Multi-elements (aluminium, copper, magnesium, manganese, selenium and zinc) determination in serum by dynamic reaction cell-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry.

Background: Trace element determination in laboratory medicine is widely carried out by atomic absorption or emission spectroscopy. In the last decade, there has been a rapid growth in the use of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry because of its strong detection power, and the possibility of multi-elements analysis in a single run.

Methods: Having the advantages of smaller sample volume and better detection limit, we developed a method for the simultaneous determinations of six trace elements by using 100 microL serum, and the assay can be accomplished within 3 min.

Results: The method developed gave recovery of the six elements ranging from 97% to 117%. The method covered a wide dynamic range with manganese in the range of nmol/L, while magnesium was in the range of mmol/L. The detection limits were 0.001 mmol/L, 0.05 micromol/L, 2.0 nmol/L, 0.2 micromol/L, 0.05 micromol/L, and 0.01 micromol/L for magnesium, aluminium, manganese, copper, zinc, and selenium, respectively. All the six elements had intra-assay imprecision of less than 5%, and inter-assay imprecision of less than 8%.

Conclusions: This fast and robust method is suitable for use in the clinical laboratory where short turnaround time is needed for managing patients with trace element deficiency or toxicity.