Highly Sensitive LC Method with Automated Co-Sense System and Fluorescence Detection for Determination of Sertraline in Human Plasma

Abstract

A highly sensitive LC method with column-switching “Co-sense” system and fluorescence detection has been proposed for trace determination of sertraline in human plasma. A simple pre-column derivatization procedure with 7-chloro-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole reagent was employed. Fluxetine was used as an internal standard. Under the optimum chromatographic conditions, a linear relationship with good correlation coefficient (r = 0.9997) was found between the peak area ratio and sertraline concentration in the range of 5–5,000 ng mL−1. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation were 1.41 and 4.28 ng mL−1, respectively. The intra- and inter-assay precisions were satisfactory; the relative standard deviations did not exceed 5.63%. The accuracy of the method was proved; the recovery of sertraline from the spiked human plasma was 99.76–102.62 ± 2.19–5.63%. The proposed method had high throughput as the analysis involved simple sample pre-treatment procedure and short run-time (~12 min). The results demonstrated that the method would have a great value if applied in bioavailability and pharmacokinetic studies for sertraline.