Simultaneous measurement of serotonin, dopamine and their metabolites in mouse brain extracts by high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry following derivatization with ethyl chloroformate.

In order to measure the levels of serotonin (5-hydroxyltryptamine, 5-HT), dopamine (DA), 3,4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), 3-methoxytyramine (3-MT) and homovanillic acid (HVA) simultaneously, an effective derivatization method followed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to electrochemical ionization mass spectrometry was used. The derivatization reaction of biological samples with ethyl chloroformate occurred rapidly at room temperature in aqueous conditions, and the resulting derivatives were isocratically separated with good selectivity using a C18 reversed-phase column within 30 min. The study results showed that the new derivatization procedure offers an excellent means of simultaneous determination of 5-HT, DA and their metabolites in mouse brain homogenates, which are important in a number of physiological and behavioral functions.