Analysis of hydroxylation and nitration products of d-phenylalanine for in vitro and in vivo radical determination using high-performance liquid chromatography and photodiode array detection

d-Phenylalanine is capable of trapping reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) by forming three major hydroxylation (o-, m-, p-tyrosine) and two major nitration products (nitrophenylalanine, nitrotyrosine). Here, we show how a method for the analysis of these phenylalanine derivatives was established using isocratic HPLC (Nucleosil120, C18 column) coupled with photodiode array detection and validated for cell-free in vitro and in vivo determination of radical formation. An ideal separation was achieved using a mobile phase consisting of 5% acetonitrile, 50 mM KH2PO4, pH 3.0, a column temperature of 35 °C and a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. Limits of detection were in the range of 5–100 nM. Linearity was given within 5 nM–100 μM (correlation coefficient >0.999). Retention times as well as peak heights exhibited a high precision (RSD: ≤0.1% and <1.5%, respectively). The feasibility of d-phenylalanine for ROS/RNS measurement was demonstrated in a cell-free in vitro assay using peroxynitrite and by analysis of brain samples of mice treated with the dopaminergic neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine.