Design and Characterization of Electrochemical Detector for High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Application to the Determination of Biogenic Amines

Abstract

A flow cell electrochemical detector (ECD) using a glassy carbon electrode for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was designed and characterized. The ECD examined by us showed the same property as the tubular type electrode. The linear dynamic range of norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5HT) peak current were about 10⁴ (50 pg-1 μg) and the minimum detectable quantities for NE and DA were 5 and 10 pg. High-performance reversed-phase chromatography in combination with ECD permitted the simultaneous determination of NE, DA and 5HT in a whole mouse brain and mouse cerebellum. Assay of NE, DA and 5HT gave the mean values of 430, 872 and 749 ng/g wet tissue for whole mouse brain, and 259, 16 and 240 ng/g wet tissue for mouse cerebellum.