Development of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry following headspace single-drop microextraction and simultaneous derivatization for fast determination of the diabetes biomarker, acetone in human blood samples

Abstract

Acetone in human blood has been regarded as the diabetic biomarker. Acetone analysis is used as the accessorial diagnosis tool for diabetes. In this work, a simple, solvent-free and low-cost technique was developed for fast determination of acetone in blood samples, which was based on headspace single-drop microextraction and simultaneous derivatization followed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Acetone in blood was headspace extracted by using the microdrop solvent containing a derivatization agent of O-(2,3,4,5-pentafluorobenzyl)hydroxylamine (PFBHA). The extracted acetone reacted with PFBHA in the microdrop, and rapidly formed acetone oxime. Finally, the derivative in the microdrop was detected by GC–MS. The parameters of headspace single-drop microextraction and simultaneous derivatization were studied, and the method validations were also studied. The proposed method was tested by the application to the determination of acetone in blood samples from controls and diabetic patients. The results show that headspace single-drop microextraction and simultaneous derivatization followed GC–MS is a simple, rapid, solvent-free and sensitive method for the determination of acetone in blood, and also a potential tool for diagnosis of diabetes.