Quantitative HPLC Analysis of Plasma Amino Acids as Orthophthaldialdehyde/Ethanethiol Derivatives

Abstract

A reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic method for the analysis of plasma amino acids is described. The method employs pre-column derivatization with o-phthaldialdehyde using ethanethiol as the reducing agent. The analysis shows good linearity and reproducibility. An average overall difference of 12% was seen for results obtained by the HPLC method versus those obtained with an amino acid analyzer. The chromatographic parameters of buffer concentration and column temperature were also examined.