Analysis of 5-hydroxytryptamine and its related indoles in cerebrospinal fluid of leukemic children by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract

Background It is meaningful to quantify some neurotransmitters in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for pathology and clinical diagnosis. The objective of this study was to develop a rapid and reliable method for detecting 5-hydroxyindole ethanol (5-HTOL), 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA), 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in CSF by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and explore the clinical significance of the levels of these neurotransmitters in CSF from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Methods The levels of 5-HTOL, 5-HIAA, 5-HTP and 5-HT in CSF from children with ALL and a control (CON) group were examined by the proposed GC-MS method. Results The GC-MS method showed good sensitivity and accuracy. 5-HT and 5-HIAA contents in the ALL group were significantly lower than those in the CON group (p < 0.01), while there was no significant difference in 5-HTP and 5-HTOL contents between the two groups (p > 0.05). Conclusions This sensitive and reliable method could be used in studies focusing on clinical pathogenesis of ALL.

The High-Precision Liquid Chromatography with Electrochemical Detection (HPLC-ECD) for Monoamines Neurotransmitters and Their Metabolites: A Review

“…Gas chromatography (GC) [ 21 , 22 ] and capillary electrophoresis (CE) [ 23 , 24 ] are analytical techniques used in these research areas. However, they have several drawbacks: GC requires the use of compound derivatization to make them more volatile [ 25 ], and CE is a limited technique for the analysis of complex mixtures.…”