A rapid method for the determination of taurine in biological tissue.

A rapid method for the determination of taurine is described. Based on high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) separation, it avoids all transfers, precleaning treatments and the use of internal standards. The method consists of precolumn derivatization with O-phthaldialdehyde (OPA) followed by separation on a reversed phase styrene column using an acetonitrile-citrate buffer mixture as the eluting solvent. Naturally occurring substances, often quoted to co-migrate with taurine, are separated and the method described has been used to determine the taurine content of various tissues and blood fractions. These determinations indicate that the only satisfactory determination of blood taurine is that of whole blood.