Effect of Disturbances of Zinc and Copper on the Physical and Mental Health Status of Patients with Alcohol Dependence.

The concentrations of copper and zinc in the tissues of alcohol-addicted people can significantly correlate with the variables describing their mental state. Studies on the homeostasis of zinc in alcohol-dependent patients have often been characterized by low hypozincemia detection. This may be caused by a low content of zinc in blood serum (1%) compared to the average zinc level in the body. Unfortunately, most authors have identified extracellular zinc in their studies. In the available literature, data on the level of copper in patients suffering from alcohol dependence are inconsistent. Our study included 100 alcohol-addicted patients (the study group) and 50 healthy subjects (the control group). Mental state was measured using appropriate psychometric scales. We used inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to determine copper and zinc content. Our results confirm the purposefulness of the use of zinc concentration in erythrocytes as a diagnostic parameter for low zinc status in alcohol-dependent patients. Alcohol-dependent patients with reduced concentrations of zinc in erythrocytes/copper in blood plasma differed significantly from alcohol-dependent patients with normal concentrations in terms of clinical parameters. With regard to zinc in blood plasma and copper in erythrocytes, this situation has not been found. The clinical symptoms of hypozincemia and copper deficiency in patients addicted to alcohol usually relate to disorders in central nervous system functioning, and they result in a decreased quality of physical and mental life.

Experimental verification of the properties of ion-selective electrodes for low concentration determination.

The influence of several ion-selective electrode properties on electrode response and selectivity at low concentration levels has been investigated experimentally. The properties investigated were the composition of inner electrode solution, the composition of the membrane, the presence of interfering ions in the sample, and the thickness of diffusion layer in the sample solution. All the results obtained confirmed theoretical considerations.

Carbonate ion selective electrodes with trifluoroacetophenone derivatives in potentiometric clinical analyser.

Properties of six derivatives of 1-trifluoroacetylbenzene: [4-(n-butyl)- (1), 4-(n-hexadecyl)- (2), 4-dodecyloxy- (3), 4-(n-dodecylsulfonyl)- (4), N,N-dioctyl-4-trifluoroacetylbenzamide (5), octyl-p-trifluoroacetylbenzoate (6)] as neutral carriers for carbonate ion were examined and compared. The sensitivity towards carbonate ion was for (3) pH dependent. This eliminates (3) from practical applications in clinical analysis. When measuring CO(3)(2-) within the physiological range of human blood using as carriers compounds 1 and 2 the interference of chloride must be taken into account. In the case of carriers 4, 5, 6 this effect is negligible. Electrodes with membranes containing as carriers 2, 4, 5 and 6 were tested in an automatic potentiometric clinical analyser Microlyte 6, KONE. To avoid contamination by atmospheric CO(2) of three aqueous standards (TES, NaCl, NaHCO(3)), pH was adjusted by coulomeric generation of H(+) or OH(-) in a system devoid of carbon dioxide. Recovery of HCO(3)(-) calculated from measured CO(3)(2-) and pH, was investigated in a series of aqueous solutions and spiked bovine serum samples. The correlation between added and recovered concentration of HCO(3)(-) was linear with the intercept close to 0 and slope equal to 1 in aqueous solutions for all ligands and in bovine serum samples only in the case of ligand (2).

Clinical findings on human blood with the KONE ISE for Mg2+.

Ionized magnesium was measured using a clinical analyzer MICROLYTE 6 (KONE, Finland). Total magnesium was measured colorimetrically. The influence of anion-ligands on Mg-ISE responses was investigated. Ionized magnesium (iMg) concentration changes with pH were made to observe the accuracy of results. The dependence of iMg and iCa on heparin (used as anticoagulant in plasma samples) was made. Less than 40 units per 1 ml of blood decreased the concentration of iMg and iCa less than 1.5%. The range of iMg and total Mg in serum and plasma of healthy and ill adults (short bowel syndrome, myocardial infarct) was investigated and compared to each other. In both illnesses, the concentration of ionized and/or total magnesium is significantly different from the range for healthy people. The range of iMg and total Mg as well as the percentage of iMg against total Mg seem to be specific for given illness. The range of iMg and total Mg in blood serum of healthy children was also investigated.

Interpretation of the selectivity and detection limit of liquid ion-exchanger electrodes.

An equation has been derived which describes the e.m.f. of a liquid ion-exchanger membrane electrode in conditions of low concentration levels of the primary and interfering ions. The equation is based on the assumption that if the external solution contains no excess of ions which may exchange with the organic phase, then the concentration of the exchanger at the interface decreases, and this is responsible for formation of a diffusion layer inside the membrane. Therefore the potential response depends on the initial concentration of the ion-exchanger in the membrane phase, on the thicknesses of the diffusion layer on both sides of the interface, and on the diffusion coefficients of the species in both phases. This equation explains the non-Nernstian behaviour of the electrode in the presence of interferents, as well as the variation of the conditional selectivity coefficients. The parameters mentioned also influence the detection limit of an electrode. The electrode behaviour has been tested in unstirred solutions and in solutions stirred at different rates. Through its influence on the diffusion layer thickness, the stirring also influences the electrode potential and the characteristics of the electrode.