title: Urine phenobarbital drug screening: potential use for compliance assessment in neonates.
abstract: This study was done to determine if urine phenobarbital measurements provide a reliable indicator of presence of the drug in neonates. Urine was collected from neonates treated with phenobarbital for clinical indications within 4 to 6 hours of clinically indicated collection of serum phenobarbital levels. Urine samples were also collected from control neonates not treated with phenobarbital. One aliquot was assayed fresh, another frozen at -30°C and assayed 1 to 3 months later. Phenobarbital was assayed using the ONLINE TDM Roche/Hitachi automated clinical chemistry analyzer. Serum and urine concentrations were compared as were fresh and frozen urine measurements. Serum phenobarbital ranged from 5.6 to 52.7 μg/mL. Matched urine samples were 56.6 ± 12.5% of the serum level. Frozen samples were 98.3 ± 8.0% of the fresh samples. Urine phenobarbital concentrations, either fresh or frozen, can be used in neonates as a noninvasive estimate of drug levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics (Neonatology), University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642, USA. ronnie_guillet@urmc.rochester.edu
authors.forename: Ronnie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guillet
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Sixaio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: McDermott
mesh_terms: D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D055118:Medication Adherence; D010634:Phenobarbital / Q000627:therapeutic use / Q000652:urine*
chemical_list: D010634:Phenobarbital