Cyclic adenosine diphosphate-ribose (cADPR) and ADPR were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a CarboPac PA-1 column at strong basic pH and quantitated by a pulsed amperometric detector. Although this HPLC method was quite sensitive and highly reproducible, it did not allow the separation of cADPR from guanosine monophosphate (GMP) which, when present, could be removed by ion-affinity chromatography, using gel-immobilized Fe3+ columns. Crude synaptic membranes from rat hippocampi were incubated with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and acidic extracts were subject to HPLC analysis after neutralization. Incubation led to a time-dependent formation of ADPR, which was amplified when membranes were incubated in the presence of guanosine trisphosphate (GTP), guanosine-5'-0-(3-thiotrisphosphate) (GTP-gamma-S) or AlF3. cADPR did not accumulate in detectable amounts and only a minimal proportion (< 5%) of radioactivity originating from [3H]NAD co-eluted with authentic cADPR in extracts from hippocampal membranes. The simultaneous detection of cADPR and ADPR we have described may help the search for inhibitors of cADPR metabolism, which will allow to measure the cADPR that accumulates under basal conditions or in response to extracellular signals.