Quantitative analysis of catecholamines and their metabolites in human urine by gas chromatography - mass spectrometry as a screening method for sympatho-adrenal tumors

Abstract

The endogenous catecholamines and their metabolites play an integral role in establishing the presence or absence of a suspected sympatho-adrenal tumor. Highly elevated metabolites excreted in the urine are indicative of a tumor. For this reason numerous analytical methods has been developed to accurately quantify the levels of these compounds. However, current methods usually make use of conventional HPLC methods. Although effective, these methods require tedious sample preparation and are usually plagued by interferences. It was the aim of this work to develop a gas chromatographic – mass spectrometric (GC-MS) method that allow for the simultaneous analysis of the endogenous catecholamines, their basic and acidic metabolites using a single extraction procedure (which is easy to use and not tedious) with minimal derivatization steps. Furthermore, to develop GC-MS methods which do not require tedious sample preparation and yet be sensitive and accurate and allow for rapid analysis in the clinical pathology laboratory. Four different gas chromatographic - mass spectrometric methods were developed for the analysis of the catecholamines and their metabolites and are discussed in detail.