Determination of sialic acids in human serum by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with fluorimetric detection

A simple, rapid and highly sensitive reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of sialic acids in human serum. The sialic acids, released by hydrolysis of serum, are converted in borate buffer with malononitrile to highly fluorescent compounds. The reaction mixture is separated isocratically within 5 min using an octadecyl-bonded silica column and a mobile phase of methanol and ammonium acetate buffer (15:85, v/v; pH 5.5). Measurement of the fluorescence intensity of the reaction mixture at 434 nm with irradiation at 357 nm allowed determination of 30-1000 ng/ml of sialic acids with high reproducibility. The limit of detection was 2 ng/ml. Intra-day and inter-day coefficients of variation for assaying 300 ng/ml N-acetylneuraminic acid (NANA) were 1.5% (n = 9) and 2.6% (n = 7), respectively. The recoveries of NANA were 98.5-101.1% for serum. The method has been used for clinical determinations.