Chemiluminescence-HPLC for the assay of guanidino compounds.

A chemiluminescence-HPLC system for the assay of serum guanidino compounds was established. In this study, we found that lucigenin added to the reaction mixture containing guanidino compounds and alkaline-ninhydrin reagent resulted in strong chemiluminescence. The lucigenin chemiluminescence was not derived from fluorescent derivatives of guanidino compounds or ninhydrin. The interaction of guanidino compounds and ninhydrin under alkaline conditions produced reactive oxygen species. We applied this phenomenon to the microanalysis of guanidino compounds.