Capillary gas-chromatographic determination of spermidine in hair lotion

Biogenic polyamines, such as spermidine (SPD, NH2-(CH2)4-NH-(CH2)3-NH2), are ubiquitous polycationic molecules which play a definitive role in many biological processes such as nucleic acid metabolism, protein synthesis, and cell growth. SPD is commonly used as an ingredient in hair lotions, because it seems to promote hair growth. This work describes a capillary GC method for quantitative determination of SPD in hair lotions using 1,6-diaminohexane as internal standard, a methyl silicone capillary column, and a flame ionisation detector. Aliquots of hair lotion were treated with an alkaline aqueous solution and internal standard was added. The emulsion was extracted with diethyl ether containing ethyl chloroformate. Ether extracts, evaporated to dryness and reconstituted in ethyl acetate, were analysed by capillary GC with flame ionisation detection. Validation took into account the specificity, linearity, precision, and accuracy of the analytical method: these parameters were valid for the quantitative determination of SPD in hair lotion.