本研究主要是利用高效能微管液相層析技術聯結雙電極電化學偵測器分析尿液中的兒茶酚胺，藉由雙電極氧化/還原之間的比率及滯留時間鑑定分析物，提供了確切可靠的測定結果。不同於一般傳統液相色層萃取分析，本方法最大的優點是，樣本不需經由純化及萃取等繁瑣的前處理過程。另外，還原電位的層析圖消除了出現在氧化電位層析圖中的溶劑前緣波峰及干擾波峰，在十五分鐘的分析時間內就能精確地分離出正腎上腺素、腎上腺素、DOPAC、多巴胺。本方法對上述分析物的偵測極限是在0.2至0.5pg，對於人體尿液兒茶酚胺的偵測，此方法不僅快速、方便且又靈敏，能夠應用於基礎醫學及臨床研究。
This report describes the author’s experience in concurrently measuring urinary catecholamines by two methods, namely microbore high-performance liquid chromatography and a dual electrochemical detector. The dual electrode detector provides reliable measurements and an assignment of peaks through the identification of the retention time of each peak along with its redox ration at the oxidation / reduction cycle. Unlike some conventional extraction assays, this method requires neither purification nor extraction prior to microbore LC assay. In addition, the large solvent-front peak and interfering peaks are eliminated on the cathodic chromatogram, which provides reliable measurement of norepinephrine, epinephrine, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, and dopamine. Isocratic separation of these analytes by a microbore column is achieved within 15 min. The detection limit (signal-to-noise ration = 3) of this method is about 0.2- 0.5 pg per injection for all analytes. This rapid, simple, and sensitive method for the measurement of human urinary catecholamines can be used as a clinical or research tool.
