Metallothionein separation and analysis by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography coupled with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

Abstract

AbstractThe feasibility of using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) for the separation of metallothioneins (MTs) and subsequent determination of cadmium in MTs by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) in rabbit kidney and liver has been studied. RP-HPLC was used to isolate, characterise and quantitate liver and kidney MT isoforms. The MTs were eluted from a radially compressed C18 column with a neutral sodium phosphate buffer and detected by UV absorbance at 254 nm. Rabbit liver MTs was found to be comprised of seven distinct isoforms with five of which were found to be subspecies of the MT-I isoform. Rabbit kidney MTs exhibited only two predominant isoforms. A standard calibration curve was constructed using purified rabbit kidney MT-I and MT-II which demonstrated excellent linear correlation between peak height and the quantity of MT injected into the column. Recovery of MT from RP-HPLC was found to exceed 90%. Kidney and liver tissues from rabbit by feedin...