Determination of glyoxal and methylglyoxal in serum by UHPLC coupled with fluoresecence detection

Glyoxal (GO) and methylglyoxal (MGO) are two important biomarkers in diabetes. Analytical methods for determination of GO and MGO in serum samples are either HPLC with UV-Vis (low sensitivity) or MS/MS (expensive) detection. These disadvantages have hampered the introduction of these biomarkers as a routine analyte for diabetes diagnostics into the clinical laboratory. In this study, we introduce a UHPLC method with fluorescence detection for the measurement of GO and MGO in serum samples by pre-column derivatization at neutral pH with 5, 6-diamino-2,4-dihydroxypyrimidine sulfate (DDP) to form lumazines. The method was validated as per FDA guidelines. Using this method, we have determined GO and MGO in a variety of animal serum samples, and for example, determined the GO and MGO concentration in adult bovine serum to be 852 ± 27 and 192 ± 10 nmol/L, respectively. In human serum, GO and MGO levels in non-diabetic subjects (n=14) were determined to be 154 ± 88 and 98 ± 27 nmol/L, and in serum samples from subjects with diabetes (n=14) 244 ± 137 and 190 ± 68 nmol/L, respectively. In addition, interference studies showed that physiological serum components did not lead to an artificial increase in the levels of GO and MGO.