High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of hypotaurine and taurine after conversion to 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene-4′-sulfonyl derivatives and its application to the urine of cysteine-administered rats

• Published in: Journal of chromatography. B, Biomedical applications Biomedical applications, 1994-10, Vol.660 (1), p.164-169
• Main Authors: Futani, Shinya, Ubuka, Toshihiko, Abe, Tadashi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aminoacids, peptides. Hormones. Neuropeptides; Analytical, structural and metabolic biochemistry; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Carbocysteine - chemistry; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Cysteine - pharmacokinetics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hydrogen Peroxide; Indicators and Reagents; Male; Oxidation-Reduction; p-Dimethylaminoazobenzene - analogs & derivatives; p-Dimethylaminoazobenzene - chemistry; Proteins; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; Taurine - analogs & derivatives; Taurine - urine
• ISSN: 0378-4347; 1572-6495
• DOI: 10.1016/0378-4347(94)00280-0

A method for the determination of urinary hypotaurine and taurine for the purpose of studying hypotaurine—taurine status in mammals is described. Hypotaurine and taurine were converted into 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene-4′-sulfonyl (dabsyl) derivatives under conditions minimizing hypotaurine oxidation. The dabsylhypotaurine and dabsyltaurine formed were determined by reversed-phase HPLC. Average excretions of taurine and hypotaurine in rat urine were 270.5 and 2.5 μmol/kg body mass per day, respectively. After intraperitoneal injection of 5 mmol of l-cysteine/kg body mass, the increased excretions of taurine and hypotaurine corresponded to 22.1 and 2.5%, respectively, of l-cysteine administered, indicating that hypotaurine production exceeded the capacity of hypotaurine oxidation in vivo.