Clarke's Analysis of Drugs and Poisons

Abstract

Clarke's Analysis of Drugs and Poisons, 3rd Edition A. C. Moffatt, M. D. Osselton & B. Widdop Published by The Pharmaceutical Press, 2004 Price £350 ISBN 0-85369-473-7 In our laboratory, I have been the guardian of Clarke's Analysis of Drugs and Poisons whose 2nd edition was published in 1986. I have lost count of the number of colleagues, graduate and undergraduate students who have come into my office and asked ‘Can I borrow Clarke?’ Of course the next question is ‘When are we getting a new edition of Clarke?’ Well here it is – the 3rd edition, all two volumes and 2136 pages. It is also available as a fully searchable CD-ROM, as well as online. Was it worth the long wait? Emphatically yes, despite the prohibitive cost. Updating ‘Clarke’ must have been a Herculean task. The first volume contains 31 chapters covering very comprehensively, the various techniques used in the analysis of drugs and those used in analytical and forensic toxicology. For anyone wanting a balanced, readable introduction to, for example, high performance liquid chromatography, this volume of ‘Clarke’ fulfils the need commendably. However, the experienced analyst will perhaps find less interest in this material, and I do question whether the collation and tabulation of the vast amount of data on chromatographic conditions for individual drugs is worthwhile. This brings us to volume 2, the ‘meat’ of ‘Clarke’. The very clearly laid out monographs of virtually all the drugs (and industrial chemicals) listed in the previous edition have been expanded and contain a wealth of analytical, pharmacokinetic (including information for some drugs on the role of individual cytochrome P450 enzymes in their metabolism) and toxicological data. The addition of mass spectra for many of the compounds is particularly welcome. Probably the most useful information contained in these monographs, at least for our own laboratory, relates to the physicochemical properties of drugs (e.g. solubility, partition coefficient, pKa), and the description of the analytical methods for their measurement in biological fluids. When setting up a new method, ‘Clarke’ is our first port of call. As the authors acknowledge, since publication of the 2nd edition, several hundred new chemical entities have been brought to the market. Some 400 new monographs have been added, an increase of about 30 %, which is praiseworthy. Indeed, few new drugs are missing. Furthermore, the published literature is cited up to and including 2002 for drugs both old and new. Now that the word has got around about the new edition of ‘Clarke’, I can see the queue forming at my door. I am sure we will get our money's worth. However, the problem with reference books like this, is that they do need updating regularly. Eighteen years is far too long a gap between editions. Whether the authors have the energy and stamina to take on this task in say 5 years time, remains to be seen. Rather them than me!