HIGH-PERFORMANCE THIN-LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHY OF FREE PORPHYRINS FOR DIAGNOSIS OF PORPHYRIA

In this simple high-performance thin-layer chromatographic technique f or evaluating porphyrin excretion, porphyrins rapidly extracted from u rine or feces are separated on reversed-phase octadecylsilyl (C-18)-bo nded silica thin-layer chromatography plates. We observed > 12 distinc t bands of different porphyrins by viewing the plates under long-wave ultraviolet light. Positive screening tests can readily be characteriz ed by the relative fluorescence of various free porphyrins. The two pa tients presented in this paper are possibly the first two cases of por phyria cutanea tarda reported in Hong Kong Chinese.