Simple and sensitive determination of plasma N tau-methylhistidine by high-performance liquid chromatography using pre-column derivative formation with o-phthalaldehyde-2-mercaptoethanol.

A simple, rapid and sensitive assay method for plasma N tau-methylhistidine by isocratic high-performance liquid chromatography has been developed. The deproteinized plasma was treated with o-phthalaldehyde-2-mercaptoethanol. The derivatives were separated on a LiChrospher 100 RP-18 column within 10 min. The detection limit for N tau-methylhistidine was 0.5 pmol. The plasma N tau-methylhistidine content of beef cattle and dairy cows was 0.038 +/- 0.004 and 0.017 +/- 0.002 nmol/ml/kg, respectively.