High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of the mycotoxin citrinin and its application to biological fluids

Citrinin is a toxic metabolite produced by several species of Penicillium and Aspergillus. Citrinin is nephrotoxic and has been implicated in disease outbreaks in animals and humans. Citrinin was resolved in a sharp peak by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography on a small-article (10 micrometers) column by elution in 4.25 min with a phosphoric acid (0.25 N)-acetonitrile-2-propanol solvent (55:35:10). Detection was by ultraviolet absorbance at 340 nm. The relationship between peak height and area and quantity injected was linear over a range of 2--50 ng at 340 nm and 5--200 ng at 365 nm. Retention time and peak area were highly reproducible. As little as 2--5 ng citrinin was detectable. Complete recovery of citrinin from plasma samples containing known quantities of [14C]citrinin was obtained over a range of 5--40 micrograms/ml by treatment of the plasma with 1 N hydrochloric acid followed by extraction with ethyl acetate. The method provides for the direct analysis of citrinin in urine and bile without prior extraction.