Determination of tryptophan and kynurenine in human plasma by liquid chromatography-electrochemical detection with multi-wall carbon nanotube-modified glassy carbon electrode

Abstract

A novel method was developed for the simultaneous determination of kynurenine and tryptophan by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection at multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-modified glassy carbon electrode. The separation and detection conditions were optimized. The typical HPLC experiments were conducted by using a reversed-phase ODS column with a mobile phase consisting of stock acetate buffer (pH 5)-methanol (4:1, v/v) using an isocratic elution at the flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The obtained LODs for kynurenine and tryptophane were 0.5 and 0.4 µmol/L, respectively. The analytical method for human plasma samples was validated and confirmed by LC-UV and LC-MS. The recoveries were in the range of 84.8-110%, and the precision was lower than 5.9%.