AN ASSAY OF TOTAL GLUTATHIONE AND GLUTATHIONE DISULFIDE IN HUMAN WHOLE BLOOD AND PLASMA USING A HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH FLUORESCENCE DETECTION

A method is described here for the determination of total glutathione and glutathione disulfide in human whole blood and plasma with a suitable sample preparation procedure to prevent glutathione oxidation and glutathione disulfide hydrolysis. Whole blood samples were obtained from a group of blood donors. After adequate sample preparation, the samples were derivatized with ortho-phthaldialdehyde to form a stable, highly fluorescent tricyclic derivative. Reverse-phase column chromatography was used for the separation and fluorimetric detection to monitor the effluent. The analytical performance of this method was satisfactory for the determination of total glutathione and glutathione disulfide. The intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variation were below 10%. The recoveries were as follows: 96.1% (CV 1.4%) and 104.3% (CV 2.4%) for whole blood, 92.3% (CV 2.4%) and 107.4% (CV 2.6%) for plasma. We found no significant differences in both total glutathione and glutathione disulfide concentration between the women and men. We developed a selective high-performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of total glutathione and glutathione disulfide in human whole blood and plasma. Our sophisticated sample preparation procedure prevents significant glutathione oxidation and glutathione disulfide hydrolysis.