Quantitation of clovamide-type phenylpropenoic acid amides in cells and plasma using high-performance liquid chromatography with a coulometric electrochemical detector.

A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for measuring the concentrations of clovamide-type phenylpropenoic acid amides (N-caffeoyldopamine and N-caffeoyltyramine) in cell and plasma samples. The separation was performed on a Nova-Pak C18 column using an isocratic buffer with a coulometric electrochemical detector with four electrode channels. Using the HPLC method, N-caffeoyldopamine and N-caffeoyltyramine could be detected with good peak resolutions at respective retention times (4 and 6.4 min). The calibration curves were linear over the ranges (0.1 and 100 microM), and their lower limit of detection was as little as 100 fmol. For quantifying N-caffeoyldopamine and N-caffeoyltyramine in cell and plasma samples, the samples were extracted by extraction methods with more than 95% recoveries. After extraction, the amides were detected with the same sensitivity, peak resolutions, and retention times. Using this method, plasma concentrations of N-caffeoyltyramine were determined in blood samples collected at 12, 24, 30, 36, 48, 60, and 75 min after the oral administrations of N-caffeoyltyramine (0.5 mg and 2 mg/30 g body weight). This HPLC method with an electrochemical detector is the first reported method able to quantify N-caffeoyldopamine and N-caffeoyltyramine in biological samples with excellent detection limits, peak resolutions, discrete retention times, and consistent reproducibility.