Liquid-chromatographic measurement of creatinine in serum and urine

We describe the adaptation of a "high-performance" liquid chromatographic method for determination of creatinine in serum and urine. The proposed method is simple, rapid, precise, and accurate. The retention time for creatinine can be varied simply by changing the KH2PO4 concentration in the mobile phase: acetonitrile/aqueous KH2PO4 (1/4 by vol). Within-day precision (CV) was 1.2-3.6% in serum chromatographed with an internal standard, and 2.3-2.8% in serum when an external standard was used. Between-day precision (CV) was 1.3-2.1% in serum and 1.3-2.7% in urine (with an external standard). Analytical recoveries of creatinine added to serum were 94-100% for the method with an internal standard, 95-103% with an external standard.