Chemiluminescence high performance liquid chromatography of corticosteroids using lucigenin as post-column reagent

A chemiluminescence high performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of corticosteroids and tetrahydrocorticosteroids has been developed. Corticosteroids and their metabolites extracted from urine samples were separated using an ODS column and a mixture of methanol + water + 0.01 M sodium acetate solution (70:30:5) as eluent. The eluent from the column was mixed with the chemiluminescent solution containing lucigenin and Triton X-100 and a 0.28 M KOH solution by pumps and monitored by a chemiluminescence detector. No interference was encountered and the method is both precise and reproducible.