High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of corticosteroids

This review presents recent developments in high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) analysis of corticosteroids for the determination of clinically important steroids in biological specimens. Various sample preparation techniques are described.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of glycoamines in serum

This report describes the development of an HPLC-UV method for studies of glycoamines and glycoamine-like compounds in normal human serum and osteosarcoma patient serum as potential biological markers of cancer. The glycoamines, a newly recognized class of endogenous, low-molecular-mass biopolymers, are conjugates of amino acids and sugar units, containing 5 to 29 amino acid and 1 to 17 sugar units. After ultrafiltration of serum samples, reversed-phase HPLC separation with diode-array detection was used to obtain standard profiles of serum ultrafiltrates below M_r 10 000 in healthy subjects. These highly reproducible profiles utilized two-dimensional peak identification and were used to develop a statistical profile of the major glycoamine peaks in normal serum. This newly developed analytical method was subsequently used to address a key question: whether or not there is a single tumor-specific glycoamine or a family of tumor-specific glycoamines in cancer patient serum. Preliminary results suggest that this method can separate and detect glycoamines and glycoamine-like compounds in various types of cancer patient serum with a high degree of reproducibility on the basis of comparative two-dimensional identification of natural compounds and a panel of synthetic glycoamine analogs. Moreover, the method is useful for following the relative changes in the amount of a given glycoamine over an extended clinical time course. Initial results suggest that a glycoamine or glycoamine-like compound, GA-4.63, may have clinical utility in human osteosarcoma studies.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of oligodeoxyribonucleotide base composition

A significantly improved method for base composition analysis of synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotides is presented. This highly accurate and sensitive method used enzymatic digestion followed by high-resolution HPLC of the nucleosides to determine the empirical base composition of the parent compound. The enzymatic digestion reaction is quantitative and is not blocked by modified bases, thus allowing the degree of base deprotection and chemical modification to be assessed. Digestion data are presented for oligodeoxyribonucleotides which range from 18 to 150 bases in length with excellent agreement of experimental and theoretical composition. The method is also applicable to high-molecular-weight genomic DNA.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of radiolabeled inositol phosphates

Separation of inositol phosphates by low-pressure anion-exchange chromatography yields unsatisfactory results, while previously described anion-exchange HPLC methods require such extensive processing times that they preclude efficient sample analysis. Using a low-capacity Vydac nucleotide anion-exchange column, we have developed a method which allows complete separation of myo-inositol, inositol 1-phosphate, inositol 1,4-bisphosphate, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, and inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate in approximately 10 min followed by a 5-min column regeneration time. This method provided exceptional reproducibility and quantitative recovery of each inositol phosphate. One column was used for over 300 separations with no loss in performance or alteration in elution pattern. A modified procedure with a 14-min gradient was developed to separate the 1,3,4- and 1,4,5-isomers of inositol trisphosphate. These separation procedures were used to characterize the kinetics of degradation of inositol phosphates by lysates of erythrocytes and neutrophils. We conclude that these procedures are applicable for rapid and quantitative analysis of radiolabeled inositol phosphates in cellular extracts.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis and separation of N-feruloylserotonin isomers

The N-feruloylserotonin containing fraction was isolated from seeds of Leuzea carthamoides (Willd.) DC by solvent extraction followed by column chromatography on silica gel or on Sephadex LH-20. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic analysis of the isolated fraction showed the presence of four structurally related compounds. These compounds were identified as four isomers of N-feruloylserotonin: N-(Z)-feruloylserotonin, N-(Z)-isoferuloylserotonin, N-(E)-feruloylserotonin and N-(E)-isoferuloylserotonin. They were analyzed by HPLC on Separon SGX C18, Separon SGX and Separon SGX phenyl, using various mobile phases. Separon SGX phenyl phase was found the most efficient for a rapid analysis and for the final separation of the N-feruloylserotonin isomers.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of ammonium in human urine

A method for the quantitative determination of ammonium in human urine by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is described. After making fluorescent substances with fluorescamine, they were separated and quantified by their fluorometric intensity. The intensity (as measured by peak height) was linear between 0.5 and 5.0 micrograms, and coefficients of variation for elution time and peak height on replicate analysis of the standard were 0.15 and 4.2%, respectively. Recoveries of added ammonium were 96.5 and 97.3%, respectively, on 2.0 and 3.0 micrograms by this method. Detection limit of this method was 0.2 microgram. There was good agreement between the proposed HPLC method (X) and ion chromatographic method (Y), giving the relationships as Y = 0.956X + 0.012, r = 0.991.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of fucoganglioside hydrolysis by alpha-L-fucosidase

A sensitive HPLC method has been developed for monitoring fucoganglioside hydrolysis by purified alpha-L-fucosidase. The high-resolution method employs a Lichrosorb-NH2 column, a 10-min isocratic elution with potassium phosphate/acetonitrile buffer, detection of ganglioside products with a uv monitor at 195 nm, and quantification of low picomolar amounts of these gangliosides with an integrator. The usefulness of the HPLC method has been exemplified by using it to demonstrate the hydrolysis of gangliosides fucosyl-GM1 and fucosyl-GD1b by purified human liver alpha-L-fucosidase in the absence of activator proteins and/or detergents.     

High-resolution anion-exchange and partition thin-layer chromatography for complex mixtures of 32P-postlabeled DNA adducts

³²P-Postlabeling has emerged as a major tool for detecting DNA adducts resulting from exposure to complex carcinogen mixtures. An integral component of this assay is multi-directional PEI-cellulose TLC in which lipophilic ³²P-adducts are resolved in high-salt, high-urea solvents following removal of the bulk of non-adduct radioactivity. This TLC system is very effective for adducts formed following exposure to individual carcinogens; however, adducts resulting from exposure to complex mixtures (e.g. cigarette smoke) generally appear in the form of the so-called diagonal radioactive zones. By using mixtures of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon- and aromatic amine-DNA adducts as well as adducts in mouse skin treated with cigarette smoke condensate, we have demonstrated that a combination of 0.3–0.4 M NH₄ OH and isopropanol-4 M NH₄OH (1-1.4:1) solvents can provide more sharply defined adduct spots than the commonly used urea solvents. The non-urea solvents also result in excellent resolution of many adducts which otherwise may remain buried in diagonal radioactive zones when using the urea solvents. In addition, the signal-to-noise ratio is increased 2- to 5-fold over the urea solvents enabling detection of discrete adducts at ≤3 adducts per 10¹⁰ nucleotides. These partition TLC solvents also involve fewer manipulations (e.g. no water washes to remove salt and urea), and are likely to be more informative with regards to the type of individual adducts detected in the biomonitoring of humans than has hitherto been possible.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of polyhydroxyflavones using solid-phase borate-complex extraction

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method using a solid-phase borate-complex extraction pretreatment was studied for the selective quantitation of polyhydroxyflavones in vegetables, red wine and human blood plasma. Homogenate, extract and intact samples were applied to phenylboric acid cartridges to retain polyhydroxyflavones on the solid-phase by forming the borate-complex, followed by elution of the retained analytes with an acidic solvent. Reversed-phase chromatography with diode array detection allowed the simultaneous separation of rutin, myricetin, fisetin, morin, quercetin and kaempferol without significant interference from other components, indicating high selectivity of the solid-phase borate-complex extraction. The absolute recoveries of quercetin, fisetin and rutin were superior to those of kaempferol, myricetin and morin, suggesting a difference in the complex formation efficiency between 1,2- and 1,3-diol structures. When using fisetin as an internal standard, polyhydroxyflavones were quantified in the concentration range 0.10–30.0 μg/ml. In replicate spiking experiments with standards, the mean relative recoveries ranged between 75.7 and 104.6%, and the intra- and inter-assay C.V.s ranged between 0.8 and 10.2% for onion, wine and plasma samples. The proposed method will be applicable to nutritional and pharmacokinetic experiments of polyhydroxyflavones.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of nitroxoline in plasma and urine

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of nitroxoline in 50-μl plasma and urine samples.A structural analogue of nitroxoline, 8-hydroxyquinoline, was added to the eluent in order to suppress peak asymmetry. Several parameters of the eluent were studied for the optimisation of the chromatographic system.Plasma concentration—time curves were constructed for three volunteers after they had received an oral dose of 100 mg of nitroxoline. Plasma half-life was about 1 h. Within 12 h, about 1% of the dose was excreted in the urine as free nitroxoline and about 30% as conjugated metabolite of the parent compound.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of ubiquinones from new Legionella species

Abstract The ubiquinone composition of Legionella feeleii, L. oakridgensis, L. rubrilucens, L. sainthelensi, L. wadsworthii and some environmental legionella isolates was investigated by high performance liquid chromatography. The results of the present study indicate ubiquinones are valuable criteria for the rapid identification of Legionella species and the recognition of new taxa.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of methocarbamol enantiomers in biological fluids

Methocarbamol enantiomers in rat and human plasma were quantified using a stereospecific high-performance liquid chromatographic method. Racemic methocarbamol and internal standard, (R)-(−)-flecainide, were isolated from plasma by a single-step extraction with ethyl acetate. After derivatization with the enantiomerically pure reagent (S)-(+)-1-(1-naphthyl)ethyl isocyanate, methocarbamol diastereomers and the (R)-flecainide derivative were separated on a normal-phase silica column with a mobile phase consisting of hexane—isopropanol (95:5, v/v) at a flow-rate of 1.6 ml/min. Ultraviolet detection was carried out at a wavelength of 280 nm. The resolution factor between the diastereomers was 2.1 (α = 1.24). An excellent linearity was observed between the methocarbamol diastereomers/internal standard derivative peak-area ratios and plasma concentrations, and the intra- and inter-day coefficients of variation were always <9.8%. The lowest quantifiable concentration was 0.5 μg/ml for each enantiomer (coefficients of variation of 9.8 and 8.8% for (S)- and (R)-methocarbamol, respectively), while the limit of detection (signal-to-noise ratio 3:1) was approximately 10 ng/ml. The assay was used to study the pharmacokinetics of methocarbamol enantiomers in a rat following intravenous administration of a 120 mg/kg dose of racemic methocarbamol and to evaluate plasma and urine concentrations in a human volunteer after oral administration of a 1000-mg dose of the racemate. The method is suitable for stereoselective pharmacokinetic studies in humans as well as in animal models.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of abscisic acid in plant extracts.

A HPLC assay for ABA and bound ABA is described. The method uses conventional acid-base ether extractions for partial cleanup of the plant extracts followed by Sephadex G-25 column fractionation. The ABA is separated and detected by HPLC on a 3 m × 2.1 mm i.d. column of SCX-Zipax with a uv detector. The method is sensitive to less than 10 ng of ABA. HPLC analyses of ABA have been performed on extracts of leaves, stems, and roots of soybeans, pinto beans, cotton, apple seedlings, and the albedo and flavedo sections of orange peels.