Separation of porphyrin isomers by high-performance liquid chromatography

A high-speed reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method using an octadecylsilyl 3 cm long (3 microns particle size) column to separate the free acids of uroporphyrins I and III and coproporphyrins I and III from each other, and from the type I isomers of several other porphyrin carboxylic acids, is described. Separation of the porphyrins was achieved in less than 8 min, and injections were possible every 12 min. The detection limits of uroporphyrin, coproporphyrin, and mesoporphyrin were 75, 45, and 35 fmol (at a signal-to-noise ratio of 2), respectively. Application of the method to the determination of urinary and liver porphyrin patterns is shown.     

Determination of individual porphyrins in rodent urine using high-performance liquid chromatography following clean-up by anion-exchange chromatography

We describe a method for the rapid clean-up of rodent urine samples prior to the analysis of porphyrin carboxylic acids by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. A simple pretreatment step using chromatography on a Dowex 1X8 anion-exchange resin effectively removes fluorescent substances that are present in rodent urine and would otherwise interfere with the detection and quantitation of urinary porphyrins by HPLC. Recovery of porphyrins with four to eight carboxyl groups (coproporphyrin to uroporphyrin) averaged 93% using this procedure. The use of this method to determine the amount of individual porphyrins present in the urine of hexachlorobenzene-treated mice is illustrated.     

Rapid analysis of porphyrins at low ng/l and microg/l levels in human urine by a gradient liquid chromatography method using octadecylsilica monolithic columns

Rapid gradient RP-HPLC method with fluorimetric detection for trace analysis of diagnostically significant porphyrins in human urine was developed for clinical and diagnostic purposes. Results show that optimized high-pressure gradient elution and monolithic column Chromolith SpeedRod RP18e enabled separation of seven urine porphyrins including baseline separation of I and III positional isomers of uro- and coproporphyrins within 3.2 min. Problems associated with high metal cation complexing ability of the analytes and common stainless steel based instrumentation were substantially reduced by use of 0.1 mol/l ammonium citrate buffer (pH 5.47) and methanol as a mobile phase components. Good reproducibilities of retention times (within +/- 0.36% RSD) and peak areas (from +/- 0.6 to +/- 2.5% RSD) at 5-20 microg/l level of the analytes were achieved. Determined LOQ (10 x S/N) values of diagnostically important porphyrins using fluorimetric detection (ex.405 nm/em.620 nm) were 82 pmol/l (65 ng/l, 1.30 pg/injection) for uroporphyrin I, 44 pmol/l (33 ng/l, 0.66 pg/injection) for uroporphyrin III, 50 pmol/l (40 ng/l, 0.80 pg/injection) for coproporphyrin I and 47 pmol/l (39 ng/l, 0.78 pg/injection) for coproporphyrin III. Attained LOQ concentration level is approximately 20-120 times lower than concentration of porphyrins in a urine of healthy person. Calculated LOD's (3 x S/N) were at a low ng/l levels, what enabled quantification of carry-over effect to be from 2.0% to 0.2% in each of three consecutive blank runs and from 2.5% to 7% in total after injection of mixed standard of porphyrins with 5-20 microg/l concentrations. Recovery of porphyrins at low microg/l concentration levels was from 93% to 97.5%. Devised method increases productivity of clinical laboratory from 2 to 10 times in dependence of duration of currently used method.     

Binding studies of porphyrins to human serum albumin using affinity capillary electrophoresis

The present work demonstrates that affinity capillary electrophoresis (ACE) can be employed as a valuable and powerful tool for studying the interactions between porphyrins and proteins in biological and biomedical research, such as the development of porphyrins and related compounds as efficient and selective photosensitizers in the photodynamic therapy of cancers. Binding constants of human serum albumin (HSA) to four biological porphyrins (uroporphyrin I, heptacarboxylporphyrin, coproporphyrin I, protoporphyrin IX), which possess a wide range of hydrophobicity, were estimated by ACE. Based on 1:1 molecular association between these individual porphyrins and HSA, the change of the electrophoretic mobility of HSA as a function of porphyrin concentration in the run buffer was measured and the binding constants were calculated from the slope of the Scatchard plots. The binding constant values were found to be 8.80 +/- 0.51 x 10(4) M(-1), 2.39 +/- 0.16 x 10(5) M(-1), 1.61 +/- 0.11 x 10(6) M(-1), and 9.34 +/- 0.30 x 10(6) M(-1) for uroporphyrin I, heptacarboxylporphyrin, coproporphyrin I, and protoporphyrin IX, respectively, and most of these results are in good agreement with those reported in the literature using conventional methods for binding measurements. Additionally, experimental binding constant data obtained using ACE was found to exhibit very good correlation with theoretical hydrophobicity values calculated using the Rekker's hydrophobic fragmental constant method, thus further supporting the hypothesis that the hydrophobicity of the porphyrin side chains play an important role in governing the hydrophobic interaction of porphyrins with serum proteins such as HSA.     

Ultra high-performance liquid chromatography of porphyrins

An ultra high‐performance liquid chromatographic (UHPLC) system was developed and optimized for the separation of porphyrins of clinical interest. Optimum conditions for the simultaneous separation of uroporphyrin, hepta‐, hexa‐, penta‐carboxylic acid porphyrins and coproporphyrin and their type I and III isomers on a Thermo Hypersil BDS C₁₈ column (2.4 µm particle size, 100 × 2.1 mm i.d.) using a gradient elution with 10% (v/v) acetonitrile in 1.0 m ammonium acetate buffer (pH 5.16) and 10% (v/v) acetonitrile in methanol at a flow‐rate of 0.4 mL/min. The effect of mobile phase buffer molarity on the sensitivity of fluorescence detection and resolution of porphyrin isomers was investigated. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of porphyrins extracted from the urine and faeces of patients with various human porphyrias. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rapid simultaneous determination of protoporphyrin IX, uroporphyrin III and coproporphyrin III in human whole blood by non-linear variable-angle synchronous fluorescence technique coupled with partial least squares

Fluorescence spectroscopy provides high sensitivity in quantitative analysis. However, due to spectral interference, it is difficult to determine the individual components of fluorescent multi-component mixtures in such complicated and important body matrices as blood, urine and feces without any pre-separation. In this study, a simple and rapid approach based on non-linear variable-angle synchronous fluorescence spectrometry coupled with partial least squares analysis (NLVASF/PLS) was developed for the simultaneous determination of protoporphyrin IX (PP), uroporphyrin III (UP) and coproporphyrin III (CP). The detection limits were 0.18, 0.29 and 0.24 nmol L⁻¹ for protoporphyrin IX (PP), uroporphyrin III (UP) and coproporphyrin III (CP), respectively. The individual components of blood porphyrins were quantified, by this method, simultaneously in one scan with only about 30 s. The recoveries of this method were above 80% in human whole blood samples. This method provided a potential tool for the determination of porphyrins in whole blood and the differential diagnosis of porphyria, especially for rapid routine screening of large number of samples.     

Stacking and separation of urinary porphyrins in capillary electrophoresis: optimization of concentration efficiency and resolution

We demonstrated that anionic porphyrins could be stacked and separated in micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) and microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC) by applying acetonitrile and high salt content in human urine sample matrix. The introduction of sample containing acetonitrile and sodium chloride into the CE capillary at more than 10% of the total capillary volume resulted in the improvement of peak resolution and the enhancement of detection sensitivity. The achieved acetonitrile stacking enrichment factors of six porphyrins ranged from 12 to 32 in MEKC and from 28 to 33 in MEEKC, respectively. The stacking technique was successfully applied for analyzing porphyrins present in urine samples that were deproteinized with acetonitrile. For the analysis of coproporphyrin isomers, addition of the sodium cholate (SC) into micelle and microemulsion solutions provided adequate resolution. Calibration curves obtained for the determination of coproporphyrin isomers were found linear between 30 and 400 nmol L⁻¹, and the limit of detection (LOD) was 20 nmol L⁻¹ in MEEKC. Intra- and interday precisions (n = 11) in the microemulsion separation system for the isomers at spiked concentrations of 40-400 nmol L⁻¹ in urine were in the range of 0.1-0.4% and 0.7-7.6% for migration time and peak area, respectively. Coproporphyrin III, coproporphyrin I and uroporphyrin were detected at levels of 80.7 nmol L⁻¹, 32.3 nmol L⁻¹ and 19.8 nmol L⁻¹, respectively, in the urine samples collected from healthy individuals. Different porphyrin profiles, however, were observed in urine samples from porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) patients.     

Porphyrin profiles in blood, urine and faeces by HPLC/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

A high-resolution high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry method is described for the analysis of porphyrins in blood, urine and faeces. The gradient elution reversed-phase HPLC system using acetonitrile-methanol-1 m ammonium acetate/acetic acid buffer (pH 5.16) as gradient solvent mixtures was able to separate all porphyrin metabolites, including the type I and type III isomers of uroporphyrin, hepta-, hexa- and penta-carboxylic acid porphyrins and coproporphyrin. The porphyrins were positively identified by the protonated molecules [M+H](+) and further characterized by tandem mass spectrometric analysis with each porphyrin giving a characteristic collisioninduced dissociation product ion spectrum. The mass chromatograms obtained by HPLC/ESI MS are useful for the differential diagnosis of the porphyrias, since each type of porphyria has a typical porphyrin excretion pattern.     

Über eine extraktions-chromatographische Trennung der freien Porphyrine und deren simultane quantitative Bestimmung

The method described allows the decomposition of porphyrin mixtures by extraction chromatography in the partition system tri-n-butylphosphate/hydrochloric acid. Separation and quantitation of coproporphyrin and uroporphyrin are performed simultaneously within 1–2 hrs. The influence of the acid concentration c_HCl and column temperature T_s on sensitivity and resolution are studied thoroughly. Under suitable conditions, both porphyrins can be determined up to 0.2 μg with an accuracy of 8–10% (95% deviation); the limit of detectability under the conditions used is of the order of 0.05μg. Furthermore the method proved to be an excellent tool to decompose very complex porphyrin mixtures which can be occasionally isolated from the urine of pathological cases.     

Capillary electrophoresis of urinary porphyrins with absorbance and fluorescence detection

Urinary porphyrins are separated in a 72 cm x 50 microns I.D. fused-silica capillary by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with 100 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate and 20 mM 3-(cyclohexylamino)-1-propanesulfonic acid at pH 11. Detection is accomplished by absorbance at 400 nm or fluorescence with excitation at 400 nm and emission at wavelengths above 550 nm. Substantial trace enrichment is found for porphyrins in urine samples or for porphyrin standards prepared without surfactant in the injection buffer. Limits of detection are in the 100 pmol/ml concentration range with an optimized fluorescence system. The method is shown suitable for the determination of porphyrins in clinical urine specimens. Comparisons are made between electrophoretic and chromatographic methods for the separation and detection of urinary porphyrins.     

A novel, selective, and rapid fluorimetric method for the simultaneous analysis of coproporphyrin and uroporphyrin in urine

A simple and rapid spectrofluorimetric method is described for the determination of the closely overlapping mixture of coproporphyrin (CP) and uroporphyrin (UP) in urine samples. Matrix Isopotential Synchronous Fluorescence Spectrometry (MISFS) was applied to improve the spectral resolution for the severely overlapped spectra of the urinary porphyrins. First-order derivative technique eliminates the background interference of each component on the other. Using these two techniques together, selectivity was improved, while maintaining a high sensitivity, and time-consuming separation processes and multiple scanning processes were avoided. The limits of detection were 0.15 nmol L⁻¹ and 0.1 nmol L⁻¹ for CP and UP, respectively. The concentrations of CP and UP were determined from the peak amplitudes of the Derivative Matrix Isopotential Synchronous Fluorescence (DMISF) spectra, at their detection points where the interference was suppressed. Porphyrins excretion in urine samples, collected from normal subjects, was studied. A comparison between the new method and the anion-exchange chromatographic method of Martinez and Mills was established using Bland-Altman method and the results indicate that these two methods are in a good agreement with each other.     

Coupling of acetonitrile deproteinization and salting-out extraction with acetonitrile stacking for biological sample clean-up and the enrichment of hydrophobic compounds (porphyrins) in capillary electrophoresis

A new sample pretreatment approach in CE was developed for concurrent biological sample clean-up and the concentration of hydrophobic compounds based on the combination of ACN deproteinization with salting-out extraction. Further enhancement in concentration detection sensitivity was achieved by coupling (offline) salting-out extraction with an online CE sample enrichment technique known as "ACN stacking". By optimizing the pH of salting-out extraction, a number of model compounds (hydrophobic porphyrins with clinical significances), i.e. zinc-protoporphyrin, protoporphyrin, and coproporphyrin (CP) III and I, can be efficiently extracted from the aqueous sample into a smaller volume organic solvent (ACN) phase and an enrichment factor of ca. 100 can be obtained. The pressure injection of the enriched ACN phase (containing ca.1% NaCl) into the CE capillary at 10% capillary volume resulted in additional concentration of the various hydrophobic porphyrins, allowing for a combined enrichment factor of ca.1000 to be obtained. Calibration curves obtained for the determination of a pair of positional isomers with significant diagnostic value, urinary CPIII and CPI, were found to be linear between 10-300 ng/mL (with R2 = 0.999), and LODs (absorbance detection at 400 nm) were ca. 0.8 ng/mL (1.1 nmol/L of CPIII or CPI). Based on a single salting-out extraction, intraday precisions (nine consecutive injections) for both CPIII and CPI (at spiked concentrations of 10-300 ng/mL into urine) in terms of migration time and peak area were found to be within the range of 0.2-0.5 and 0.8-2.9%, respectively.     

Salting-out surfactant extraction of porphyrins and metalloporphyrin from aqueous non-ionic surfactant solutions

A number of cloud point temperature-depressing electrolytes have been investigated for the separation of a non-ionic surfactant (Triton X-100) from aqueous solutions and the corresponding extraction of the organic solutes into the smaller volume surfactant-rich phase using the salting-out method. High extraction efficiencies and preconcentration factors were obtained at room temperature for the extraction of several hydrophilic and hydrophobic metal-free porphyrins (uroporphyrin, coproporphyrin, protoporphyrin and hematoporphyrin) and one metalloporphyrin (iron-protoporphyrin) that were dissolved in the aqueous non-ionic surfactant solutions. Possible mechanisms responsible for the efficient extraction of these important biological molecules into the surfactant-rich layer are discussed.     

Direct amperometric detection of glucose on a multiple-branching carbon nanotube forest

We show here that a re-structured carbon nanotube (CNT) forest can be used 'as-received' for high selectivity, non-enzymatic glucose detection without the need to incorporate catalytic metal nanoparticles or an exclusion polymeric membrane. Direct amperometric sensing of glucose has been achieved by using multiply-branched CNTs prepared by growing secondary or tertiary 'offshoot' CNTs on top of the existing CNT layer. The increased roughness factor on these re-structured CNTs enhances the amperometric detection sensitivity for glucose by a factor of 20x over that of interfering species like ascorbic acid or uric acid. A sensitivity of 60 microA mM(-1) cm(-2) and a detection limit of 1 microM, with a linear detection range of 1-11 mM (R(2) = 0.999), could be attained on the re-grown CNTs. When the re-grown CNTs were subjected to further anodization in acid to introduce a highly-charged interface, the sensitivity to glucose was enhanced to 157 microA mM(-1) cm(-2).     

The influence of aggregation of porphyrins on the efficiency of photogeneration of hydrogen peroxide in aqueous solution

The pH-dependence of the ability of coproporphyrin (CP) and uroporphyrin (UP) to photogenerate hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in aqueous solution was investigated, with special attention to the structure-activity relationship related to the aggregation of the porphyrins. It was found that the efficiency was strongly dependent on the aggregation of CP and UP mediated by changes in the pH of the solution, and a dimeric form had a weak ability to produce H2O2, while a highly aggregated form had a good ability. The increased efficiency of the highly aggregated porphyrin to produce H2O2 was further demonstrated using a different type of aggregate formed by the electrostatic interaction of cationic tetrakis-5,10,15,20-(N-methyl-4-pyridyl)porphin (TMPyP) with anionic tetrakis-5,10,15,20-(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphin (TSPP). The present results demonstrated the importance of the state of aggregation of porphyrin to photogenerate H2O2, and the results may help to develop a new type of medicine for photodynamic therapy.     

High-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry of hydroxylated uroporphyrin and urochlorin derivatives formed by photochemical oxidation of uroporphyrinogen I

Hydroxylated uroporphyrin I and urochlorin I derivatives formed by photochemical oxidation of uroporphyrinogen I were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography and fully characterized by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. The porphyrins and chlorins were identified by analysis of their product ion spectra with each hydroxylated derivative giving a characteristic collision-induced dissociation fragmentation pattern. The porphyrins and chlorins characterized were meso-hydroxyuroporphyrin I, alpha-hydroxypropionic acid uroporphyrin I, beta-hydroxypropionic acid uroporphyrin I, hydroxyacetic acid uroporphyrin I, trans-7-hydroxy-8-spirolactoneurochlorin I, cis-7-hydroxy-8-spirolactoneurochlorin I and trans- and cis-7,8-dihydroxyurochlorins I.     

Porphyrin-induced photogeneration of hydrogen peroxide determined using the luminol chemiluminescence method in aqueous solution: A structure-activity relationship study related to the aggregation of porphyrin.

A luminol chemiluminescence method was used to evaluate the porphyrin-induced photogeneration of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). This method enabled us to detect H202 in the presence of a high concentration of porphyrin, which was not possible using conventional colorimetry. The limit of detection was about 1 microM. We compared the ability to generate H2O2, using uroporphyrin (UP), hexacarboxylporphyrin (HCP), coproporphyrin (CP), hematoporphyrin (HP), mesoporphyrin (MP), and protoporphyrin (PP). The amount of H2O2 photoproduced was strongly related to the state of the porphyrin in the aqueous solution. UP and HCP, which existed predominantly in a monomeric form, had a good ability to produce H2O2. HP and MP, existing as dimers, showed weak activity. CP, forming a mixture of monomer and dimer, had a moderate ability to produce H2O2. PP, which was highly aggregated, had a good ability. These results demonstrated that the efficiency of porphyrins to produce H2O2 was strongly dependent on their aggregated form, and the dimer suppressed the production of H2O2.     

The 5-aminolevulinic acid-induced porphyrin biosynthesis in benign and malignant cells of the skin.

In fluorescence diagnosis and photodynamic therapy of neoplastic tissues 5-aminolevulinic acid is used to synthesize endogenous porphyrins as photosensitizers. The efficacy of neoplastic tissues to fluorescence diagnosis and photodynamic therapy is thought to be dependent on the total level of intralesional formed porphyrins. The available profiles of porphyrin metabolites in normal and in neoplastic cell lines after administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid vary considerably. Thus, this is the first in-vitro study which compares the porphyrin biosynthesis in normal skin cells (HaCaT, fibroblasts) with melanoma cells (Bro, SKMel-23, SKMel-28). After incubation with 1 mM 5-aminolevulinic acid, kinetics of porphyrin levels and metabolites were determined in the cells and the corresponding supernatants. Exogenous 5-aminolevulinic acid induced porphyrin formation in all cells with maximum values after an incubation period of 16-36 h. Increase of porphyrin levels varied from 10- to 80-fold (SKMel-28>HaCaT>fibroblasts>SKMel-23>Bro) with minimum 1.5 times higher levels of porphyrins in the supernatants than in the cells. In cells and supernatants protoporphyrin and coproporphyrin were the predominantly formed porphyrin metabolites. Metastatic melanoma cells (SKMel-23, SKMel-28) accumulated much higher porphyrin levels than primary melanoma cells (Bro). In conclusion, by optimizing the treatment modalities, especially the light source, topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) could become a treatment alternative of melanoma metastases in progressive disease.     

Microchip electrophoresis with amperometric detection for the study of the generation of nitric oxide by NONOate salts

Microchip electrophoresis (ME) with electrochemical detection was used to monitor nitric oxide (NO) production from diethylammonium (Z)-1-(N,N-diethylamino)diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate (DEA/NO) and 1-(hydroxyl-NNO-azoxy)-L-proline disodium salt (PROLI/NO). NO was generated through acid hydrolysis of these NONOate salts. The products of acid hydrolysis were introduced into a 5-cm separation channel using gated injection. The separation was accomplished using reverse polarity and a background electrolyte consisting of 10 mM boric acid and 2 mM tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide, pH 11. Electrochemical detection was performed using an isolated potentiostat in an in-channel configuration. Potentials applied to the working electrode, typically higher than +1.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl, allowed the direct detection of nitrite, NO, DEA/NO, and PROLI/NO. Baseline resolution was achieved for the separation of PROLI/NO and NO while resolution between DEA/NO and NO was poor (1.0 ± 0.2). Nitrite was present in all samples tested.     

Nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis equipped with amperometric detection for analysis of chlorinated phenolic compounds

Nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE) equipped with amperometric detection has been developed for separation and detection of an 11-member model mixture of chlorinated phenolic compounds. With triacetyl-beta-cyclodextrin (TACD) as a novel selectivity selector, acetonitrile proved to be an excellent solvent for this water-insoluble cyclodextrin derivative. Resolution of the analytes was achieved by using an optimized acetonitrile medium consisting of 500 mM acetic acid, 10 mM sodium acetate, 12 mM TACD and 50 mM tetrabutylammonium perchlorate. Separation of analytes was attributed to differential electrostatic and/or inductive interactions of the analytes with the TACD/TBA+ complex and charged tetrabutylammonium phases. A simple end-column amperometric detector (Pt vs. Ag/AgCl, poised at +1.6 V) in conjunction with NACE was used to analyze chlorophenols. Amperometric detection of such target compounds in acetonitrile-based media offers high sensitivity and alleviates electrode fouling compared to aqueous buffers. The detection limits obtained, ranging from 30 nM to 500 nM, are 3-8-fold lower than those obtained with aqueous buffers.