An improved and easy technique for polyamine determination in biological samples. Application to cell-free system from hypertrophied rat heart.

An accurate, improved cation-exchange chromatographic method using o-phthalaldehyde and ultraviolet detection at 280 nm for the determination of free polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, spermine) has been developed. Different samples, such as the 105,000 g supernatant of reticulocyte or heart muscle, and KCl ribosomal wash containing initiation factors, can be analysed. The minor modification of reagents results in a good precision and sensitivity, which is demonstrated by a relative standard deviation of 5--9% and recoveries of 98%. This technique is of particular interest because it allows polyamine determination in biological samples with high concentrations of salt.