Measurement of K Vitamins in Human and Animal Feces by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Fluorometric Detection

Abstract

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for measuring endogenous K vitamins in human and animal feces, and these vitamins in human feces were also identified by mass spectrometry (MS). K vitamins extracted from human and animal feces were purified by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and then measured by reversed-phase HPLC with fluorometric detection. Vitamin K1 (VK1) and menaquinone (MK)-4 to MK-15 were found and their amounts were determined in human, monkey and rabbit feces. K vitamins extracted from human feces were purified successively by column chromatography, TLC, reversed-phase HPLC and normal-phase HPLC, and then identified as VK1and MK-4 to MK-15 by MS, confirming the validity of the HPLC method. © 1986, The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan. All rights reserved.