A study of brain dopamine sulfate levels in relation to free dopamine and homovanillic acid in Parkinson's disease.
High performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection was used for determining dopamine sulfate in human brain tissues. Dopamine sulfate was examined in the striatum and frontal cortex of human brain. The concentrations of dopamine sulfate in these regions are extremely low in comparison to free dopamine, and to dopamine sulfoconjugates in the cerebrospinal fluid, plasma and urine. Data obtained with this technique in human post mortem brain specimens indicate that the analysis of tissues and body fluids for dopamine conjugates is useful for profiling metabolic dopamine activity in controls and neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson's disease.