H. Weigmann et al., AUTOMATED-DETERMINATION OF CLOZAPINE AND MAJOR METABOLITES IN SERUM AND URINE, Therapeutic drug monitoring, 19(4), 1997, pp. 480-488
Clozapine is an atypical neuroleptic that is increasingly used for the
treatment of schizophrenia. An automated method was developed for the
routine quantification of clozapine and its major metabolites, N-desm
ethylclozapine and clozapine N-oxide, in human serum and urine by colu
mn switching and online high-performance liquid chromatography with ul
traviolet detection. The method included adsorption of clozapine and i
ts metabolites on a cyanopropyl-coated clean-up column (10 mu m; 10 mm
x 4.0 mm ID), washing interfering serum constituents to waste by deio
nized water, and, after column switching, separation on C18 ODS Hypers
il reversed-phase material (5 mu m; 250 mm x 4.6 mm ID). The compounds
of interest were separated and eluted in fewer than 20 minutes, using
a mobile phase consisting of 37.5 acetonitril:62.5 water, containing
0.4% (vol/vol) tetramethylethylenediamine and adjusted to pH 6.5 with
concentrated acetic acid. Ultraviolet-detection was performed at 354 n
m. The determinations exhibited linearity between detector signal and
drug concentrations in a range from 5 ng/ml to 50 mu g/ml. As little a
s 10 ng/ml of clozapine and 20 or 30 ng/ml of the metabolites was quan
tifiable. Interferences with other psychotropic drugs, serum, or urine
constituents were negligible. The automated procedure enables the ana
lysis of clozapine and metabolites in serum or urine in less than 1 ho
ur.