Urolithins are metabolites of ellagitannins produced by intestinal bacteria. They have attracted a lot of attention due to their potential antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer effects and their action against neurodegenerative diseases. There is still a lot of research going on about the compounds themselves and their health effects. The development of a method by which urolithin can be determined in various biological samples is also important. In this master thesis, I focused on the qualitative and quantitative determination of urolithin A in pig feces samples. These types of samples are the most easily accessible and can tell a lot about the metabolome. A method for sample preparation and analysis on a reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography system with UV-Vis detection was developed. Several methods and solvents to extract the sample were tested. A liquid-liquid extraction with a solution of the sample and ethyl acetate has been developed to concentrate the sample, but there are many losses in the process. Single-phase extraction with a solvent mixture of methanol and water in a ratio of 80:20 with the addition of acid proved to be the optimal. Stool samples are so complex and a great diversity in the content of disturbing components was observed, which in some cases affected the determination of urolithin A in the sample. The best separation was achieved with a stationary phase with attached phenyl-hexyl groups and a mobile phase gradient profile of 0.1 % solution of H3PO4 in water and acetonitrile. The optimal wavelength used was 240 nm. Linearity, method reproducibility, LOD, LOQ and matrix effect were determined. The method is suitable for qualitative determination, but quantitative determination is disturbed in certain cases due to the presence of interfering components. The solubility of urolithin A was tested in the solvent methanol, an 80:20 mixture of methanol and water, water and ethyl acetate. It is best soluble in methanol with a solubility of 0.737 g/L and the worst in water with a solubility of 0.170 g/L. The stability of urolithin A was checked in the solvents DMSO, methanol and a mixture of methanol and water in a ratio of 80:20 at the concentrations of the stock and working solution and under different conditions: in a freezer at -20 °C, in a refrigerator at 4 °C, in the dark at room temperature and in the light at room temperature. The stability dropped only in the case of the solution exposed to light in the DMSO solvent.
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