title: Improved high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of 6-N,N,N-trimethyllysine in plasma and urine: biomedical application of chromatographic figures of merit and amine mobile phase modifiers.
abstract: An internally standardized method for the determination of 6-N,N,N-trimethyllysine in human plasma, human urine, rat plasma, rat urine and hydrolyzed rat urine is described. This methylated amino acid and the procedural internal standard 6-N,N,N-trimethyllysine were isolated from the sample matrices using short ion-exchange columns and detected following high-performance liquid chromatography using a postcolumn reaction (o-phthalic-dicarboxaldehyde-2-mercaptoethanol) and fluorometric detection. The reliable detection limit for 6-N,N,N-trimethyllysine was 0.2 nmol/ml in 200 microliters of human plasma. The chromatographic separation exploits the unique properties of a novel tertiary amine mobile phase modifier, 3-(N,N-dimethylamino)-1,2-propanediol. The capacity factor and "Chromatographic Figures of Merit" (including peak asymmetry and relative system efficiency) were calculated for the chromatographic peak representing 6-N,N,N-trimethyllysine in over 2200 injections made while evaluating 900 biological specimens.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004355:Drug Stability; D006801:Humans; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008239:Lysine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
chemical_list: C003712:trimethyllysine; D008239:Lysine