Improved thin-layer chromatographic determination of phospholipids in gastric aspirate from newborns, for assessment of lung maturity.

This one-dimensional thin-layer chromatographic method is used for assay of phospholipids in the gastric aspirate of newborns. The solvent mixture (chloroform/hexane/methanol/glacial acetic acid/water, 12/7/4/3/0.3 by vol) completely resolves lecithin, sphingomyelin, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylglycerol. The method is simple, precise, inexpensive, and rapid (chromatographic development takes less than 25 min) and gives high chromatographic resolution. We used this method to determine the lecithin/sphingomyelin densitometric ratio (L/S ratio) and the phosphatidylglycerol percentage in 200 samples of gastric aspirate and found an L/S ratio of 2.5 to be a satisfactory cutoff value for distinguishing fetal lung maturity and immaturity. We confirmed that the presence of phosphatidylglycerol excluded the possibility of respiratory distress.