ABSTRACT
Changes in urinary porphyrin excretion may be the result of hereditary causes and/or from environmental or occupational exposure. The objective of this study was to measure the amount of some porphyrins in spot urine samples obtained from volunteers randomly selected from a healthy adult population of São Paulo with a sensitive HPLC method and to estimate normal ranges for a non-exposed population. Spot urine samples were collected from 126 subjects (both genders, 18 to 65 years old) not occupationally exposed to porphyrinogenic agents. Porphyrin fractions were separated on RP-18 HPLC column eluted with a methanol/ammonium acetate buffer gradient, pH 4.0, and measured fluorometrically (excitation 405 nm/emission 620 nm). The amount of porphyrins was corrected for urinary creatinine excretion. Only 8-carboxyl (uro) and 4-carboxyl (copro) porphyrins were quantified as µg/g creatinine. Data regarding age, gender, occupational activities, smoking and drinking habits were analyzed by Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Uroporphyrin results did not differ significantly between the subgroups studied. Copro and uro + copro porphyrins were significantly different for smokers (P = 0.008) and occupational activities (P = 0.004). With respect to alcohol consumption, only men drinking >20 g/week showed significant differences in the levels of copro (P = 0.022) and uro + copro porphyrins (P = 0.012). The 2.5-97.5th percentile limit values, excluding those for subjects with an alcohol drinking habit >20 g/week, were 0-20.8, 11.7-93.1, and 15.9-102.9 µg/g creatinine for uro, copro and uro + copro porphyrins, respectively. These percentile limit values can be proposed as a first attempt to provide urinary porphyrin reference values for our population, serving for an early diagnosis of porphyrinopathies or as biomarkers of exposure to porphyrinogenic agents.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Young Adult , Coproporphyrins/urine , Creatinine/urine , Uroporphyrins/urine , Alcohol Drinking/urine , Brazil , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Reference Values , Smoking/urine , Young AdultABSTRACT
Porfirinas são produtos originados da biossíntese do heme. As enzimas envolvidas neste processo podem ter sua atividade inibida por fatores genéticos, adquiridos ou uma combinação de ambos, acarretando um aumento sérico do substrato correspondente que será eliminado pela urina. Considerando-se a importância do diagnóstico precoce nas alterações da biossíntese do heme, o objetivo deste trabalho foi desenvolver um método de cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência (CLAE) com detecção por fluorescência, sensível o suficiente para identificar cinco frações de porfirinas urinárias: uroporfirina (8-carboxil porfirina), heptaporfirina (7-carboxil porfirina), hexaporfirina (6-carboxil porfirina), pentaporfirina (5-carboxil porfirina) e coproporfirina I e III (4- carboxil porfirinas). Métodos de extração por detecção espectrofotométrica não são sensíveis para este propósito. O cromatógrafo utilizado, da marca Shimadzu, é composto de duas bombas, injetor automático e detector de fluorescência (RF-535) com excitação de 400 nm e emissão de 620 nm. Foi utilizada uma coluna de fase reversa com um programa de gradiente linear. O método desenvolvido apresentou linearidade de 8,0 a 120,0 µg/L para as frações de interesse, demonstrando ser adequado na identificação e quantificação das porfirinas com diferentes grupos carboxílicos, importantes para o diagnóstico precoce e acompanhamento de porfirias.
Porphyrins are products that originate from the heme biosyntetic pathway. Enzymes that take part in this route can have their activity inhibited due to inherited/acquired or both factors resulting in increased serum heme precursor that will be eliminated in urine. Considering the importance of early detection of heme biosynthesis alterations, the purpose of this study was to establish a high pressure liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method with fluorescence detection, to detect five fractions of porphyrins: uroporphyrin (8-carboxyporphyrin), heptaporphyrin (7-carboxyporphyrin), hexaporphyrin (6-carboxyporphyrin), pentaporphyrin (5-carboxyporphyrin) and coproporphyrin I and III (4- carboxyporphyrin). Extraction methods with spectrophotometric detection are not sensitive enough for this purpose. The HPLC (Shimadzu Co., Kioto, Japan) was composed of two high-pressure pumps, auto-sampler and fluorescence detector (RF-535) with excitation at 400 nm and emission at 620 nm. The sample was eluted from a reversed-phase column with a linear gradient. The linearity of the method was from 8.0 to 120 µg/L for all fractions, proving its ablility to identify and quantify porphyrins with differents carboxylic groups for early diagnosis and follow-up of porphyrias.
Subject(s)
Porphyrias , Porphyrins/administration & dosage , Chromatography, Liquid/methods , Dosage Forms , FluorescenceABSTRACT
Objective: To evaluate the efficiency of two urinary porphyrins screening tests: routine fluorescent detection and semi quantitative spectrophotometric scanning. Methods: Minimal-level detection was performed by adding standard coproporphyrin of 0, 25, 50, 100, 250 and 500 ตg/L in urine and then screened by the two methods. Urine samples from 39 controls, 7 patients with porphyrias and 20 patients with liver impairment were quantitated for total porphyrins, followed by a comparison of the two qualitative tests. Results: The fluorescent test detected the minimal porphyrin level at 250 ตg/L whereas spectrophotometric scanning could detect a lower level, at 100 ตg/L. Total control subjects showed negative results from both tests while all 7 patients with porphyrias and 6 out of 20 cases of liver impairment showed definite positive results. Conclusion: Urinary screening for porphyrins from both tests revealed the same accuracy from this study. Still, the spectrophotometric method which is simpler, more sensitive and easily interpretable seemed more practical as a screening test in general laboratories. Keywords: Screening test; Porphyrias; Urinary porphyrins