Amitriptyline and nortriptyline serum determination by micellar liquid chromatography.
BACKGROUND
Amitriptyline and nortriptyline are tricyclic antidepressants which act by enhancing the actions of norepinephrine and serotonin caused by blocking the re-uptake of various neurotransmitters at the neuronal membrane. A micellar liquid chromatographic procedure was developed to determine these drugs in serum samples for use in clinical monitoring.


METHODS
The chromatographic determination of these highly hydrophobic substances was carried out using a 0.15 M SDS-6% (v/v) pentanol buffered at pH 7, in a C18 column, and electrochemical detection at 650 mV. The flow-rate was 1.5 mL/min. The analysis time was 14 min.


RESULTS
The limits of detection (ng/mL) in serum were 0.25 and 0.31 for amitriptyline and nortriptyline, respectively. Repeatability and intermediate precision were evaluated at three different concentrations in serum samples.


CONCLUSIONS
Untreated serum samples were injected directly into the HPLC system after filtration, leading to be a simple procedure that can be applied in routine analyses for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring.
Bose
Devasish
D
Area de Química Analítica, Universitat Jaume I, Campus Riu Sec, Av. de Vicent Sos Baynat, s/n, 12071 Castelló, Spain.
Durgbanshi
Abhilasha
A
Martinavarro-Domínguez
Adrià
A
Capella-Peiró
Maria-Elisa
ME
Carda-Broch
Samuel
S
Esteve-Romero
Josep
J
Gil-Agustí
Mayte
M
D000639:Amitriptyline / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood*; D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008823:Micelles; D009661:Nortriptyline / Q000097:blood*; D000439:Pentanols; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013607:Tablets
D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic; D008823:Micelles; D000439:Pentanols; D013607:Tablets; D000639:Amitriptyline; D009661:Nortriptyline