High-pressure liquid chromatography/electrochemical detection method for monitoring MDA and MDMA in whole blood and other biological tissues.
R E Michel, A B Rege, W J George
Journal of neuroscience methods October 1993 DOI: 10.1016/0165-0270(93)90056-w (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Methodological analytical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | MDMA |
| Key points | The authors report a new HPLC method with electrochemical detection that measures MDMA, MDA, and MDE in whole blood with a sensitivity of 1 ng/ml, requiring only 200 microliters of blood. Retention times are 6.5, 9.2, and 10.3 minutes, allowing a complete run every 15 minutes, with assay linearity from 1 ng/ml to at least 1 microgram/ml and coefficients of variation below 9%. They contend the method offers greater sensitivity, rapid turnaround, and ease of use compared with previously described HPLC methods. |
Abstract
The drug Ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)) is one of several hallucinogenic amphetamine derivatives reported to be serotonergic neurotoxins. The following is a description of a new high-pressure liquid chromatographic (HPLC) analytical method for the analysis of MDMA, 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) and N-ethyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDE) from whole blood. Upon separation of MDMA, MDA and MDE by HPLC, quantitation is achieved by use of electrochemical detection. Retention times for MDA, MDMA, and MDE are 6.5, 9.2, and 10.3 min, respectively, allowing for a complete chromatographic run every 15 min. The sensitivity of the method is 1 ng/ml which allows for measurement of MDA, MDMA, or MDE in microsamples of whole blood. The volume of blood required is very small (200 microliters); therefore, there is minimal blood loss in repeated blood sampling from small animals. Assay linearity was demonstrated from 1 ng/ml to at least 1 microgram/ml. The coefficients of variation for both intra-assay and inter-assay comparisons were less than 9%. Other HPLC methods have been previously described for the analysis of amphetamine derivatives, but this new method offers greater sensitivity, rapid turn-around time and ease of use.