Bicarbonate and phosphate constitute major salivary buffering components, and their importance consists in the neutralization of acidic gastric contents during reflux episodes. In this work, capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector was applied for the analysis of bicarbonate, phosphate, and another inorganic (chloride, nitrite, nitrate, sulfate, thiocyanate) and organic anions (acetate, butyrate) to evaluate their levels in saliva. The background electrolytes of different composition and pH between 6.02–9.41 were assessed for the bicarbonate and phosphate determination by comparison of the real analyses of a model solution with the simulation by PeakMaster software. The optimized background electrolyte was composed of 10 mM 2‐(N‐morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid, 20 mM arginine, and 30 µM cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, pH 8.95. Using this BGE, the anion levels were compared in saliva from 20 patients suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and saliva from 12 healthy subjects. Bicarbonate levels were significantly elevated in saliva from GERD patients suggesting the possible applicability of bicarbonate as a biomarker in non‐invasive diagnostics of GERD by CE‐C4D.

Bile acids are a group of compounds essential for lipid digestion and absorption with a steroid skeleton and a carboxylate side chain usually conjugated to glycine or taurine. Bile acids are regulatory molecules for a number of metabolic processes and can be used as biomarkers of various disorders. Since the middle of the twentieth century, the detection of bile acids has evolved from simple qualitative analysis to accurate quantification in complicated mixtures. Advanced methods are required to characterize and quantify individual bile acids in these mixtures. This article overviews the literature from the last two decades (2000-2020) and focuses on bile acid analysis in various human biological samples. The methods for sample preparation, including the sample treatment of conventional (blood plasma, blood serum, and urine) and unconventional samples (bile, saliva, duodenal/gastric juice, feces, etc.) are shortly discussed. Eventually, the focus is on novel analytical approaches and methods for each particular biological sample, providing an overview of the microcolumn separation techniques, such as high-performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, and capillary electrophoresis, used in their analysis. This is followed by a discussion on selected clinical applications.

A simple and fast method for the analysis of lactate from a single drop of blood was developed. The finger-prick whole blood sample (10 µL) was diluted (1:20) with a 7% (w/v) solution of [tris(hydroxymethyl)methylamino] propanesulfonic acid and applied to a blood plasma separation device. The device accommodates a membrane sandwich composed of an asymmetric polysulfone membrane and a supporting textile membrane that allows the collection of blood plasma into a narrow glass capillary in less than 20 s. Separated and simultaneously diluted blood plasma was directly injected into a capillary electrophoresis instrument with a contactless conductivity detector (CE-C4D) and analyzed in less than one minute. A separation electrolyte consisted of 10 mmol/L l-histidine, 15 mmol/L dl-glutamic acid, and 30 µmol/L cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. The whole procedure starting from the finger-prick sampling until the CE-C4D analysis was finished, took less than 5 min and was suitable for monitoring lactate increase in blood plasma during incremental cycling exercise. The observed lactate increase during the experiments measured by the developed CE-C4D method correlated well with the results from a hand-held lactate analyzer (R = 0.9882). The advantage of the developed CE method is the speed, significant savings per analysis, and the possibility to analyze other compounds from blood plasma.

Metal nanoparticles (NPs) exhibit several unique physicochemical properties, including redox activity, surface plasmon resonance, ability to quench fluorescence, biocompatibility, or a high surface‐to‐volume ratio. They are being increasingly used in analysis and preconcentration of thiol containing compounds, because they are able to spontaneously form a stable Au/Ag/Cu–S dative bond. They thus find wide application in environmental and particularly in medical science, especially in the analysis of biological thiols, the endogenous compounds that play a significant role in many biological systems. In this review article, we provide an overview of various types of NPs that have been applied in analysis and preconcentration of biological thiols, mainly in human biological fluids. We first discuss shortly the types of NPs and their synthesis, properties, and their ability to interact with thiol compounds. Then we outline the sample preconcentration and analysis methods that were used for this purpose with special emphasis on optical, electrochemical, and separation techniques.

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