title: Determination of dansylated monoamine and amino acid neurotransmitters and their metabolites in human plasma by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry.
abstract: The determination of neurotransmitters (NTs) and their metabolites facilitates better understanding of complex neurobiology in the central nervous system disorders and has expanding uses in many other fields. We present a liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI/MS/MS) method for the quantification of dopamine (DA), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), homovanillic acid (HVA), norepinephrine (NE), vanillymandelic acid (VMA), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxy phenylglycol (MHPG), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (5-HIAA), glutamate (Glu), and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The NTs and their metabolites were dansylated and analyzed by an LC gradient on a C18 column on-line with a tandem mass spectrometer. This method exhibited excellent linearity for all of the analytes with regression coefficients higher than 0.99. The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) values for DA, DOPAC, HVA, NE, VMA, MHPG, 5-HT, 5-HIAA, Glu, and GABA were 0.57, 0.37, 0.35, 0.40, 0.35, 0.91, 0.27, 0.43, 0.65, and 1.62 pmol/ml, respectively. The precision results were expressed as coefficients of variation (CVs), ranging from 1.5% to 13.6% for intraassay and from 2.9% to 13.7% for the interassay. This novel LC-ESI/MS/MS approach is precise, highly sensitive, specific, and sufficiently simple. It can provide an alternative method for the quantification of the NTs and their metabolites in human plasma.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology Research Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hua-Lin
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Rong-Hua
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Huan-De
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry; D015306:Biogenic Monoamines / Q000097:blood*; D002138:Calibration; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D003619:Dansyl Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D057230:Limit of Detection; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry; D012015:Reference Standards; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000097:blood; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / Q000379:methods*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D015306:Biogenic Monoamines; D003619:Dansyl Compounds; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents; C029038:dansyl chloride