Precolumn derivatization of amino acids with o-phthaldialdehyde followed by high-performance liquid chromatographic separation and fluorescence detection is used in many clinical and experimental laboratories for the measurement of primary amino acids. This technique was adapted for the measurement of homocysteine in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) following alkylation of the free sulphydryl group with iodoacetate. The minimum detection limits are less than 1 microM in plasma and 80 nM in CSF. Within-day and between-day coefficients of variation for plasma and for CSF are less than 10%. Values for normal plasma homocysteine range from 6.04 to 16.2 microM and for CSF from 0.28 to 0.66 microM.