A rapid high performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of sphinganine (Sa) and sphingosine (So) in urine samples by employing a silica-based monolithic column is described. The samples were first extracted using ethyl acetate and derivatized using ortho-phthaldialdehyde in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol. C20 sphinganine was used as internal standard. Under the optimized conditions, separation was achieved using a mixture of methanol:water (93:7, v/v), column temperature at 30°C, flow rate of 1 mL min−1, and an injection volume of 10 μL. Good linearity was obtained for Sa and So over the concentration range 20–500 ng mL−1(correlation coefficients ≥0.9978). The detection limits were 0.45 ng mL−1 for Sa and 1.60 n g mL−1 for So in male urine; in female urine the values were 0.85 ng mL−1 and 2.62 ng mL−1 for Sa and So, respectively. Recoveries for spiked urine samples ranged from 98.6 to 108.2% for Sa and 99.9 to 104.0% for So. A marked reduction in separation time (less than 6 min) was found compared to approximately 14 min by using a conventional C18 particle column. Twenty-two urine samples from the healthy donors and seven samples from the liver cancer patients were analyzed using the method.
