High-performance liquid chromatography with column switching for the analysis of biogenic amine metabolites and pterins.

An automatic high-performance liquid chromatographic system with facilities for column switching is described which involves minimal pre-treatment of biological samples, separates complex mixtures of compounds in a short period of time and uses fluorimetric or amperometric detection. The system has been applied to the analysis of oxidized pterins in urine and reduced pterins in cerebrospinal fluid and rat brain fractions (R- and S-enantiomers of tetrahydrobiopterin resolved). The system can also be used for the analysis of most of the dopamine and serotonin metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid and brain fractions from norepinephrine to serotonin.