Bioanalysis of drugs by liquid-phase microextraction coupled to separation techniques

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Forensic Science
• Pharmacology

Background:

• The increasing demand for automated drug analysis and reduced sample preparation times has driven innovation in extraction techniques.
• Traditional liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) methods are often time-consuming and labor-intensive.
• Liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) has emerged as a promising alternative.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the principles of liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) based on disposable hollow fibres.
• To highlight recent applications of LPME in drug analysis from various biological matrices.
• To discuss the potential of LPME for automated and efficient sample preparation.

Main Methods:

• Hollow fibre-based liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME) is employed for extracting drugs from aqueous biological samples.
• Drugs are transferred from the sample through an organic solvent immobilized in a hollow fibre membrane into an acceptor solution.
• The acceptor solution is directly analyzed using techniques such as HPLC, CE, MS, or GC.

Main Results:

• Hollow fibre-based LPME enables high enrichment factors for target drugs.
• The method provides excellent sample clean-up, minimizing interference from biological matrices.
• Various LPME configurations, including three-phase, two-phase, and carrier-mediated LPME, have been successfully applied.

Conclusions:

• Hollow fibre-based LPME is a versatile and efficient technique for drug analysis in biological samples.
• It offers significant advantages in terms of automation, speed, and sample preparation.
• LPME demonstrates broad application potential in forensic toxicology, clinical chemistry, and pharmaceutical analysis.