Determination of salicylic acid by HPLC in plasma and saliva from children with juvenile chronic arthritis.

A high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed for measuring salicylic acid in the plasma and saliva of children with juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA). Samples were extracted with diethyl ether and, after drying, redissolved in methanol to be chromatographed. Quantitation of salicylic acid was performed by reverse phase HPLC on a spherisorb ODS-2 column, using methanol: water: acetic acid as mobile phase. Phenolic was monitored by absorbance at 237 nm. Linearity between the amount of mass injected and the response in the detector was determined. This method was applied to compare concentrations of salivary and plasma salicylic acid. The method also permitted the quantitation of salivary salicylate as a non-invasive, indirect method for monitoring the concentration of plasma salicylate in patients with JCA.