Rapid determination by high-performance liquid chromatography of free fatty acids released from rat platelets after derivatization with monodansylcadaverine.

The release of free fatty acids from rat platelets, triggered by thrombin stimulation, was monitored by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) after precolumn derivatization with monodansylcadaverine (MDC). A rapid filtration procedure was devised for the precise determination of free fatty acids released from aggregated platelets, instead of the conventional method using a stop solution or enzyme reactions. The fatty acids thus collected were derivatized with MDC in the presence of diethyl phosphorocyanidate (DEPC). The simultaneous separation of MDC derivatives of fatty acids was achieved on a reversed-phase TSKgel ODS-80TM column within 60 min by linear gradient elution, using 0.2 M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.8)-methanol (50:50, v/v) and acetonitrile. The MDC derivatives were detected with excitation and emission wavelengths of 340 and 518 nm, respectively. The amounts of liberated fatty acids were in the range from 45.0 pmol for myristoleic acid (C14:1) to 395.0 pmol for palmitic acid (C16:0) per 1.9 x 10(7) platelets.