title: Effect of sample preparation and liquid chromatography column choice on selectivity and precision of plasma catecholamine determination.
abstract: Research into the role of the catecholamines has often depended on the reliable determination of plasma catecholamine concentrations, which present a challenge since they are normally in the low pg/ml range. Most methods employ liquid chromatography, with variations in sample preparation, the separation mechanism, and detection. We tested a new approach to sample clean-up using boric acid gel instead of alumina. No advantage was found. We also compared cation-exchange separation with ion-pair chromatography. Several improvements are possible with the former, most notably greater precision, better specificity, and increased throughput.
mesh_terms: D000537:Aluminum Oxide; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000097:blood*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D006801:Humans; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D011786:Quality Control
chemical_list: D002395:Catecholamines; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D000537:Aluminum Oxide