Quantitative Determination of Guanidino Compounds: The Excellent Preparation of Biological Samples

It is well known that the serum concentrations of some guanidino compounds, for example, methylguanidine and guanidinosuccinic acid, increase in the uremic state. Metabolic abnormality of guanidino compounds might be occurred by the aberrations of urea cycle in uremia. The analysis of guanidino compounds in biological fluids provides us with a great deal of useful information on the pathophysiology and treatment for uremia. Recently, the quantitative determination of various guanidino compounds has been performed with the use of high-pressure liquid chromatography and with the use of fluorometric detection of the 9,10-phenanthrenequinone derivative of guanidino compounds1. A rapid, sensitive and quantitative determination of various guanidino compounds with a small amount of sample became possible by this method, but the evaluation of this method for clinical application has not yet been completed.