Determination of Plasma Serotonin and 5-Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid in Healthy Subjects and Cancer Patients

[摘要] Serotonin [5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)] is involved in physiological functions such as sleep, hemostasis, and behavior regulation, and in pathological conditions such as carcinoid syndrome, thrombosis, and cardiovascular diseases (1)(2). Plasma 5-HT is derived largely from the enteroendocrine cell in the gastrointestinal tract. The evidence of the relationships between 5-HT and these pathological conditions has been obtained mostly from studies of 5-HT and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in the plasma of humans (3). The most reliable laboratory test to detect a carcinoid tumor is the repeated determination of the urinary 5-HIAA (4). In addition, whole- blood 5-HT is increased in patients with metastatic midgut carcinoid tumors (1)(2).Liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection provides the highest sensitivity for the determination of human plasma 5-HT and/or 5-HIAA. However, widely variable “normal” concentrations of plasma 5-HT (0.5–44 μg/L) have been reported (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). These inconsistencies …

[学科分类] 过敏症与临床免疫学