Abstract
An analysis of urinary porphyrin patterns using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) was carried for a comparison of data between 13 patients with porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) and 32 with other hepatic diseases. The result of urinary porphyrin pattern analysis was as follows: In the latter group, the mean value of coproporphyrin (CP) was 80.1% and the other porphyrins were less than 6.0%, while in the PCT group, the mean value of uroporphyrin (UP) was 59.8%, hepta-carboxyl porphyrin was 18.8%, hexa-carboxyl porphyrin was 4.9%, penta-carboxyl porphyrin was 6.8% and CP was 9.7%. The predominance of hepta-carboxyl porphyrin and UP was seen in 12 out of 13 patients with PCT. In only one was there an equivalence of CP and UP levels in the urine. The efficacy of a phlebotomy was evaluated by use of urinary porphyrin pattern analysis. Five patients with PCT were treated with phlebotomy. A marked decrease of urinary porphyrin levels was seen in 4 of 5 patients after phlebotomy, while a slight decrease was seen in only one case. In 4, there was a remarkable shift from the UP fraction to the CP fraction in the urinary porphyrin profile, however in one, there was little change of the urinary porphyrin profile. The analysis of urinary porphyrin profile by the HPLC is a simple and readily facilitated and many samples can be analyzed simultaneously.
