Analysis of Urinary Metanephrines Using Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Marlene N Thaitumu; Elizabeth L Frank

doi:10.1007/978-1-0716-4334-1_14

Analysis of Urinary Metanephrines Using Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Methods Mol Biol. 2025:2891:257-268. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-4334-1_14.

Authors

Marlene N Thaitumu^{1

2}, Elizabeth L Frank³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
² ARUP Laboratories, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
³ Analytic Biochemistry, Calculi and Manual Chemistry, Mass Spectrometry, ARUP Laboratories, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

PMID: 39812987
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-4334-1_14

Abstract

Metanephrines (metanephrine [MN] and normetanephrine [NMN]) are O-methylated metabolites derived from the catecholamines, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, respectively. High concentrations of metanephrines have been observed in individuals with pheochromocytoma, a neuroendocrine tumor. Measurement of metanephrines in urine is used to screen for the tumor. Analysis using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is recommended due to the high sensitivity, specificity, and throughput of the technique. Herein, we describe an optimized LC-MS/MS assay for the analysis of urinary metanephrines.

Keywords: Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; Metanephrines; Pheochromocytoma.

MeSH terms

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / diagnosis
Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / urine
Chromatography, Liquid / methods
Humans
Metanephrine* / urine
Normetanephrine / urine
Pheochromocytoma / diagnosis
Pheochromocytoma / urine
Tandem Mass Spectrometry* / methods

Substances

Metanephrine
Normetanephrine