Sub-Minute Analysis of Lactate from a Single Blood Drop Using Capillary Electrophoresis with Contactless Conductivity Detection in Monitoring of Athlete Performance.

Ruth Shimmo,Karmen Reinpold,Kert Martma,Věra Dosedělová,Indrek Rannama,Petr Kubáň

doi:10.3390/molecules26195817

Abstract

A simple and fast method for the analysis of lactate from a single drop of blood was developed. The finger-prick whole blood sample (10 µL) was diluted (1:20) with a 7% (w/v) solution of [tris(hydroxymethyl)methylamino] propanesulfonic acid and applied to a blood plasma separation device. The device accommodates a membrane sandwich composed of an asymmetric polysulfone membrane and a supporting textile membrane that allows the collection of blood plasma into a narrow glass capillary in less than 20 s. Separated and simultaneously diluted blood plasma was directly injected into a capillary electrophoresis instrument with a contactless conductivity detector (CE-C4D) and analyzed in less than one minute. A separation electrolyte consisted of 10 mmol/L l-histidine, 15 mmol/L dl-glutamic acid, and 30 µmol/L cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. The whole procedure starting from the finger-prick sampling until the CE-C4D analysis was finished, took less than 5 min and was suitable for monitoring lactate increase in blood plasma during incremental cycling exercise. The observed lactate increase during the experiments measured by the developed CE-C4D method correlated well with the results from a hand-held lactate analyzer (R = 0.9882). The advantage of the developed CE method is the speed, significant savings per analysis, and the possibility to analyze other compounds from blood plasma.

Highlights

Blood lactate concentration is one of the most often measured parameters during clinical exercise testing as well as during performance testing of athletes
Lactate is one of the substances produced by cell metabolism, with the highest level of production occurring in the muscles, where it accumulates before it is released into the blood stream
We show that sampling and capillary electrophoresis (CE) analysis of lactate is possible in less than 5 min

Summary

Introduction

Blood lactate concentration is one of the most often measured parameters during clinical exercise testing as well as during performance testing of athletes. Lactate levels differ slightly for venous and arterial blood. Normal lactate ranges for venous blood are 0.5 to 2.2 mmol/L and 0.5 to 1.6 mmol/L for arterial blood [1]. Serum lactate levels usually increase due to an inadequate amount of oxygen in cells and tissues (hypoxia) and clinically may indicate, among others, severe dehydration, heart failure, respiratory failure, hemorrhage, ketoacidosis, severe infections, shock, and liver disease [2,3]. Not a specific diagnostic marker, as it may indicate a wide range of conditions. Blood lactate monitoring has been found useful for in-hospital mortality risk assessment for patients admitted acutely to the hospital [4]

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Results

Conclusion