title: A simple high-performance liquid chromatography method for the quantitation of tricyclic antidepressant drugs in human plasma or serum.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A simple reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography method with a variable wavelength detection has been developed for determining the commonly used tricyclic antidepressant drugs in plasma.
  
  
  METHODS
  The assay procedure involves a liquid-liquid extraction with an initial extraction into hexane:ethyl acetate after basification of the homogenate. The column used was a Supelco Hypersil 5 microm, 150 x 3.2 mm. The mobile phase was acetonitrile, methanol, and phosphate buffer (0.01M, pH 7.4) at 12:3:5 ratio (v/v/v).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The recoveries ranged from 89 to 108% and the day-to-day precision was 1.1 to 13% CV depending on the compound. The method is sensitive to 15 ng/mL and linear to 400 ng/mL with a 25 microL injection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This method is simple, sensitive, precise, inexpensive, and is currently used in our laboratory for therapeutic monitoring of tricyclics. The data generated by this method were within the range outlined by the College of American Pathologists.
authors.affiliation: Deparment of Pharmacology, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee 37028, USA. ANyanda@mmc.edu
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Nyanda
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Nunes
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ramesh
mesh_terms: D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic / Q000097:blood*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic