and cotinine, the primary metabolite of nicotine, in umbilical cord tissue by LC-tandem MS, to establish if the mother was exposed to these substances during gestation.

Will umbilical cord testing be an improvement on the currently used meconium assay for newborn toxicology studies?

Read the paper for free until 1st June.

The detection of caffeine and cotinine in umbilical cord tissue using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry
Joseph Jones, Raquel Magri, Rosemarie Rios, Mary Jones, Charles Plate and Douglas Lewis
Anal. Methods
DOI: 10.1039/C0AY00625D

Selection of quadruplex-binding ligand based on the structure switching of GDNA

Yan Jin and colleagues from Shaanxi Normal University have designed a G-quadruplex-binding ligand screening strategy that utilises an electrochemical method to select natural G-quadruplex-binding ligands based on structure-switching of telomeric DNA.

Ligands that bind and stabilize G-quadruplex DNA structures are of significant interest because of their potential to inhibit telomerase and halt tumour cell proliferation.

The results demonstrated that daidzein, berberine, emodin, aloe-emodin, rhein and chrysophanol could induce the human telomeric DNA G-quadruplex architecture.

The paper will be free to access to until 3rd May.

Electrochemical selection of G-quadruplex-binding ligands based on structure-switching of telomeric DNA
Xiao-Qin Liu, Yan Jin, Yuexia Wang and Yunxia Qiao
Anal. Methods
DOI: 10.1039/C1AY05046J

Malgorzata Grabarczyk and Anna Koper from Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Poland, report a simple and sensitive stripping voltammertric method to determine trace amounts of uranium in natural water samples in this communication. They used an Amberlite XAD-7 or XAD-16 resin to eliminate interference from the surfactants that are often present in environmental samples.

The procedure is based on the adsorptive accumulation of the U(VI)–cupferron complex onto a hanging mercury drop electrode, followed by a reduction of the adsorbed species by a voltammetric scan using differential pulse modulation.

The paper will be free until 13th May.

Adsorptive stripping voltammetry of uranium: elimination of interferences from surface active substances and application to the determination in natural water samples
Malgorzata Grabarczyk and Anna Koper
Anal. Methods
DOI: 10.1039/C1AY05043E