Measurement of urinary 3-methylhistidine with cationic-exchange resin

A simple method is presented for measurement of urinary 3-methylhistidine (3MH) using a cationic exchange resin treatment followed by colorimetric analysis. Equations are given to correct for the interference by histidine (4.3% by mole) in the colorimetric analysis. This correction is especially important for measurement of urinary 3MH in pregnant women or in other subjects with elevated histidine excretion. Good recovery of added standard and good reproducibility of results are documented. Preliminary data from a study of pregnant women are reported, suggesting an increased excretion of 3MH during pregnancy. Large day-to-day variability of 3MH excretion was observed within subjects. It is recommended that repeated measurements be done on each subject when determining 3MH excretion.