Femtomolar ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatographic method for determining Dns-polyamine derivatives of red blood cell extracts utilizing an automated polyamine analyzer.

An ultra-sensitive automated method for the determination of polyamines in red blood cell extracts by ion-pair reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography is described. The 5-dimethylaminonaphthalene-1-sulfonyl derivatives of putrescine, 1,6-diaminohexane, spermidine, and spermine are separated on a muBondapak C18 column using 1-heptanesulfonic acid and acetonitrile as the mobile phase. All compounds are eluted within 28 min subsequent to the initial injection. The method has a lower detection limit of 25 fmoles on column. Because of the simplicity and ease of operation, the method is applicable for use in either the research or clinical laboratory.