Selective solid-phase extraction of cholesterol using molecularly imprinted polymers and its application in different...

Area of Science:

• Polymer Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Cholesterol analysis in biological samples is crucial for health diagnostics.
• Existing methods for cholesterol extraction often face challenges with matrix interferences and selectivity.
• Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) offer a promising approach for selective analyte recognition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and optimize non-covalent molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for cholesterol.
• To utilize these MIPs as solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbents for efficient cholesterol extraction from diverse biological matrices.
• To evaluate the selectivity, capability, and recovery of the developed MIP-based SPE method.

Main Methods:

• Preparation of non-covalent MIPs for cholesterol via UV-initiated polymerization.
• Optimization of molecularly imprinted SPE (MISPE) conditions, including conditioning, loading, washing, and elution steps.
• Application of the optimized MISPE protocol for cholesterol extraction from human serum, cow milk, yolk, shrimp, pork, and beef.

Main Results:

• The optimized MISPE protocol demonstrated selective recognition and effective pre-concentration of cholesterol within a 10-80 microg/mL range.
• High recovery rates for cholesterol were achieved, ranging from 80.6% to 92.7%, with relative standard deviations (R.S.D.) below 9.8%.
• MISPE significantly reduced matrix interferences compared to C18 SPE, resulting in improved baselines and enhanced selectivity for cholesterol analysis.

Conclusions:

• Non-covalent MIPs are effective sorbents for selective cholesterol extraction via MISPE.
• The developed MISPE method provides a robust and efficient approach for cholesterol determination in various biological samples.
• MISPE offers superior performance over traditional SPE methods by minimizing matrix effects and improving analytical accuracy.