Biogenic amines (BAs) are bioactive endogenous compounds which play a significant physiological role in many cell processes like cell proliferation and differentiation, signal transduction and membrane stability. Likewise, they are important in the regulation of body temperature, the increase/decrease of blood pressure or intake of nutrition, as well as in the synthesis of nucleic acids and proteins, hormones and alkaloids. Additionally, it was confirmed that these compounds can be considered as useful biomarkers for the diagnosis, therapy and prognosis of several neuroendocrine and cardiovascular disorders, including neuroendocrine tumours (NET), schizophrenia and Parkinson’s Disease. Due to the fact that BAs are chemically unstable, light-sensitive and possess a high tendency for spontaneous oxidation and decomposition at high pH values, their determination is a real challenge. Moreover, their concentrations in biological matrices are extremely low. These issues make the measurement of BA levels in biological matrices problematic and the application of reliable bioanalytical methods for the extraction and determination of these molecules is needed. This article presents an overview of the most recent trends in the quantification of BAs in human samples with a special focus on liquid chromatography (LC), gas chromatography (GC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) techniques. Thus, new approaches and technical possibilities applied in these methodologies for the assessment of BA profiles in human samples and the priorities for future research are reported and critically discussed. Moreover, the most important applications of LC, GC and CE in pharmacology, psychology, oncology and clinical endocrinology in the area of the analysis of BAs for the diagnosis, follow-up and monitoring of the therapy of various health disorders are presented and critically evaluated.

A rapid and sensitive reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method (RP-LC) with UV detection has been developed for the determination of free cortisol, cortisone and corticosterone in human urine. The assay was performed after a solid-phase extraction procedure (SPE) with dexamethasone as the internal standard. Chromatographic separation was carried out on a Nucleosil 100 C₁₈ analytical column using a mixture of acetonitrile and water (30 ∶ 70, v/v) as a mobile phase at a flow-rate of 1 mL min⁻¹. Spectrophotometric detection was performed at 240 nm. The method has been validated for accuracy, precision, selectivity, linearity, recovery and stability. The absolute recoveries of glucocorticoids were above 94.6%. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were 0.5 and 2 ng mL⁻¹, respectively, for all analytes. Linearity was confirmed in the range of 2–300 ng mL⁻¹ with a correlation coefficient greater than 0.9997 for all steroid hormones. The proposed method was sensitive, robust and specific allowing reliable quantification of steroid hormones. This method was successfully applied for determination of three endogenous glucocorticoid levels in human urine. The studies were performed on 20 sedentary healthy volunteers in comparison to two socially diversified groups, namely 10 parachutists before and after jump and 10 patients with depression. Pharmacokinetic studies performed on these groups indicated that urinary free cortisol and cortisol-to-cortisone ratios can be treated as biomarkers of stress and depressive disorders.