Simultaneous determination of DA, NA, 5HT and their metabolites in several rat brain areas by HPLC with electrochemical detection

Abstract

A simple and rapid method is presented for the determination of serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline and their metabolites. The method is based on separation of the different compounds by absorption onto A1(2)O3 or organic solvent separation. The compounds extracted are further separated by HPLC and detected electrochemically. Amounts of 5HT, DA, NA and DA metabolites in several brain regions are reported. An account of the relationships between different neuronal systems, the possibility of simultaneously assaying serotonin (5HT) dopamine (DA) and noradrenaline (NA) and their metabolites dihydroxy-phenylacetic acid (DOPAC), homovanillic acid (HVA) and 5-hydroxy-indolacetic acid (5HIAA) in the same brain area is sometime important for understanding the drugs' effects of mechanisms of action on monoaminergic systems (Ponzio et al., 1981; Holmes and Rutledge, 1976). Therefore we modified our liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (LCEC) methods for assaying 5HT (Ponzio and Jonsson, 1979), NA and DA (Keller et al., 1976), DOPAC, HVA and 5HIAA (Ponzio and Jonsson, 1978) in order to determine their levels in the same sample.