Occurrence of aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase in human plasma and its assay by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method using fluorescence detection for assessing the activity of aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase in human plasma is described. Dopamine, formed enzymatically from L-DOPA, and isoproterenol (internal standard) are chromatographed on a small ion-exchange cartridge (Toyopak SP) and derivatized with 1,2-diphenylethylenediamine. The derivatives are separated by reversed-phase chromatography on an Ultrasphere ODS column. The detection limit for dopamine formed enzymatically is 0.6 pmol per 500 microliter of enzyme reaction mixture. Aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase in human plasma is very similar to that in rat kidney, with respect to optimum conditions for the enzyme reaction and gel chromatographic behaviour.