Simultaneous determination of antidepressant drugs and metabolites by HPLC. Design and validation of a simple and reliable analytical procedure

An analytical procedure suitable for routine use has been developed and validated for the simultaneous separation and quantification of most of the antidepressant drugs (bicyclic, tricyclic and tetracyclic) and their metabolites in human serum by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. The method has good sensitivity and specificity, without the need for long and complex extraction procedures. The results obtained with three different analytical columns were compared and an improvement in specificity by selection of column and detection wavelength used was achieved.