ANALYSIS OF SMALL MOLECULES FOR CLINICAL-DIAGNOSIS BY CAPILLARY ELECTROPHORESIS

The application of capillary electrophoresis (CE) for the analysis of small molecules in clinical research is growing steadily. Initial stud ies have dealt with separations of standards or compounds in clean mat rices. However, later studies dealt with analysis of those compounds i n serum, urine or tissues. Great progress has been accomplished in thr ee areas of clinical interest: organic acids, amino acids and drug ana lysis. The analysis of these compounds by capillary electrophoresis ha s several distinct advantages: high resolution, simplicity, versatilit y and especially low operating costs. In many cases, the sample can be injected directly without complex pretreatment. Most of the described methods have been validated for their precision, linearity and accura cy. In forensic toxicology, the CE has been used for drug identificati on and as a complementary analytical method.