Pharmaceutical and biomedical applications of capillary electrophoresis/electrochemistry

The use of capillary electrophoresis/electrochemistry (CEEC) for the analysis of microdialysis samples obtained for pharmacokinetic and neurochemical studies is described, as well as the development of new types of electrodes and waveforms which increase the selectivity of this technique for specific classes of analytes. CEEC with a carbon fiber electrode was employed for the analysis of microdialysis samples. Microdialysis is an in vivo sampling technique that yields very small samples for analysis (less than 1 microL). Therefore, capillary electrophoresis, with its small volume requirements, is an excellent choice for the analytical method. CEEC was used to study the pharmacokinetics of L-dopa and the release of aspartate and glutamate following a high K+ infusion in the brain. Several modified electrodes which increase the applicability of CEEC in pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis are described. One of these is a gold/mercury electrode which is highly selective for thiols and was used for the determination of glutathione in a rat brain. An alternative method for the detection of thiols employed a chemically modified electrode containing cobalt phthalocyanine. In this case, an electrocatalyst reduces the overpotential of thiols at the carbon electrode and makes it possible to detect them at a much lower and more selective oxidation potential. This electrode was used for the detection of cysteine in urine. The development of pulsed amperometric detection for capillary electrophoresis is also described and is demonstrated by the detection of glucose in blood. Lastly, a method for the detection of peptides based on the formation of a copper complex and detection at a carbon fiber electrode is discussed.