Determination of 27 dansyl amino acid derivatives in biological fluids by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.

The concentrations of free amino acids in plasma and in ascitic liquid of mice with Ehrlich ascitic tumours were determined by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography using pre-column derivatization with Dns chloride and UV detection at 254 nm. Sample preparation is simple, and the Dns derivatives are stable. Complete separation of 27 amino acids, including proline and cysteine, was achieved in 70 min with detection limits of less than 25 pmol. There was no interference from Dns-Cl, Dns-OH and Dns-NH2. Retention time reproducibility was better than 1%. The described method enables a rapid, economical and reproducible quantification of free amino acids in biological fluids.