title: Dual ultraviolet wavelength high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the forensic or clinical analysis of seventeen antidepressants and some selected metabolites.
abstract: A sensitive method suitable for the determination of tricyclic and other antidepressants in postmortem and clinical specimens is presented. The procedure, which utilizes reversed-phase HPLC combined with dual ultraviolet wavelength detection, enables the separation of 17 commonly prescribed antidepressants and some selected metabolites in a single extraction. Peak purity was confirmed using absorbance ratios at 220 nm and 254 nm wavelengths and revealed little interference from other eluting analytes. The blood detection limit for most antidepressants was 50 ng/ml. The most commonly observed antidepressants in 281 forensic cases analysed over a two-year period with the described method were dothiepin, amitriptyline, nortriptyline and doxepin.
authors.affiliation: Victorian Institute of Forensic Pathology, Monash University, South Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: McIntyre
authors.forename: C V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Skafidis
authors.forename: O H
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Drummer
mesh_terms: D000639:Amitriptyline / Q000097:blood; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000097:blood*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004308:Dothiepin / Q000097:blood; D004316:Doxepin / Q000097:blood; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006801:Humans; D008832:Microchemistry; D009661:Nortriptyline / Q000097:blood; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D011786:Quality Control
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D004316:Doxepin; D000639:Amitriptyline; D009661:Nortriptyline; D004308:Dothiepin