USE OF CAPILLARY ZONE ELECTROPHORESIS FOR ANALYSIS OF IMIDODIPEPTIDESIN URINE OF PROLIDASE-DEFICIENT PATIENTS

Prolidase deficiency (PD) is characterized by massive urinary excretio n of imidodipeptides X-Pro and X-Hyp. We report the applicability of c apillary zone electrophoresis to urinary imidodipeptide determination. The protocol is fast, simple, reliable, only small amounts of sample are required and there is minimal sample preparation. Electropherogram s of urine samples from control subjects and four patients with prolid ase deficiency were compared. The presence of imidodipeptides normally absent in urine was evident in patients' urine. Further analysis of u rine samples enabled identification of excreted imidodipeptides and th e pattern of excretion appeared to be heterogeneous for different pati ents. This method appears to be useful for identification of imidodipe ptides in biological samples, as an efficient aid in diagnosis of PD, and as a method for providing more information about this disease.