Automated isocratic high-performance liquid chromatography of inositol phosphate isomers

Isomers of inositol phosphates from biological samples can be analysed by anion-exchange h.p.l.c., by using isocratic elution with phosphate buffers. The method involves the preliminary processing of the extracted samples with conventional soft-gel anion-exchange resins, including the commonly used Dowex resins, followed by direct analysis with h.p.l.c. of a portion of relevant fractions. Run times (up to 20 min) and collected fraction numbers (up to 24) are minimal, so that if the method is used in conjunction with automated h.p.l.c. injection a high throughput of samples is achieved.