High-performance liquid chromatography-fluorometry for the determination of thiols in biological samples using N-[4-(6-dimethylamino-2-benzofuranyl) phenyl]-maleimide.

The selective determination of thiols in biological samples was investigated by high-performance liquid chromatography using N-[4-(6-dimethylamino-2-benzofuranyl)phenyl] maleimide, which was found to give fluorescent products when treated with certain thiols. Six kinds of thiol (reduced glutathione, cysteine, N-acetylcysteine, cysteamine, homocysteine and coenzyme A) could be separated simultaneously within ca. 12 min and determined at final level of sensitivity. The method was successfully applied to the determination of thiols in rat tissues and plasma and in human normal serum.