Separation and quantitation of oxypurines by isocratic high-pressure liquid chromatography: application to xanthinuria and the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome.

An isocratic HPLC technique has been developed for the separation and measurement of urine and plasma oxypurines in a patient with xanthinuria. The case history and laboratory data are presented. Xanthine excretion was 172 mg/g creatinine and hypoxanthine was 45 mg/g creatinine. Uric acid was too small to be measured but uricase determination showed only 3 mg/24 hr. Serum oxypurine analysis showed hypoxanthine 0.87 mg/dl and xanthine 0.35 mg/dl. Uric acid was not seen in this patient's serum but could be readily measured in normal control subjects. The technique can also be used to separate nucleotides from purine bases, and we have demonstrated its application to the measurement of erythrocyte hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase and adenine phosphoribosyl transferase in a kindred associated with the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome.