A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF THE REVERSED-PHASE HPLC RETENTION BEHAVIOR OF S-ADENOSYL-L-METHIONINE AND ITS RELATED METABOLITES ON HYPERSIL ODS AND SUPELCOSIL (TM) LC-ABZ STATIONARY PHASES

S-Adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) and its metabolites S-adenosyl-L-homocys teine (SAH) and methylthioadenosine (MTA) are endogenous compounds tha t are heavily involved in a variety of biochemical processes, and have therefore been the target for several assays in body fluids and tissu es. Reversed-phase chromatographic behaviour of SAM and its metabolite s has been studied by using Supelcosil(TM) LC-ABZ column, specially de signed for analysis of acidic, basic, zwitterionic and neutral compoun ds, and on a Hypersil ODS column as a function of mobile phase pH. The retentions of the compounds, expressed by the capacity ratio (k'), ar e measured on both column with mobile phases comprised of 10% acetonit rile and 10 mM ammonium formate buffer with pH values ranging from 2 t o 9. Higher selectivity is observed on Supelcosil LC-ABZ within pH ran ge 4-6. Different retention properties are observed at very low pH and seemed as if the Supelcosil LC-ABZ column reduced the effect of the m obile phase pH by about 1 pH unit. Whilst the Supelcosil column can be recommended for the routine analysis of SAM and its related metabolit es in biological fluids by using mobile phase pH 5, the Hypersil ODS c olumn may be suggested for use with mobile phase pH values of 3-4.