Polyamine levels were determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography in the unhydrolyzed 24-hr urine obtained from 15
cancer patients and nine normal subjects. N1-Acetylspermine, N4-acetylspermine, N4-acetylspermidine, and N-(3-aminopropyl)acetamide were not detected in any samples. N1-Acetylspermidine,
N8-acetylspermidine,
acetylputrescine, and acetylcadaverine were present in all samples. Furthermore, acetylspermidine and
acetylputrescine were excreted in much greater quantities than the respective
amines in the urine of both
cancer patients and normal subjects. The levels of N1-acetylspermidine were considerably higher than the levels of
N8-acetylspermidine in the 24-hr urine of
cancer patients, resulting in a ratio of N1- to
N8-acetylspermidine in the urine of
cancer patients significantly higher than that in normal subjects. The urinary levels of
acetylputrescine were also significantly higher in
cancer patients. The urinary
polyamines in 13 of the 15
cancer patients were outside the 95% confidence limits of the normal mean for the ratio of N1- to
N8-acetylspermidine and
acetylputrescine. All
cancer patients showed values outside the 95% confidence limits of the mean for either of these two parameters. Diurnal variation was observed in the urinary excretion of the acetyl
polyamines but not for the free
amines in two normal subjects.