Selective hydride generation-cryotrapping-ICP-MS for arsenic speciation analysis at picogram levels: analysis of river and sea water reference materials and human bladder epithelial cells

An ultra sensitive method for arsenic (As) speciation analysis based on selective hydride generation (HG) with preconcentration by cryotrapping (CT) and inductively coupled plasma- mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) detection is presented. Determination of valence of the As species is performed by selective HG without prereduction (trivalent species only) or with L-cysteine prereduction (sum of tri- and pentavalent species). Methylated species are resolved on the basis of thermal desorption of formed methyl substituted arsines after collection at −196°C. Limits of detection of 3.4, 0.04, 0.14 and 0.10 pg mL−1 (ppt) were achieved for inorganic As, mono-, di- and trimethylated species, respectively, from a 500 μL sample

Opioids as model drugs for exploring the mechanism underlying the development of drug dependence

The aim of this bachelor thesis was to gather knowledge about the mechanisms of addiction, where opioids served as model compounds. Opioids are substances commonly used to treat acute and severe pain as in cancer treatment. However, long-term administration of these drugs killing, after a time reaches the ceiling, which is caused by rapid onset of analgesic tolerance and the slow development of tolerance to the secondary side effects. To achieve the same effect has to be constantly increasing dose, leading to the emergence and development of dependence. Mechanisms of drug addiction are still not fully elucidated, but recent studies agree that a very significant role in these events are membrane-bound opioid receptors and adenylyl cyclase signaling system that regulates intracellular levels of cAMP and CREB and FosB as transcription factors. Very important are the so-called epigenetic mechanisms, such as post-translational modification of histones and DNA or gene expression

Speciation analysis of toxicologocally important forms of arsenic: development and comparison of hydride generation based methods with ICP-MS detection

Nowadays, arsenic is becoming an important pollutant in the environment. Chronic exposure to arsenic can cause number of serious diseases. Therefore, a development of analytical methods for trace and ultratrace speciation analysis- analysis of individual forms or phases in which As is found in the sample - is fully in place. This Thesis compares four methods of trace speciation analysis, with focus on limits of detection and quantification, and on comparison of results of analysis of river and sea water reference materials. Methods based on hydride generation with preconcentration by cryotrapping and AAS or ICP-MS detection, with limits of detection in ng or tenths of ng·dm-3 , are compared with procedures employing HPLC, with ICP-MS detection. The Thesis includes development and optimization of a pre-reduction step of postcolumn hydride generation with on-line pre-reduction of pentavalent arsenic species, in order to improve sensitivity of this method. Limits of detection around 10 ng·dm-3 are achieved. The results of analyses obtained by individual methods are in excellent agreement. Keywords: Arsenic, speciation analysis, hydride generation, atomic absorption spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma- mass spectrometry, high efficiency liquid chromatography, limits of detection

Selective hydride generation-cryotrapping-ICP-MS for arsenic speciation analysis at picogram levels: analysis of river and sea water reference materials and human bladder epithelial cells

An ultra sensitive method for arsenic (As) speciation analysis based on selective hydride generation (HG) with preconcentration by cryotrapping (CT) and inductively coupled plasma- mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) detection is presented. Determination of valence of the As species is performed by selective HG without prereduction (trivalent species only) or with L-cysteine prereduction (sum of tri- and pentavalent species). Methylated species are resolved on the basis of thermal desorption of formed methyl substituted arsines after collection at −196°C. Limits of detection of 3.4, 0.04, 0.14 and 0.10 pg mL(−1) (ppt) were achieved for inorganic As, mono-, di- and trimethylated species, respectively, from a 500 μL sample. Speciation analysis of river water (NRC SLRS-4 and SLRS-5) and sea water (NRC CASS-4, CASS-5 and NASS-5) reference materials certified to contain 0.4 to 1.3 ng mL(−1) total As was performed. The concentrations of methylated As species in tens of pg mL(−1) range obtained by HG-CT-ICP-MS systems in three laboratories were in excellent agreement and compared well with results of HG-CT-atomic absorption spectrometry and anion exchange liquid chromatography- ICP-MS; sums of detected species agreed well with the certified total As content. HG-CT-ICP-MS method was successfully used for analysis of microsamples of exfoliated bladder epithelial cells isolated from human urine. Here, samples of lysates of 25 to 550 thousand cells contained typically tens pg up to ng of iAs species and from single to hundreds pg of methylated species, well within detection power of the presented method. A significant portion of As in the cells was found in the form of the highly toxic trivalent species