Fast liquid chromatography separation and multiple-reaction monitoring mass spectrometric detection of neurotransmitters

We describe here the fast LC-MS/MS separation of a mixture of neurotransmitters consisting of dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, 3,4-dihydroxybenzylamine (DHBA), salsolinol, serotonin, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The new UltiMate (R) 3000 Rapid Separation system (RSLC) was successfully coupled to the 4000 QTRAP mass spectrometer operating in multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The separation was attained using a 100 mm length, 2.2 mu m particle size Acclaim column at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. The column back pressure was 350 bar, while the total run time including column re-equilibration was 5.2 min. The peak resolution was minimally affected by the fast separation. The RSLC-MRM separation was found to have a precision range based on peak area for 50 replicate runs of 2-5% CV for all analytes, and the reproducibility of the retention time for all analytes was found to range from 0-2% CV. The described method represents an almost seven times shorter analysis time of neurotransmitters using LC/MRM which is very useful in screening large quantities of biological samples for various neurotransmitters.