High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of peptide drugs in biological fluids by means of pre- and post-column fluorescence derivatization techniques

Several high performance liquid chromatographic methods utilizing a variety of fluorescence derivatization schemes have been summarized both for the detection and routine quantitation of peptide drugs in biological fluids. The derivatization reactions have been carried out either in pre- or post-column modes with various commercially available reagents and targeted primarily at α- and ϵ-amino groups, guanidino group of arginine and sulfhydryl groups present in the peptide chain. These analytical methods are very robust and comparable to immuno assays in sensitivity and have been used for quantification of peptide analytes in various pharmacokinetic and toxicokinetic studies. This discussion also summarizes the derivatization schemes that have not been fully explored to date but may find utility in future for development of highly sensitive analytical methods for peptide analytes.