Improved method for the determination of 5,6-dihydroxytryptamine and 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine in tissue using high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

A liquid chromatographic method with electrochemical detection is described for the determination of the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) neurotoxins 5,6-dihydroxytryptamine (5,6-DHT) and 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT) in rat brain tissue. This method has also been used for the determination of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, homovanillic acid and 5-HT in other tissue samples. The method is based on extraction of the indoles from brain samples with perchloric acid followed by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. The detection limit is 1 ng per 100 mg of tissue. This paper describes a quick and reliable method of assaying the 5-HT neurotoxins 5,6-DHT and 5,7-DHT in brain tissue, which is improved compared to currently available assays.