A method for the determination of 5-phosphoribosyl 1-pyrophosphate concentrations in erythrocytes using high-performance liquid chromatography.

A method for the measurement of erythrocyte 5-phosphoribosyl 1-pyrophosphate (PP-ribose-P) using HPLC is described. Inosinic acid formed from the enzyme-catalyzed reaction of hypoxanthine and PP-ribose-P using partially purified hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase is measured after chromatography on an ion-exchange column (Partisil 10 SAX). The average recovery of PP-ribose-P added to erythrocytes was 96.6%. Normal values found were 1.3 +/- 0.6 nmol PP-ribose-P/ml packed RBC (20 individuals). Replication experiments gave a coefficient of variation of 4.4%. Elevated levels in the range 4.4-7.9 nmol PP-ribose-P/ml packed RBC were found in four patients with gout and partial deficiency of the enzyme hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase.