Ion-exclusion/cation-exchange chromatographic determination of common inorganic ions in human saliva by using an eluent containing zwitterionic surfactant.

Ion-exclusion/cation-exchange chromatography with an eluent containing the bile salt-type zwitterionic surfactant CHAPS was performed in order to evaluate variations in anion (SO(4)(2-), NO(3)(-), and SCN(-)) and cation (Na(+), K(+), NH(4)(+), Mg(2+), and Ca(2+)) concentrations in human saliva. CHAPS prevents the adsorption of proteins to the stationary phase, i.e., weakly acidic cation-exchange resin, since it aggregates proteins without denaturing them. Addition of 1mM CHAPS to the eluent comprising 6mM tartaric acid and 7 mM 18-crown-6 yielded reproducible separations of anions and cations in protein-containing saliva. The resolutions of anions and cations were not significantly affected by the addition of CHAPS to the eluent. The concentrations of Na(+) and K(+) varied before and after meals; or that of SCN(-), upon smoking. The relative standard deviations of peak areas ranged from 0.3 to 5.1% in 1 day (n=20) and from 1.4 to 5.8% over 6 days (n=6).

Use of potassium-form cation-exchange resin as a conductimetric enhancer in ion-exclusion chromatography of aliphatic carboxylic acids.

In this study, a cation-exchange resin (CEX) of the K(+)-form, i.e., an enhancer resin, is used as a postcolumn conductimetric enhancer in the ion-exclusion chromatography of aliphatic carboxylic acids. The enhancer resin is filled in the switching valve of an ion chromatograph; this valve is usually used as a suppressor valve in ion-exchange chromatography. An aliphatic carboxylic acid (e.g., CH(3)COOH) separated by a weakly acidic CEX column of the H(+)-form converts into that of the K(+)-form (e.g., CH(3)COOK) by passing through the enhancer resin. In contrast, the background conductivity decreases because a strong acid (e.g., HNO(3)) with a higher conductimetric response in an eluent converts into a salt (e.g., KNO(3)) with a lower conductimetric response. Since the pH of the eluent containing the resin enhancer increases from 3.27 to 5.85, the enhancer accelerates the dissociations of analyte acids. Consequently, peak heights and peak areas of aliphatic carboxylic acids (e.g., acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, and valeric acid) with the enhancer resin are 6.3-8.0 times higher and 7.2-9.2 times larger, respectively, than those without the enhancer resin. Calibrations of peak areas for injected analytes are linear in the concentration range of 0.01-1.0mM. The detection limits (signal-to-noise ratio=3) range from 0.10 microM to 0.39 microM in this system, as opposed to those in the range of 0.24-7.1 microM in the separation column alone. The developed system is successfully applied to the determination of aliphatic carboxylic acids in a chicken droppings sample.