Practical assessment of the NBT-PABA pancreatic function test using high performance liquid chromatography determination of p-aminobenzoic acid in urine.

A practical method for determining p-aminobenzoic acid in urine by high-performance liquid chromatography has been assessed. The technique is quick, requires no extraction steps and has good precision. Using this method, healthy individuals had a p-aminobenzoic acid excretion index of 94% +/- 18 (mean +/- 1 SD). Patients with proven, severe chronic exocrine pancreatic dysfunction had index values of less than 5-25%. Unlike chemical methods available, there were no interferences in any of the urines tested, nor did 12 compounds tested interfere with the analysis.