Reversed Phase HPLC As a Method of Revealing Nitromethane-Induced False Hypercreatininemia

Abstract A reversed phase HPLC method was developed to quantify rat serum creatinine and overcome the lack of specificity of the colorimetric Jaffe reaction. C8, C18 and phenyl phases were prepared for comparison. The phenyl phase offers the best compromise between a short analysis time and a good selectivity of separation with isocratic elution. The sera of rats exposed to nitromethane vapors or treated with HgCl2 exhibited an increase in the Jaffe reaction as compared with controls. HPLC revealed hypercreatininemia in the sera of HgCl2-treated rats but not in those of nitromethane-exposed rats. These results support the conclusion that the overestimated reaction due to nitromethane was a false positive response. Similar analytical interference was also found in sera loaded with nitromethane, but not with nitroethane or 2-nitropropane.