[Micelle-mediated extraction for concentrating conjugated bilirubin in urine]

An extraction method based on the phase separation of aqueous micellar solutions of n-octyl-beta-D-thioglucoside (OTG) was applied to the concentrating conjugated bilirubin in urine. The analyte in sample solutions could be efficiently concentrated into a small volume of surfactant-rich phase, while hydrophilic matrix components including urinary protein, ascorbic acid, and saccharide remained in the aqueous phase. The concentrated OTG negligibly affected the diazo reaction and the subsequent spectrophotometric detection. Conjugated bilirubin was successfully determined in the concentration range from 0.05 microgram/ml to 5 micrograms/ml with a 96-well microplate reader absorption spectrophotometer.