MICELLAR ELECTROKINETIC CHROMATOGRAPHY FOR THE DETERMINATION OF URINARY DESMOSINE AND ISODESMOSINE IN PATIENTS AFFECTED BY CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY-DISEASE

The presence in urine of desmosine (DES) and isodesmosine (IDES), two crosslinked amino acids unique to the elastic fiber network, can be us ed as a specific indicator of degradation of mature elastin. Compared to methodologies so far available, the capillary electrophoretic techn ique reported here seems to be suitable and convenient far determining desmosines in urine of patients affected by chronic obstructive pulmo nary disease (COPD). By using 35 mM sodium tetraborate pH 9.3 containi ng 65 mM SDS as the background electrolyte, the peaks of DES and IDES could be detected in hydrolyzed urine samples from controls and patien ts. Owing to the simultaneous determination of endogenous urinary crea tinine used as appropriate internal standard, the amount of these amin o acids could be accurately quantified. The results obtained were of t he same order of magnitude as the data already reported in the literat ure for COPD patients. Thus micellar electrokinetic chromatography (ME KC) may be considered as a reliable technique for studying the turnove r of the elastic fiber in clinical conditions. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scien ce B.V. All rights reserved.