Determination of pterins in urine by high-performance liquid chromatography on C18 columns conditioned with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide.

A method is proposed for the determination of pterins in urine without clean-up by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography on a C18 column previously conditioned with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. Other endogenous compounds are retained in the column, preventing interference. Xanthopterin, neopterin, isoxanthopterin, monapterin, biopterin, 6-hydroxymethylpterin, pterin and lumazine can be determined. Retention and separation mechanisms are discussed.