Concurrent Determination of Second-Generation Antidepressants in Plasma by Using Gas Chromatography with Nitrogen–Phosphorus Detection

Abstract

Antidepressant (ADP) drugs are among the most commonly involved compounds in voluntary intoxications because of their large prescription to people with major depression and their benefical effect in some associated psychiatric disorders (1). The second-generation compounds have clear advantages in comparison with tricyclic ADPs, but numerous studies report the frequent occurrence of interaction when new ADPs are associated with tricyclics, antipsychotics, or anxiolytics (2)(3). Methods of analysis in biological fluids include gas chromatography (GC), GC–mass spectrometry (MS), HPLC, and immunoassays (4). Chromatographic methods usually appear to be complex and unable to provide chemical identification under screening conditions. We present in this study a simple and rapid GC procedure with a nitrogen–phosphorus detector (NPD) for the simultaneous determination of seven frequently requested new ADPs in plasma. As far as we know, no previous report has been published on the concurrent determination of ADPs by using a common extraction procedure and GC analysis. This assay was developed for the analysis of amoxapine, dothiepin, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, medifoxamine, mianserin, and viloxazine. The reagents, apparatus (Varian-Star 3400 CX coupled to a Fisons-Chromcard for Windows Software), and procedure for the separation and measurement of the analytes have been previously described, according to the method for fluoxetine (5). Briefly, the patient’s alkalinized …