Assay of urinary vanilmandelic, homovanillic, and 5-hydroxyindole acetic acids by liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

ABSTRACT

A reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method with amperometric detection has been developed for the simultaneous determination of the noradrenaline metabolite, vanilmandelic acid, the dopamine metabolite, homovanillic acid, and the serotonin metabolite, 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid, in human urine. After purification by an extraction procedure, the metabolites were rapidly separated under isocratic conditions. Detection and quantification were performed with an electrochemical detector using a carbon paste electrode. The present method is sensitive, selective and, achieves a high degree of precision by the use of isovanilmandelic acid as an internal standard. This provides a suitable tool for clinical and research applications.