Microdialysis monitoring of catecholamines and excitatory amino acids in the rat and mouse brain: recent developments based on capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection--a mini-review.
1. Although microdialysis is a widely used approach for in vivo monitoring extracellular neurotransmitter concentrations, it has been previously limited in many cases by its poor temporal resolution. It is clear that when 10-30-min sampling is performed, short-lasting changes in extracellular neurotransmitter concentrations can be overlooked. Such a low sampling rate is necessary when combining microdialysis with the conventional analytical methods like high performance liquid chromatography. 2. Since capillary electrophoresis coupled to laser-induced fluorescence detection (CE-LIFD) allows the detection of attomoles of neurotransmitters, the temporal resolution of microdialysis may be significantly improved: high sampling rates, in the range of 5 s to 1 min, have been already reported by our group and others using CE-LIFD for simultaneously analyzing catecholamines and amino acids in microdialysates. 3. The power of combining microdialyis and CE-LIFD is shown, using examples of physiological and pharmacological studies dealing with the dynamics of in vivo efflux processes and/or interactions between neurotransmitters.
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D018846:Excitatory Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D007834:Lasers; D051379:Mice; D017551:Microdialysis / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D051381:Rats; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
D002395:Catecholamines; D018846:Excitatory Amino Acids