Determination of arginine-vasotocin and isotocin in fish plasma with solid-phase extraction and fluorescence derivatization followed by high-performance liquid chromatography

A new HPLC assay for plasma arginine-vasotocin (AVT) and isotocin (IT) determination based on fluorescence detection preceded by combination of solid-phase extraction (SPE) and fluorescence derivatization is presented. Plasma samples retained on solid support were purified and then derivatized by the fluorescent compound 4-fluoro-7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (NBD-F). The peptide derivatives were eluted from cartridges, pre-concentrated and analyzed by HPLC system with fluorescent detection. The separation was carried out on a reversed-phase column with solvent gradient system. The assay was linear in the range 15-220 pmol ml(-1) for AVT (r(2) = 0.998) and 10-220 pmol ml(-1) for IT (r(2) = 0.996). The detection limits for AVT and IT were 0.8 and 0.5 pmol ml(-1) (3: 1, signal-to-noise), respectively. The recoveries of derivatized hormones were in the range 89-93%. Both of the inter- and intra-day assay precision were below 5.5 and 9% for AVT and IT, respectively. The assay should be also applicable to plasma and tissue samples from other animals with only minor modification. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.