Benzodiazepines are often prescribed to schizophrenic or depressed patients, as a part of polypharmacy regimens. A high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of fifteen benzodiazepines in human plasma. Separation was obtained by using a C8 reversed-phase column and a mobile phase composed of 65% aqueous phosphate buffer containing triethylamine at pH 3.0 and 35% acetonitrile. The UV detector was set at 220 nm and clomipramine was used as the internal standard. A careful pre-treatment procedure of plasma samples was developed, using solid-phase extraction with C1 cartridges, which gives high extraction yields (> 93%).The limits of quantitation (LOQ) were always lower than 7.6 ng/mL and the limits of detection (LOD) always lower than 2.6 ng/mL for all analytes. The method was successfully applied to plasma samples from depressed and schizophrenic patients undergoing polypharmacy with one or more benzodiazepines. Precision data, as well as accuracy results, were satisfactory and no interference from other drugs was found. Hence the method seems to be suitable for the therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of patients undergoing therapy with one or more benzodiazepines.
Separation and HPLC analysis of fifteen benzodiazepines in human plasma
MERCOLINI, LAURA;MANDRIOLI, ROBERTO;RAGGI, MARIA AUGUSTA
2008
Abstract
Benzodiazepines are often prescribed to schizophrenic or depressed patients, as a part of polypharmacy regimens. A high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of fifteen benzodiazepines in human plasma. Separation was obtained by using a C8 reversed-phase column and a mobile phase composed of 65% aqueous phosphate buffer containing triethylamine at pH 3.0 and 35% acetonitrile. The UV detector was set at 220 nm and clomipramine was used as the internal standard. A careful pre-treatment procedure of plasma samples was developed, using solid-phase extraction with C1 cartridges, which gives high extraction yields (> 93%).The limits of quantitation (LOQ) were always lower than 7.6 ng/mL and the limits of detection (LOD) always lower than 2.6 ng/mL for all analytes. The method was successfully applied to plasma samples from depressed and schizophrenic patients undergoing polypharmacy with one or more benzodiazepines. Precision data, as well as accuracy results, were satisfactory and no interference from other drugs was found. Hence the method seems to be suitable for the therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of patients undergoing therapy with one or more benzodiazepines.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
