Atropine in mouse brain and plasma quantified by mass fragmentography.

A gas chromatography - mass spectrometric method has been developed for the assay of atropine in blood and brain tissue samples of mice. The method is based on the use of deuterium labelled atropine as internal standard and has a sensitivity allowing analyses of small brain structures, e.g. striatum and hippocampus. The method has been used to study the distribution and disposition of atropine in blood and brain of mice. The data obtained in blood can best be fitted by a two compartment open model with the elimination half-life of about 100 min., which was similar to that in brain. The concentration in brain structures with different cholinergic neuronal density was about the same.