Simultaneous determination of 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylacetic (homovanillic) acid and other monoamine metabolites in human lumbar cerebrospinal fluid: an improved high-performance liquid chromatographic study with electrochemical detection.

We describe a direct analysis for the simultaneous quantitative determination of 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylacetic (homovanillic) acid and other monoamine metabolites in human lumbar cerebrospinal fluid, utilizing reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with amperometric detection. In addition, a rapid isocratic separation was developed for homovanillic acid in the presence of other endogenous compounds. Twenty-five unselected diagnostic specimens of human lumbar cerebrospinal fluid were extracted with ethyl acetate and subsequently analyzed using the described method. Chromatographic peaks were identified on the basis of retention behavior and ratio of responses at several oxidation potentials. Although our quantitative results correlate well with the literature values, the data were not interpreted clinically since samples were obtained from routine, diagnostic testing of patients admitted to the medical or neurologic services at the Mount Sinai Hospital.