High-performance thin-layer chromatography of free porphyrins for diagnosis of porphyria

In this simple high-performance thin-layer chromatographic technique for evaluating porphyrin excretion, porphyrins rapidly extracted from urine or feces are separated on reversed-phase octadecylsilyl (C18)-bonded silica thin-layer chromatography plates. We observed > 12 distinct bands of different porphyrins by viewing the plates under long-wave ultraviolet light. Positive screening tests can readily be characterized by the relative fluorescence of various free porphyrins. The two patients presented in this paper are possibly the first two cases of porphyria cutanea tarda reported in Hong Kong Chinese.