Measurement of resiniferatoxin in cerebrospinal fluid by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A sensitive and simple high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) assay was developed for the quantification of resiniferatoxin (RTX) in canine cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A reversed-phase C(18) column and acetonitrile in 0.02 M NaH(2)PO(4) as mobile phase provided satisfactory resolution for RTX analysis. Direct HPLC analysis of the CSF samples without sample extraction or preparation improves the accuracy and detection limits of this assay. This assay was applied to measure CSF RTX content to test this method for research and clinical applications related to studies examining its analgesia effects.