The determination of uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase in tissues by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to fluorescence detection

High-performance liquid chromatography coupled to fluorescence detection wsa utilized for the separation and quantitation of porphyrins as methyl esters. The method (developed for biochemical investigation of porphyrias) permitted quantitation down to 0.2 nanograms of porphyrins per sample. One of the possible applications is the study of the enzyme uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase. No significant difference was found between two methods of methylation and extraction of the samples prior to chromatography.