Simultaneous determination of urinary creatinine and UV-absorbing amino acids using a novel low-capacity cation-exchange chromatography for the screening of inborn errors of metabolism.

A simple and versatile low-capacity cation-exchange chromatography system for the simultaneous determination of creatinine and UV-absorbing amino acids was developed. The separation column was packed with a newly developed low-capacity sulfoacylated macro-porous polystyrene-divinylbenzene resin selective for amino-acid cations. Urinary creatinine, creatine, tyrosine, histidine, phenylalanine, and tryptophan were simultaneously separated and determined by an isocratic elution with phosphate/acetonitrile eluent in 25 min. Relative standard deviations (R.S.D.) of the retention times for the analytes were between 0.28 and 1.06%. R.S.D. of peak area responses for the analytes were between 0.75 and 3.51%. The r(2) values for the calibration lines were between 0.9994 and 0.9999. The method could provide the creatinine ratios for the analytes, and was applicable to the screening and/or chemical diagnosis of several inherited disorders of amino-acid metabolism such as phenylketonuria (PKU).