A micro thin layer chromatography technique for urinary and serum amino acids using fluorescamine as a staining reagent

A rapid, sensitive, inexpensive micro technique for thin layer chromatography of amino acids from urine and blood is described. The method which requires only 0.1 μl of sample, uses a fluorescent reagent, fluorescamine, as a staining agent, and commercially available cellulose plates, Polygram Cel 300, as a supporting matrix. The great majority of amino acids can be detected when concentration is greater than 0.25mm. The application of this technique toward the identification of various abnormal amino acid metabolisms is discussed. A method of deproteinization of serum, modified from a previously published technique, is also reported.