A new rapid method for the analysis of catecholic tetrahydroisoquinolines from biological samples by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

A new method for the analysis of tetrahydroisoquinolines (TIQ) from biological materials is described. The method combines extraction and acylation of the TIQs from urine in a one-step procedure followed by analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. By this extractive derivatization method, a decrease of the extraction time, to speed up sample preparation in order to minimize oxidative side reaction, has been achieved. The detection limits for the analysis of salsolinol and salsolin in urine were 10 fmol/ml sample volume. Tetrahydropapaveroline could only be detected in spiked urine samples with a detection limit of 1 pmol/ml urine. The method is not only restricted to urine samples, but can also be applied to a variety of tissue types, including blood components.