A fluorescence-based optical fiber analyzer for catecholamine determination

Abstract

An optical fibre (OF) analyzer for measuring catecholamines (dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine) in biological samples with induced fluorescence was developed. The analytical set-up included a chromatographic column for catecholamine separation and a fluorescence-based OF detection (FOF-analyzer). The detection limit of the FOF-analyser was found to be less than 0.9 pg mL⁻¹. The proposed methodology showed an adequate analytical performance for the determination of the catecholamines in actual samples of human urine. The analytical performance of the FOF-analyzer for catecholamine determination was investigated against the high performance liquid chromatography-electrochemical detection (HPLC-ED) method. The FOF-analyzer showed lower detection limits and larger linear ranges for determination of dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (E) in comparison with HPLC-ED and other methodologies such as HPLC-fluorescence. These advantages combined with the compact design, small-scale instrumentation, and effective cost of analysis make this system an interesting alternative to the existing methodologies for the determination of catecholamines in clinical samples.