Determination of thiol compounds in rat striatum microdialysate by HPLC with a nanosized CoHCF-modified electrode.

A cobalt hexacyanoferrate (CoHCF) nanoparticle (size ca. 60 nm) chemically modified electrode (CME) was fabricated and the electrochemical behavior of thiols at this nanosized CoHCF CME was studied. In comparison with a bare glassy carbon (GC) electrode and with a general CoHCF CME which was electrode-posited in the traditional manner, the present nanosized CoHCF CME efficiently performed electrocatalytic oxidation for glutathione (GSH) and L-Cysteine (L-Cys) with relatively high sensitivity, outstanding stability, and long-life. Combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the nanosized CoHCF CME was used for electrochemical determination (ECD) of GSH and L-Cys. The peak currents were a linear function of concentrations in the range 2.0 x 10(-7) to 2.0 x 10(-4) mol L(-1) for both GSH and L-Cys, with detection limits of 1.2 x 10(-7) and 1.0 x 10(-7) mol L(-1), respectively. Coupled with microdialysis sampling, the HPLC-ECD system has been successfully used to assess the GSH and L-Cys content of rat striatum.