RESUMO
In this study we constructed a highly sensitive system for in vivo monitoring of the concentrations of rat brain extracellular glucose and lactate. This system involved microdialysis (MD) sampling and fluorescence determination in conjunction with a novel sample derivatization scheme in which glucose oxidase and lactate oxidase were immobilized in ABS flow bioreactors (manufactured through low-cost three-dimensional printing (3DP)), via fused deposition modeling, for online oxidization of sampled glucose and lactate, respectively, in rat brain microdialysate. After optimizing the experimental conditions for MD sampling, the manufacture of the designed flow reactors, the enzyme immobilization procedure, and the online derivatization scheme, the available sampling frequency was 15 h(-1) and the system's detection limits reached as low as 0.060 mM for glucose and 0.059 mM for lactate, based on a 20-µL conditioned microdialysate; these characteristics were sufficient to reliably determine the concentrations of extracellular glucose and lactate in the brains of living rats. To demonstrate the system's applicability, we performed (i) spike analyses of offline-collected rat brain microdialysate and (ii) in vivo dynamic monitoring of the extracellular glucose and lactate in living rat brains, in addition to triggering neuronal depolarization by perfusing a high-K(+) medium from the implanted MD probe. Our analytical results and demonstrations confirm that postprinting functionalization of analytical devices manufactured using 3DP technology can be a powerful strategy for extending the diversity and adaptability of currently existing analytical configurations.