Molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction of glutathione from urine samples

Molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) particles for glutathione were synthesized through iniferter-controlled living radical precipitation polymerization (IRPP) under ultraviolet radiation at ambient temperature. Static adsorption, solid-phase extraction, and high-performance liquid chromatography were carried out to evaluate the adsorption properties and selective recognition characteristics of the polymers for glutathione and its structural analogs. The obtained IRPP-MIP particles exhibited a regularly spherical shape, rapid binding kinetics, high imprinting factor, and high selectivity compared with the MIP particles prepared using traditional free-radical precipitation polymerization. The selective separation and enrichment of glutathione from the mixture of glycyl-glycine and glutathione disulfide could be achieved on the IRPP-MIP cartridge. The recoveries of glutathione, glycyl-glycine, and glutathione disulfide were 95.6% ± 3.65%, 29.5% ± 1.26%, and 49.9% ± 1.71%, respectively. The detection limit (S/N = 3) of glutathione was 0.5 mg·L− 1. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for 10 replicate detections of 50 mg·L− 1 of glutathione were 5.76%, and the linear range of the calibration curve was 0.5 mg·L− 1 to 200 mg·L− 1 under optimized conditions. The proposed approach was successfully applied to determine glutathione in spiked human urine samples with recoveries of 90.24% to 96.20% and RSDs of 0.48% to 5.67%.