Quantitative Determination of Serum Iron in Human Blood by High-Performance Capillary Electrophoresis

Abstract

A capillary electrophoretic (HPCE) method that can be used to quantitatively determine trace amounts of iron has been developed and applied to determine the iron level in human serum. After precipitation of serum proteins, Fe(III) in the serum is reduced to Fe(II) with hydroxylamine hydrochloride, and a stable Fe(II)-1,10-phenanthroline complex is formed by adding 1,10-phenanthroline to the supernatant containing 2.5 mM ammonium acetate-acetic acid at pH 5.0. The Fe(II)-1,10-phenanthroline complex, [Fe(C12H8N2)3]2+, has a very strong absorbance at 270 nm (with a molar absorptivity of 9.2 · 104. By measuring the absorbance of [Fe(C12H8N2)3]2+ at 270 nm, the iron level in human serum can be precisely quantified. The interference from copper, a major interference in serum, can be totally eliminated due to the complete separation of [Fe(C12H8N2)3]2+ and the Cu(II)-1,10-phenanthroline complex. In addition, other problems that usually occurred with conventional spectrophotometric methods, such as co-precipitation and occlusion of iron during sample pretreatment, are significantly minimized due to the ability to wash the precipitate and the higher detection sensitivity. With this method, a single drop (10 µl) of serum would be sufficient to determine the serum iron concentration. The method is reliable, sensitive, rapid and reproducible. Thus it is highly suitable for use in the clinical laboratory.

Department(s)

Chemistry

Keywords and Phrases

1,10 Phenanthroline; 1,10 Phenanthroline Copper; 1,10 Phenanthroline Iron; Ferric Ion; Ferrous Ion; Hydroxylamine; Iron; Iron Complex; Trichloroacetic Acid; Unclassified Drug; Absorptiometry; Accuracy; Complex Formation; Conference Paper; Gel Electrophoresis; Human; Human Tissue; Iron Blood Level; Priority Journal; Quantitative Assay; Reproducibility; Electrophoresis, Capillary; Human; Iron; Reproducibility Of Results; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0378-4347

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 1995 Elsevier, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jul 1995

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