Adaptation of a high-performance liquid chromatographic method for quantitative determination of homocysteine in urine

A modification of the Bio-Rad® total homocysteine HPLC-test is presented in order to enable not only plasma homocysteine measurements but also the quantification of homocysteine in urine samples using the same principle of measurement. Coelution of the internal standard provided in the test kit with an endogenous compound in urine demands for an alternative analytical procedure. Therefore, we introduced 3-mercaptopropionic acid as a substitute for the internal standard. The analytical method validation was performed for the matrix of urine specimens. The applicability of this method was demonstrated in a clinical study with volunteers after homocysteine thiolactone hydrochloride loading.