Simultaneous determination of catecholamines and serotonin by liquid chromatography, after treatment with boric acid gel.

We describe a liquid-chromatographic method for simultaneously determining norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin in 0.5 mL of human plasma. These analytes are purified on boric acid gel from Aldrich, separated on a reversed-phase C18 column, and detected electrochemically at +600 mV. Absolute recoveries of internal standards were 84% for 3,4-dihydroxybenzylamine and 57% for N-methylserotonin. Reproducibility was good to excellent, depending on the concentration of the analytes. A chromatographic run is complete in 40 min, but this can be shortened by about half when the determination of only serotonin is required, by increasing the column temperature from 40 degrees C to 60 degrees C.