Liquid chromatographic determination of hippuric acid for the evaluation of ethacrynic acid as angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor.

A rapid, simple and interference-free method is described to evaluate the inhibitory effects of organic compounds on the activity of angiotensin converting enzyme irrespective of their acid-base properties. The assay is based on the high performance liquid chromatographic separation of the synthetic substrate hippuryl-L-histidyl-L-leucine, the hydrolysis product hippuric acid and the test compound. Using the new method, the diuretic drug ethacrynic acid was found to act as an inhibitor for the enzyme in a non competitive mode.