Gas chromatographic method for the determination of urinary acetylpolyamines.

A gas chromatographic method was developed for the determination of monoacetylputrescine, monoacetylcadaverine, N1-acetylspermidine and N8-acetylspermidine in human urine. The amines were isolated from urine by silica gel column chromatography. 1,10-Diaminodecane was used as internal standard. The amines were reacted with ethyl chloroformate in aqueous medium to four ethyloxycarbonyl derivatives prior to application to gas chromatography using a flame ionization detector. Separation and determination of the derivatives were carried out on a Uniport HP column (1.0 m) impregnated with 0.5% SP-1000 under temperature-programmed conditions. The monoacetylpolyamines could be measured accurately at the nanomole level. The method was used for the determination of the monoacetylpolyamines in urine of healthy volunteers. The values obtained were in the range of the published data.