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Magnetically responsive polycaprolactone nanoparticles for progesterone screening in biological and environmental samples using gas chromatography

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Abstract

A new Fe3O4/poly(є-caprolactone) (PCL) magnetite nanocomposite was fabricated and used as a sorbent for magnetically mediated PCL microspheres solid-phase extraction (MM-PCL-SPE) followed by gas chromatography–flame ionization detection (GC–FID) for monitoring of progesterone (PGN) hormone in biological and environmental matrices, namely blood serum, tap water, urine, and hospital wastewater. The nanomagnetite core of the sorbent was synthesized by a co-precipitation method. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were then microencapsulated with PCL microspheres using emulsion polymerization. The nanocomposite was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The magnetite sorbent can be effectively dispersed in aqueous solution and attracted to an external magnetic field. The MM-PCL-SPE process for PGN assay involved (a) dispersion of the sorbent in the donor phase aqueous solution with sonication, (b) exposure to a magnetic field to collect sorbent that had adsorbed the analyte, and (c) solvent desorption of extracted PGN for GC–FID analysis. The work demonstrates the usefulness of MM-PCL-SPE in the rapid and sensitive monitoring of trace amounts of PGN in real samples. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 1.00 and 3.30 ng/mL, respectively. The relative recoveries in real samples were adequate. Linearity was observed over a wide range of 2.2–10,000.0 ng/mL in aqueous media and urine and 0.01–70.0 μg/mL in blood serum.

In this research new Fe3O4/poly(є-caprolactone) (PCL) magnetite microspheres were developed as an efficient sorbent for solid-phase extraction of progesterone hormone in biological and environmental matrices

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Payame Noor University and Food and Drug Laboratory of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences for supporting this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Payame Noor University, 19395-4697, Tehran, Iran

    Zarrin Es’haghi, Azizollah Nezhadali & Aram-Dokht Khatibi

  2. Department of Food and Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, 98167-43463, Zahedan, Iran

    Aram-Dokht Khatibi

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  1. Zarrin Es’haghi
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Correspondence to Zarrin Es’haghi.

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All of the authors have no pecuniary or other personal interest, direct or indirect, in any matter that raises or may raise a conflict with our duties as an academic member in Payame Noor University, Iran. Our participation in this research was entirely voluntary. It was their choice whether to participate or not.

Written informed consent was obtained from all volunteers who donated serum and urine samples.

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Es’haghi, Z., Nezhadali, A. & Khatibi, AD. Magnetically responsive polycaprolactone nanoparticles for progesterone screening in biological and environmental samples using gas chromatography. Anal Bioanal Chem 408, 5537–5549 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-016-9650-5

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