The determination of inorganic sulphate in serum and synovial fluid by high performance ion chromatography

A method for the determination of inorganic sulphate based on high performance ion chromatography is presented. The separation was performed on an anion-exchange column with a 1.8 mmol/l sodium carbonate/ 1.7 mmol/l sodium hydrogen carbonate-buffer, pH 10.35. Conductivity of the eluate was monitored after suppression of the background conductivity caused by the eluent-buffer. Serum and synovial fluid samples were prepared by ultrafiltration through membranes with a molecular mass cutoff of M(r) 10,000. The viscosity of the synovial fluids was reduced by treatment with hyaluronate lyase before ultrafiltration. The method showed a linear response for sulphate concentrations between 0.5 and 1000 mumol/l. The limit of detection was 1 mumol/l for aqueous standards. For serum the coefficient of variation within-run was 2.3%-2.4%, the coefficient of variation between days 2.9%-3.1%. For synovial fluids the coefficient of variation within-run was 3.1%-3.4%, the coefficient of variation between days 4.6%-5.7%. Standard recovery experiments performed by spiking pools of human sera containing low sulphate concentrations with sulphate concentrations between 5 mumol/l and 40 mumol/l showed recoveries between 98.9% and 100.6%. The corresponding experiments with pools of synovial fluids showed recoveries of 98.3% to 100.9%. As determined from 127 serum samples the reference range for sulphate was 262 mumol/l-420 mumol/l, with a mean value of 314 mumol/l. No dependence on age or sex was observed. The sulphate concentration in 36 synovial fluids from knees affected by inflammatory processes showed a mean value of 424 mumol/l and a standard deviation of 70 mumol/l. In 41 synovial fluids from knees affected by chronic degeneration joint disease, the sulphate concentrations were statistically significantly lower, with a mean of 374 mumol/l and a standard deviation of 58 mumol/l. The concentrations of sulphate in the synovial fluids were statistically significantly higher than those in the serum samples used for determination of the reference range. Following the oral application of a subtoxic single dose of acetaminophen (32.5 mg/kg body weight-62.5 mg/kg body weight) to 4 healthy volunteers, there was a significant decrease in the concentration of sulphate in serum with a minimum at 4-5 h after application of the drug. The cumulative concentration decrease of sulphate in serum and the kinetic constant of the sulphate depletion were not correlated with the applied acetaminophen dose normalized for body weight.