Determination of acetoacetate in urine by solid-phase spectrophotometry

Abstract

A method for the determination of acetoacetate has been developed based on solid-phase spectrophotometry (SPS). The acetoacetate reacts with nitroprusside and glycine and the reaction product is sorbed on Dowex 1-X8 resin. The absorbance of the resin phase at 590 and 720 nm is measured directly. The calibration graph is linear up to 3.3 mg l-1 and the RSD is 1.9%. The detection limit is 7.6 micrograms l-1. The method has been applied to the determination of acetoacetate in normal and diabetic subjects' urine without pretreatment of the samples, and the results compared with those of 1H-NMR and homogeneous nitroprusside methods.