A rapid and validated HPLC method to quantify sphingosine 1-phosphate in human plasma using solid-phase extraction followed by derivatization with fluorescence detection.

We describe the development and validation of analytical methodology for the determination of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) in plasma. It uses solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by an automated reversed-phase gradient HPLC column-switching system with a pre-column derivatization with o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) and fluorescence detection. The limit of quantification was determined at 100 ng/ml exogenous sphingosine 1-phosphate with a relative standard deviation for precision and accuracy <15%. The within- and between-day relative standard deviation for precision and accuracy were also less than 15%. This validated method should be suitable to quantify plasma concentration of sphingosine 1-phosphate in relatively large numbers of samples.