A novel analytical methodology for the determination and extraction of catecholamines (dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine) and their metabolites DL-3,4-dihydroxyphenyl glycol and DL-3,4-dihydroxymandelic acid by LC-MS is here developed and validated for application to human and animal urine and hair samples.

Hormones have not been found in concentrations of orders of magnitude higher than nanograms per milliliter. This study reports urine concentrations of a catecholamine (norepinephrine) ranging from 0.05 to 0.5 g/l, and concentrations of its metabolite dl-3,4-dihydroxyphenyl glycol (DOPEG) ranging from 1.0 to 44.5 g/l, in wild male red deer Cervus elaphus hispanicus after LC–MS analyses. The dark ventral patch of male red deer, a recently described sexually selected signal, contains high...