Targeted UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS Analysis of Selected Neurotransmitters, Tryptophan and Its Metabolite Kynurenine in Tau Transgenic Rat Brain Tissue: A Pivotal Study

Separations

article

Juraj Piestansky¹  Andrea Forgacsova¹  Dominika Olesova³  Jaroslav Galba⁴  Peter Mikus¹  Petra Majerova³  Andrej Kovac³ 

[1] Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis and Nuclear Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Comenius University in Bratislava;Toxicological and Antidoping Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Comenius University in Bratislava;Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Science;Institute of Virology, Biomedical Research Center Slovak Academy of Science

关键词: NT;    transgenic rats;    brain tissue;    ultra-high performance liquid chromatography;    tandem mass spectrometry;    tauopathy;   

DOI  :  10.3390/separations9010016

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Neurotransmitters (NT) are widely distributed in the central nervous system. These molecules are important for many physiological processes and the function of the immune system. Imbalance of NT are linked to numerous neurological disorders and diseases, including tauopathies. Here, a targeted approach based on on-line combination of ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry was validated and applied to the quantitative analysis of nine NT (acetylcholine, choline, aspartic acid, asparagine, glutamic acid, glutamine, pyroglutamate, γ-aminobutyric acid, N-acetyl-L-aspartic acid), tryptophan and its metabolite kynurenine in brain tissue samples of a rat model for tauopathy. The applied analytical method was characterized by excellent validation parameters for all analytes, such as limits of detection in the range of 0.01–1.70 µg/mL, regression coefficients of the calibration curves ≥ 0.9946, intra-day and inter-day precision expressed as coefficient of variation in the range of 0.6–11.9% and 0.6–14.4%, and accuracy in the range of 87.6–107.1% and 87.2–119.6%. Our analytical approach led to the identification of increased levels of choline and γ-aminobutyric acid in pons, and elevated concentration levels of pyroglutamate in medulla oblongata. These findings indicate that NT could play a valuable role in the study and clarification of neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases.

【 授权许可】

CC BY