| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1211907 | Journal of Chromatography B | 2016 | 7 Pages |
•We combined field-amplified stacking (FASS) and reversed-field stacking (RFS) in a multiple-concentration approach for microchip electrophoresis detection of three neurotransmitters in human urine.•Using this strategy, three neurotransmitters could be simultaneously focused and separated with high efficiency and sensitivity (LODs at S/N = 3 ranging from 1.69 to 2.73 nM).•The multiple-concentration strategy afforded approximately 182- to 292-fold improvements in detection sensitivity.•This strategy was successfully applied to three neurotransmitters in human urine.
Microchip electrophoresis (MCE) is particularly attractive as it provides high sensitivity and selectivity, short analysis time and low sample consumption. An on-line preconcentration strategy combining field-amplified stacking (FASS) and reversed-field stacking (RFS) was developed for efficient and sensitive analysis of neurotransmitters in real urine samples by MCE with laser induced fluorescence (LIF) detection. In this study, the multiple-preconcentration strategy greatly improves the sensitivity enhancement and surpass other conventional analytical methods for neurotransmitters detection. Under optimal conditions, the separation of three neurotransmitters (dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin), was achieved within 3 min with limits of detection (S/N = 3) of 1.69, 2.35, and 2.73 nM, respectively. The detection sensitivities were improved by 201-, 182-, and 292-fold enhancement, for the three neurotransmitters respectively. Other evaluation parameters such as linear correlation coefficients were considered as satisfactory. A real urine sample was analyzed with recoveries of 101.8–106.4%. The proposed FASS-RFS-MCE method was characterized in terms of precision, linearity, accuracy and successfully applied for rapid and sensitive determination of three neurotransmitters in human urine.
