Determination of total iron binding capacity of serum by capillary electrophoresis

A capillary electrophoresis (CE) technique for determining total iron binding capacity (TIBC) of serum has been developed. The optimum serum pretreatment involves the following major steps: at first, saturate serum transferrin with Fe⁺³; then, dissociate them completely after removing excess unbound Fe. Finally, complex the released iron with phenanthroline, a chromophore, to make suitable for the CE analysis. Ammonium acetate (pH=5.0) was used as CE background electrolyte solution. In this system, a good linear correlation coefficient was maintained over the range 0.5≈10 μM (r=0.9979,n=12). Seven adult serum samples were studied and the TIBC parameters measured. In the present system, 10≈30 μL serum is sufficient for determination. The study shows that the CE technique described is a powerful method for rapid, efficient, sensitive and reliable analysis and hence particularly suitable for clinical application.