[Simultaneous determination of plasma indole and skatole in pregnant women with hepatitis B virus infection by high performance liquid chromatography].

A high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method with fluorescence detection (FD) was established to simultaneously determine plasma indole and skatole. Plasma samples were pretreated by liquid-liquid extraction. Chromatographic separation was accomplished on a Shim-Pack VP-ODS column (150 mm×4. 6 mm, 4.6 μ m) using an isocratic mixture of 15 mmol/L sodium dihydrogen phosphate solution and methanol (40:60, v/v). The fluorescence excitation and emission wavelengths were 274 nm and 340 nm, respectively. The linear ranges were 2.22-88.89 μ g/L for indole and 1.11-44.44 μ g/L for skatole. The detection limits were 0.11 μ g/L and 0.06 μ g/L for indole and skatole, respectively. The recoveries were in the range of 95.5%-112.3% with the relative standard deviations less than 6.8%. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of plasma from healthy pregnant women (=46) and pregnant women with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (=29). The results showed that plasma indole and skatole levels were significantly different between two groups. In pregnant women with HBV infection, the concentrations of indolic compounds were positively associated with transaminase levels.