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ESTIMATION OF LEVELS OF SEROTONIN AND 5‐HYDROXYINDOLES IN WHOLE BLOOD BY AN AUTOANALYTICAL PROCEDURE: OBSERVATIONS ON THE BLOOD‐BRAIN BARRIER 1
Author(s) -
Welch K. M. A.,
Meyer J. S.,
Kwant Susan
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1972.tb01428.x
Subject(s) - baboon , serotonin , whole blood , blood–brain barrier , chemistry , medicine , chromatography , biology , central nervous system , receptor
— We describe a method for the fluorometric determination of 5‐hydroxyindoles in the physiological range of 0.010–1.30 μg/ml of whole blood by means of an autoanalytical procedure. Serotonin is dialysed free from haemolysed blood constituents and a complex between 5‐HT and o ‐phthaldialdehyde is formed in the dialysand to provide a considerable increase over the native fluorescence of 5‐HT in strong acid. The method has been evaluated and considered to be accurate for the continuous monitoring of levels of 5‐HT in whole blood and for the determination of cerebral arteriovenous differences. The range of values for human patients with cerebrovascular disease was 0.09–0.34 μg/ml of whole blood. In experimental studies on the baboon the range was 0.538–1.28 μg/ml. A mean positive cerebral arteriovenous difference for 5‐HT (and possibly other 5‐hydroxyindoles) of 0.037 μg/ml was measured in 10 baboons. This finding suggests the possibility of physiological movement of 5‐HT and 5‐hydroxyindoles into brain across the blood‐brain barrier.