Gas chromatographic determination of D-/L-arabinitol ratio in healthy Polish children.

The D-/L-arabinitol enantiomers ratio (a marker of disseminated candidiasis of Candida species) in urine was determined by gas chromatography (GC) in 198 healthy Polish children ranging in age from 0 to 18 years. The urine samples were dry and trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA)-treated. Enantiomers derivatives were separated on a chiral column (beta-Dex 120, 60 m x 0.25 mm I.D.). A glass "solid-phase" injector and electron capture detector (ECD) were used. The ECD response was linear with correlation coefficients 0.999. The limit of detection was 0.02 micromol/l. Good results in terms of reproducibility, accuracy (RSD<10%, bias<6%), and linearity were obtained from real urine samples containing up to 400 micromol/l D-arabinitol. TFA-arabinitol derivatives in biological samples were stable from 1 to 5 days (depending on the arabinitol contents), while TFA-arabinitol standard derivatives were stable for 2 weeks. The identity of D- and L-arabinitol were confirmed by GC-MS analysis. The mean D-/L-arabinitol ratios ranged from 2.48 to 1.65 in the examined groups. The D-/L-arabinitol ratio was found to be exponentially regressive with age. A few cases of diagnosis of disseminated candidiasis by the GC method and confirmed by blood culture are described. The described GC method was also used for monitoring antifungal treatment of patients with disseminated candidiasis.