Determination of pharmacological levels of harmane, harmine and harmaline in mammalian brain tissue, cerebrospinal fluid and plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorimetric detection |
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Authors: | J Moncrieff |
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Institution: | Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Pretoria, South Africa. |
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Abstract: | Increased blood aldehyde levels, as occur in alcohol intoxication, could lead to the formation of beta-carbolines such as harmane by condensation with indoleamines. Endogenous beta-carbolines, therefore, should occur in specific brain areas where indoleamine concentrations are high, whilst exogenous beta-carbolines should exhibit an even distribution. The author presents direct and sensitive methods for assaying the beta-carbolines harmane, harmine and harmaline in brain tissue, cerebrospinal fluid and plasma at picogram sample concentrations using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorimetric detection and minimal sample preparation. Using these assay methods, it was found that the distribution of beta-carbolines from a source exogenous to the brain results in a relatively even distribution within the brain tissue. |
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