Cerebrospinal fluid flow waveforms: MR analysis in chronic adult hydrocephalus.

UNLABELLED: Henry-Feugeas MC, Idy-Peretti I, Baledent O, et al. Cerebrospinal fluid flow waveforms: MR analysis in chronic adult hydrocephalus. Invest Radiol 2001;36:146-154. RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: To analyze changes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) hydrodynamics in chronic adult hydrocephalus. METHODS: Phase-contrast cine-MR acquisitions were used to explore the ventricular system and the upper ventral cervical spaces of 16 patients. The aqueductal jet was explored in 32 control subjects. RESULTS: The duration of pulsatile caudal CSF flow (ie, CSF systole) was abnormally short in patients with active idiopathic and obstructive hydrocephalus. The duration of CSF cervical systole was normal in patients with stable hydrocephalus. The aqueductal stroke volume could be increased in stable communicating hydrocephalus. Patients who responded to shunting had shortened CSF systoles and hyperpulsatile ventricular patterns. Successful CSF diversion resulted in longer CSF systoles and CSF ventricular patterns that were no longer hyperpulsatile. CONCLUSIONS: Magnetic resonance analysis of CSF flow can show craniospinal dissociation and limitation of CSF outflow from the ventricles in both obstructive and communicating hydrocephalus; it should help determine the response to shunting in communicating hydrocephalus.

Multidimensional liquid chromatography: a breakthrough in the assessment of physiological vitamin K levels.

Owing to the lack of sensitivity and/or selectivity of the existing chemical assays, vitamin K deficiency has always been diagnosed indirectly by measuring its effect on blood coagulation. We used our recently developed multidimensional liquid chromatographic assay for what is, to the best of our knowledge, the first systematic investigation of physiological vitamin K levels in human blood. It allowed the unequivocal demonstration of trans-phylloquinone (vitamin K1) and its quantification down to a level of 0.5 nanogram per milliliter of serum (ng/ml. In healthy adults, a mean serum concentration of 2.6 ng/ml was found, with a normal range of 0.9 to 7.8 ng/ml. These values apparently are distributed in a log-normal way.

Plasma vitamin A in haemodialysis patients.

Different high performance liquid chromatographic systems were applied to the investigation of vitamin A metabolism in subjects undergoing haemodialysis. Plasma levels of retinol, retinyl esters and retinoic acid were measured. There was a significant elevation of plasma retinol and dialysis failed to normalise this level. No correlation with plasma concentrations of creatinine or urea was found. No differences in retinyl ester and retinoic acid levels were observed between healthy subjects and haemodialysis patients. These results suggest that retinol accumulation is not caused by a deficiency in its oxidative metabolism.

High-performance liquid chromatographic assay of vitamin K in human serum.

A sensitive combined adsorption and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure is described that permits the determination of endogenous vitamin K1 levels in serum. The separation of vitamin K1 (cis- + trans-isomers), vitamin K1 epoxide and the menaquinones MK-2, MK-4 and MK-9 by adsorption, reversed-phase and cyano-bonded phase chromatography is discussed. The methodology was further developed for the quantitative measurement of vitamin K1 in human serum. Concentrations as low as 500 pg/ml in serum could be detected. The identity of the vitamin K1 peak was confirmed by UV absorption spectrophotometry and re-chromatography. The method has been applied to the determination of serum levels in normal healthy individuals and patients treated with vitamin K1.

Measurement of alpha-, beta-, and gamma tocopherol in serum by liquid chromatography.

A liquid-chromatographic assay for alpha, beta, and gamma-isomeric tocopherols in human serum is reported. The tocopherols and the internal standard (tocol) are absorbed into a silica gel column and are eluted in less than 10 min with n-hexane/isopropanol (99.4/0.6, by vol) at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The complete analysis requires no longer than 30 min. Within-day precision (CV) was 1.4% (mean = 13.18 mg/L, n = 24), 7.4% (mean = 0.214 mg/L, n = 14), and 1.3% (mean = 1.01 mg/L, n = 14) for alpha-, beta-, and gamma-tocopherol, respectively. Day-to-day precision (CV) was 4.4% (mean = 9.85 mg/L, n = 10) for alpha-tocopherol, 9.1% (mean = 0.222 mg/L, n = 20) for beta-tocopherol, and 3.8% (mean = 1.00 mg/L, n = 20) for gamma-tocopherol. Extraction recoveries for alpha-, beta-, and gamma-tocopherol averaged 92.4 +/- 2.9% (n = 5), 91.4 4/- 7.6% (n = 5), an 92.0 +/- 4.1% (n = 4), respectively. The smallest injected amount detectable is estimated to be 0.03 micrograms for alpha-, and 0.04 micrograms for beta- and gamma-tocopherol.

Evaluation of a rapid, sensitive and specific assay for the determination of collagenolytic activity in biological samples.

Several methods for the determination of collagenolytic activity were compared from the point of view of sensitivity, selectivity, simplicity and practical value for large numbers of biological samples. A labelled collagen substrate was prepared using [3H]acetic anhydride. The specificity of the assay as well as conditions allowing an optimum detection limit were investigated. The influence of low temperatures, lyophilisation and salt concentration on Clostridium histolyticum collagenase have been investigated.

Determination of serum alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) by high-performance liquid chromatography.

We report a fast, simple high-performance liquid-chromatographic assay for serum alpha-tocopherol, with use of a reversed-phase column and tocol as internal standard. Only 200 microliter of serum is required. Isocratic elution of the n-hexane extract is done within 6 min; total analysis time is less than 1 h. Within-day precision (CV) was 2.3% for 24 samples of a normal plasma pool (mean concn, 10.1 mg/liter). Day-to-day precision (CV) was 3.2%, measured for 20 days for a specimen with a concentration of 10.8 mg/liter. Analytical recovery of alpha-tocopherol from fortified serum was 89 to 100%. The lower detection limit of alpha-tocopherol is estimated to be 0.6 mg/liter. The specificity of the procedure was verified by spectrophotometry, gas-liquid chromatography, and combined gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of an eluate collected from the column.

Identification and quantitative GLC determination of iproniazid in human urine.

A GLC method for the specific identification and quantitation of iproiazid, a potent monamine oxidase inhibitor drug, is described. The free drug isolated from urine samples by two-phase extraction reinforced with salting out. Identification and quantitative determination at the microgram level are done on aliquots of the chloroform extract by GLC, using the 2-butyl analog as an internal standard. Iproniazid and potentially interfering compounds present in the extracts are also identified by GLC-mass spectrometry and TLC for supporting evidence of the GLC method's specificity.

Quantitative gas-liquid chromatography of iproniazid and iproclozide.

Analytically packed columns prepared with Versamid-930, Versamid-900, XE-60, and OV-225 as stationary phases were examined for quantitative gas-liquid chromatography of the potent monamine oxydase inhibitor (MAOI) drugs iproniazid and iproclozide. With the aid of chemically related substances as internal standards, response ratios were determined and linearities calculated by regression analysis. Using the 2-butyl analogs of compounds all four column systems permit quantitation of iproniazid and iproclozide with a percent standard deviation sigmaK of about 1% or less.

Improved column systems for gas-liquid chromatography of iproniazid and iproclozide.

As a result of a comparative study performed on thirteen liquid phases an improved set of four analytically packed columns, i.e., Versamid-900, Versamid-930, XE-60, and OV-225 is withheld for successful gas chromatography of iproniazid and iproclozide. Retention data in terms of adjusted retention times and relative retentions, using structurally related compounds as reference, are reported. An evaluation of gas chromatographic performance of proposed columns is described.

Identification and urinary excretion of p-chlorophenoxyacetamide, a metabolite of iproclozide, in humans.

The presence of p-chlorophenoxyacetamide was detected in the urine of man receiving iproclozide [1-(p-chlorophenoxyacetyl)-2-isopropylhydrazine]. This new metabolite was identified by combined gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and by comparison with the synthetic compound. An appropriate procedure for the extraction and quantitation of p-chlorophenoxyacetamide by gas-liquid chromatography on a 5% OV-225-packed column with the 2-butyl analog of iproclozide as an internal standard, has been developed. After 20- and 50-mg single dose oral administrations of iproclozide, 5.2 and 8.3% were slowly excreted in urine as p-chlorophenoxyacetamide within 30.5 and 36 hr. respectively. After 20-mg oral intakes by psychiatric patients, the 24-hr urinary excretion of p-chlorophenoxyacetamide amounted to about 2-4% of the iproclozide dose administered.

Thin-layer chromatography of hydrazidic monoamine oxidase inhibitor drugs.

Seven solvent systems for the thin-layer chromatographic separation of hydrazidic monoamine oxidase inhibitor drugs have been developed. Detection of compounds at the microgram level was performed with the aid of thirteen spray reagents.