Measurement of uric acid, ascorbic acid, and related metabolites in biological fluids.

A rapid and quantitative method for the simultaneous measurement of uric acid, ascorbic acid, and related metabolites in biological fluids is described. This method makes use of anion-exchange extraction columns to isolate the desired compounds from a wide range of biological fluids, and anion-exchange HPLC with ultraviolet detection for their separation and measurement. By this procedure the contents of uric and ascorbic acids in human serum and urine were estimated. Furthermore, the oxidation of uric acid to allantoin and ascorbic acid to dehydroascorbic acid could be readily monitored.