Paper Chromatography of Amino-Acids in Cerebrospinal Fluid

Abstract

WE have been investigating the amino-acids present in the cerebrospinal fluid obtained from patients with various diseases, using paper chromatography. Successful chromatograms require that protein and electrolytes should be removed from the fluid. There have been various methods suggested for doing this. We use a method which is simple, quick and requires apparatus that is readily available. It is based on the work of Boulanger and Biserte¹, who showed that, when biological fluids containing amino-acids are passed through cation-exchange resins, all the amino-acids with the exception of taurine are retained in the resin along with the cations, and that the anions pass through. The amino-acids can then be displaced from the resin with ammonia, leaving the cations on the column.