High-performance liquid chromatographic fluorometric determination of glyoxal, methylglyoxal, and diacetyl in urine by prederivatization to pteridinic rings

A sensitive and simple liquid chromatographic method to determine glyoxal, methylglyoxal, and diacetyl is reported. The method is based on the conversion to the corresponding pteridin derivatives (pterin, 6-methylpterin, and 6,7-dimethylpterin). The proposed method using fluorometric detection has been applied to the determination of the three cu-dicarbonyl compounds in human urine. Linearity (peak area vs concentration of alpha-dicarbonyl) was observed at least up to 43 mu M. Detection limits of 32 pmol for glyoxal, 11 pmol for methylglyoxal, and 99 pmol for diacetyl were calculated (20 mu l was injected). Levels of 132 mu M for glyoxal and 15 mu M for methylglyoxal were determined in normal urine samples, while diacetyl was not detected. (C) 1998 Academic Press.