Cyclodextrin-modified MEKC method for quantification of selected acidic metabolites of catecholamines in the presence of various biogenic amines. Application to diagnosis of neuroblastoma

• The simultaneous separation of biogenic amines and their metabolites was achieved.
• The α-CD was added to the BGE and LODs have lowered for several analytes.
• Method is fast, straightforward and can be applied for the analysis of real samples.
• The MEKC allowed the analysis of HVA, VMA and DOPAC in neuroblastoma urine samples.
• New approach in the extracranial cancer diagnosis in childhood could be revealed.

The main aim of the presented study was to develop a reliable and non-time-consuming method for the simultaneous separation of biogenic amines (BAs) like noradrenalin, adrenalin, dopamine and their main metabolites – homovanillic acid (HVA), vanillylmandelic acid (VMA), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) – in urine samples. To achieve this, the validated α-cyclodextrin (α-CD)-modified micellar electrokinetic chromatography method with DAD was proposed. The optimized separation parameters were as follows: background electrolyte was composed of 10 mM sodium tetraborate decahydrate, 30 mM SDS, 15% (v/v) methanol and 25 mM α-CD, adjusted to pH 9.36 with 1 N NaOH; uncoated fused silica capillary (75 μm i.d. × 60.2 cm length); λ = 200 nm; injection time 5 s, applied voltage 25 kV; temperature 25 (±0.1) °C. Next, the developed MEKC method was practically applied to evaluate the levels of selected acidic metabolites of catecholamines like HVA, VMA and DOPAC in urine samples collected from patients diagnosed with neuroblastoma (NB), melanotic neuroectodermal tumor of infancy (MNTI).