Abstract
A new method for the determination of catecholamine metabolites in body fluids by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection is described. Plasma and cerebrospinal fluid were deproteinized with perchloric acid, and urine was diluted with 50 mmol/l phosphate buffer. Fifty-microliter portions of the resulting test solutions were then routinely injected directly onto the HPLC column. In addition, the gradient elution mode was used in order to except the organic solvent extraction of the metabolites. The method used was therefore very simple and accurate.
Some of the urine sample metabolites in the diluted test solution proved to be unstable under acidic conditions at room temperature; optimization of various analytical parameters was therefore required.
This simple and precise method for the determination of catecholamine metabolites in body fluids should prove to be of considerable use clinically beyond its application to screening for the extreme abnormal high value case such as neuroblastoma.
