Analytical Sciences

Quantification of Dopamine in Brain Microdialysates with High-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Dawei QI,* Qian ZHANG,* Wanhong ZHOU,* Jingjing ZHAO,** Bo ZHANG,** Yunfei SHA,* and Zhiqing PANG**

* Technical Center of Shanghai Tobacco Group Co. Ltd., Shanghai 200082, China
**Key Laboratory of Smart Drug Delivery, Ministry of Education, Department of Pharmaceutics Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, 826 Zhangheng Road, Shanghai 201203, China

The dopamine level in the brain and the mesolimbick dopaminergic system are responsible for nicotine addiction. In the present study, extracellular dopamine in nucleus accumbens was collected by a brain microdialysis technique. Also a sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method with a gradient elution procedure was developed for a precise determination of dopamine in brain dialysate. The retention time of dopamine was about 11.32 min. The linear range was 20 – 1000 pg/mL. The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of qualification (LOQ) were 5 and 20 pg/mL, respectively. The recovery ranged from 98.2 to 109.0%, and both the intra-RSD and inter-RSD were below <9%, respectively. The probe recovery for dopamine in this brain microdialysis experiment was about 25%. Finally, the dopamine concentrations in the rat brain microdialysates were determined, and the pharmacokinetics of extracellular dopamine in the brain nucleus accumbens after an intravenous injection of nicotine was successfully evaluated.

J-STAGE: View this article in J-STAGE