Analysis of tricyclic antidepressant drugs in plasma and serum by chromatographic techniques.
A review of methods for the determination of tricyclic antidepressants in plasma or serum, based on the application of chromatographic techniques, is presented. A general discussion of the techniques in terms of their precision, accuracy, sensitivity and selectivity, with respect to parent drug and metabolites, is used to facilitate a comparison of methods. No one technique can be claimed as the method of choice for these drugs, although gas-liquid chromatography with nitrogen selective detection has some strong claims, viz. generally good sensitivity and reproducibility of assays and ready availability of equipment in most laboratories. The ultimate choice of a method for determining tricyclics will be determined more by the clinical application (routine monitoring versus pharmacokinetics) than by other factors.
D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D004355:Drug Stability; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans
D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic