A rapid and simple method for the quantification in human plasma of tricyclic antidepressant drugs taken in overdose.
A rapid and simple extraction procedure followed by gas chromatography using a nitrogen detector is described for the analysis of amitriptyline, nortriptyline, imipramine, and desipramine in 100 microliter plasma. No derivitisation of the drugs is required. Recoveries ranged from 93.7 to 104.6%. Within-batch precision and day-to-day variation showed coefficients of variation of less than 10% with the exception of desipramine, for which the day-to-day coefficient of variation was 15.2%. The method was developed to measure plasma concentrations in patients who had taken non-fatal and fatal overdoses of the drugs.
D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic / Q000097:blood* / Q000506:poisoning; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008722:Methods
D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic