ENDOGENOUS ALKALOIDS IN MAN .26. DETERMINATION OF THE DOPAMINERGIC NEUROTOXIN -TRICHLOROMETHYL-1,2,3,4-TETRAHYDRO-BETA-CARBOLINE (TACLO) INBIOLOGICAL SAMPLES USING GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH SELECTED-ION MONITORING

Highly chlorinated beta-carbolines have a potential in vivo relevance to Parkinson's disease. In this paper, a gas chromatographic method fo r the determination of the neurotoxic 1-trichloromethyl-1, 2, 3, 4-tet rahydro-beta-carboline (TaClo), the condensation product of tryptamine and chloral hydrate, is described. The specific and sensitive assay i nvolves purification of the biological samples by solid-phase extracti on with C-18 cartridges, derivatization with heptafluorobutyric anhydr ide, and chromatography on a non-polar fused-silica capillary column. Detection of TaClo was achieved by the registration of characteristic mass fragments of the TaClo heptafluorobutyric amide derivative using selected ion monitoring. The method was utilized to detect and quantif y TaClo in blood, urine, bile, faeces, and brain tissue of rats treate d with this alkaloid-type heterocycle. Four-fold deuterium-labelled Ta Clo was used as an internal standard.