Determination of monoamines by use of liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection in the study of selective monoamine neurotoxins.

Determination of regional monoamine levels in the CNS in the study of the effects of selective monoaminergic neurotoxins is a reliable method with which to study the morphological changes in denervated as well as re- or hyperinnervated regions as evidenced by comparisons with several other methods. In the acute stage, the changes in monoamine levels reflect both the beginning of the degeneration and the acute pharmacological effects exerted by several monoaminergic neurotoxins. The only exception to this seems to be the MPTP-induced chronic decrease of DA in the nucleus accumbens and the tuberculum olfactorium where no morphologic changes have been found so far.