High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of sphinganine and sphingosine in serum and urine of subjects from an endemic nephropathy area in Croatia - Presented at the 6th International Symposium on New Achievements in Chromatography, Plitvice Lakes, October 11-13, 2000.

Endemic nephropathy (EN) is a chronic renal disease present as an endemic i n Brodska Posavina, Croatia. The aim of the study was to assess the possibl e role of fumonisins, i.e., mycotoxins produced by Fusarium moniliforme, as causative agents for EN. Fumonisins inhibit ceramide synthase, the enzyme of de novo synthesis of sphingolipids, which leads to an increase in the sp hinganine/sphingosine ratio. In the present study, a modified method has be en used for the determination of the sphinganine/sphingosine ratio in human serum and urine of healthy subjects and EN patients from the endemic area. Free sphingoid bases, sphinganine and sphingosine, were obtained by base h ydrolysis. Afterwards, precolumn ortho-phthaldialdehyde derivatisation, HPL C separation and quantification by fluorescence detection were performed. T he results thus obtained pointed to a sphingolipid metabolism impairment, w hich may have been induced by fumonisins or fumonisin-like mycotoxins. As s tatistically significant differences were recorded in the subjects not yet affected with EN, an impairment in the metabolism of sphingolipids might be considered as an early indicator of EN. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science BN. All rights reserved.