Simultaneous determination of methanol, acetaldehyde, acetone, and ethanol in human blood by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection

摘要

Background: Methanol, acetaldehyde, acetone, and ethanol, which are commonly used as biomarkers of several diseases, in acute intoxications, and forensic settings, can be detected and quantified in biological fluids. Gas chromatography (GC)-mass spectrometry techniques are complex, require highly trained personnel and expensive materials.Gas chromatographic determinations of ethanol,methanol, and acetone have been reported inone study with suboptimal accuracy.Our objective was to improve the assessment of these compounds in human blood using GCwith flame ionization detection.Methods: Anamount of 50 μl of blood was diluted with 300 μl of sterilewater, 40 μl of 10% sodium tungstate, and 20 μl of 1% sulphuric acid. After centrifugation, 1 μl of the supernatant was injected into the gas chromatograph.We used a dimethylpolysiloxane capillary column of 30m×0.25mm×0.25 mm. Results:We observed linear correlations from7.5 to 240mg/l formethanol, acetaldehyde, and acetone and from 75 to 2400mg/l for ethanol. Precision at concentrations 15, 60, and 120mg/l formethanol, acetaldehyde, and acetone and 150, 600, and 1200mg/ml for ethanol were 0.8-6.9%. Ranges of accuracy were 94.7-98.9% formethanol, 91.2-97.4% for acetaldehyde, 96.1-98.7% for acetone, and 105.5-111.6% for ethanol. Limits of detection were 0.80 mg/l for methanol, 0.61 mg/l for acetaldehyde, 0.58 mg/l for acetone, and 0.53 mg/l for ethanol. Conclusion: This method is suitable for routine clinical and forensic practices.