3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid in serum and cerebrospinal fluid of psychotic patients estimated by a gas chromatographic method.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA) are extracted from 0.5 ml serum or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with ethyl acetate, reacted with pentafluoropropionic anhydride and hexafluoroisopropanol and separated on a 3% SE-30 gas chromatographic column. In the serum of 13 psychotic patients with paranoid-hallucinatory syndrome, mean values of 132 +/- 63 ng/ml DOPAC and 79 +/- 46 ng/ml HVA were found. The mean concentrations in CSF were 92 +/- 48 and 66 +/- 28 ng/ml respectively. The results indicate a high intraneuronal metabolism of dopamine; the ratio of DOPAC to HVA could give information about the extra- and intraneuronal uptake rates of this transmitter.