Quantification of free carnitine, individual short- and medium-chain acylcarnitines, and total carnitine in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography.

This paper describes a method for the quantitative determination of free carnitine, acetylcarnitine, propionylcarnitine, hexanoylcarnitine, octanoylcarnitine, and total carnitine in plasma. Carnitine and acylcarnitines were extracted from 100 microliters of plasma with acetonitrile/methanol and isolated using 0.5-ml columns of silica gel. Samples were then derivatized with 4'-bromophenacyl trifluoromethanesulfonate and quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography with detection at 260 nm. Carnitine and acylcarnitines were quantified in normal human plasma and the plasma of patients diagnosed with methylmalonic aciduria, propionic acidemia, and medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency.