Determination of Leu-enkephalin degradation by a soluble enzyme preparation from calf-brain striatum using...

A rapid procedure for the determination of Leu-enkephalin (Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Leu) and its main metabolic degradation products (Tyr, Tyr-Gly-Gly and Tyr-Gly) by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography was developed. The method has good precision, the coefficient of variation determined in the range 6-20 pmole being 1.5-3% (n = 8), and a very low detection limit of ca. 10 fmole for each metabolite. An unexpectedly high percentage of Tyr-Gly production is observed after enzymatic degradation of Leu-enkephalin by a solubilized enzyme preparation of calf-brain striatum.