Quantification of plasma lactate concentrations using capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductivity...

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Clinical Diagnostics

Background:

• Lactate quantification is crucial for assessing metabolic status and exercise physiology.
• Established methods for lactate analysis can be complex and time-consuming.
• Capillary electrophoresis (CE) offers a high-resolution separation technique with potential for sensitive analyte detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a capillary electrophoresis method for plasma lactate quantification.
• To evaluate the utility of this CE method for determining the lactate threshold.
• To assess the method's performance in terms of linearity, detection limits, and precision using clinical samples.

Main Methods:

• Plasma samples were deproteinized using an acetonitrile/methanol mixture.
• Capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (CE-C4D) was employed.
• A specific running buffer (2-morpholinoethanesulfonic acid monohydrate, DL-histidine, hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide at pH 6.0) was optimized.

Main Results:

• The CE method demonstrated excellent linearity (R² = 0.9994) over a concentration range of 10-1000 μmol/L.
• A low limit of detection (3.2 μmol/L) was achieved.
• High precision was observed with intra- and inter-day variability below 7% RSD.
• Analysis of clinical samples showed satisfactory correlation with an established enzymatic method.

Conclusions:

• Capillary electrophoresis with C4D provides a sensitive and reliable method for plasma lactate quantification.
• The developed method is suitable for evaluating lactate threshold, requiring minimal sample preparation.
• This technique shows promise as a valuable tool for clinical diagnostics and physiological monitoring.