SENSITIVE AND RAPID METHOD FOR THE SIMULTANEOUS QUANTIFICATION OF 5 ANTIDEPRESSANTS WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE METABOLITES IN PLASMA USING HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH DIODE-ARRAY DETECTION

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method with diode array dete ction (HPLC-DAD) has been developed for the simultaneous separation an d quantification of imipramine, amitriptyline, maprotiline, fluoxetine , clomipramine and their respective metabolites using a 500-mu l plasm a sample and clovoxamine as the internal standard. The substances were eluted on a Symmetry C-18 5-mu m column (250 x 4.6 mm, I.D.). Full UV spectra from 200 to 450 nm were recorded on-line during the entire an alysis and were automatically compared to spectra stored in a library. The quantification was performed at 226, 254, and 400 nm. Peak height ratios were linear over a concentration range of 10-3000 ng/ml: the c orrelation coefficient (r) was better than 0.998 for all substances at each wavelength. Acceptable coefficients of variation are demonstrate d for both within-run and day-to-day. assays. The method is simple. hi ghly specific and currently being used for drug monitoring and toxicol ogical studies in children and adult patients. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scien ce B.V.