Determination of metabolites relating to the tryptophan-NAD pathway in rat urine by cellulose high performance thin-layer chromatography

High performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) was used to determine 12 metabolites of the tryptophan-NAD pathway in rat urine. The method of separation described in the previous report was improved. The metabolites were separated on the cellulose plate by using five multiple developments with four solvent systems. The plate was scanned by the TLC scanner at 254 nm and the amounts of the metabolites were calculated by comparing peak areas of the scanning curves obtained for the urine sample and for the authentic standards. This procedure can be used as a semiquantitative determination method for the metabolites in biological fluids.