Simultaneous Determination of Serotonin, 5‐Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid, 3,4‐Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid and Homovanillic Acid by High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Electrochemical Detection

A rapid and highly sensitive procedure for simultaneous determination of serotonin, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid is described. After precipitation of proteins with perchloric acid the samples are applied directly to a high performance liquid chromatograph, with electrochemical detection. As little as 20 pg of serotonin, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and 200 pg of homovanillic acid can be detected. One chromatographic run requires less than 10 min.