Simultaneous flow-injection assay of creatinine and creatine in serum by the combined use of a 16-way switching valve, some specific enzyme reactors and a highly selective hydrogen peroxide electrode Original Research Article

Creatine and creatinine in serum were assayed simultaneously in a noble flow-injection system made up by a 16-way switching valve with two sample loops, three enzyme reactors positioned in a serial way, and a delay coil needed to separate two peaks corresponding to two sample portions injected simultaneously. A Nafion/poly(1,2-diaminobenzene) bilayer modified electrode was used to selectively detect the hydrogen peroxide generated as one of the end products in the last enzyme reactor, without any interferences from electroactive species (such as l-ascorbate and urate) and proteins present in the serum. Because two sample portions passed through the flow line with different residence time, two peaks were obtained. The first peak corresponded to creatine and the second peak to the total of creatine and creatinine. The maximum currents of both peaks were linearly related to the concentration of creatine and total of creatine and creatinine in the range of 1–100 μM, respectively; 20 samples h−1 could be processed with an R.S.D. <1.6%.