ABSTRACT
A rapid Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for the simultaneous determination of six neurotransmitters in rat plasma,adrenal gland and hypothalamus,including γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA),serotonin(5-HT), tyrosine(L-Tyr), dopamine(DA), norepinephrine(NE) and epinephrine(E). This method was used for the neurotransmitters detection in rat adrenal, blood and hypothalamus. The samples were pre-column derivatized with dansyl chloride,and 5-HTP and CA were used as internal standards. A Thermo C18column (50 mm×3 mm,2.7 μm) was used for sample separation with 0.1% aqueous formic acid solution as phase A and methanol as phase B at a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min, and the injection volume was set at 2 μL. The detection was carried out with multi-reaction monitoring(MRM) in electron spray ionization (ESI) positive mode. The linear ranges for detection of GABA,5-HT, L-Tyr, DA, NE and E were 0.26-620.80 μmol/L,0.03-11.20 μmol/L,1.20-88.00 μmol/L,0.03-41.02 μmol/L, 0.01-47.20 μmol/L, 0. 01-90. 24 μmol/L, respectively, with recoveries varying from 91. 16% to 116.20%. This method can detect the neurotransmitters rapidly and accurately, providing a platform for the determination of neurotransmitters in rat plasma, adrenal gland and hypothalamus in pharmacological experiments.