Packing materials suitable for rapid, analytical, low-pressure chromatography of haemoglobins on midget columns.

Rapid, quantitative, chromatographic separations of mixtures of human haemoglobins have been performed on short (5-20 mm) columns of packing material. The desirable characteristics of suitable column packing materials are illustrated and discussed. Simple, inexpensive, manually operated equipment can be used for the analysis, since the specifically designed midget columns generate little back pressure (10-30 lb/in2) when eluted at constant flow rates up to 2 mL/min. Cation exchange chromatography on bonded silicas has been used for the detection of pathological haemoglobinopathies. Separations similar to the HPLC procedures are possible with the correct selection of buffer composition. It also compares favourably with the methods in common clinical use employing electrophoresis on cellulose acetate. Both ion-exchange and affinity methods for the estimation of glycated haemoglobins have been developed and are compared.