Simultaneous HPLC Determination of Oxcarbazepine, Carbamazepine and Their Metabolites in Serum

We propose a simple procedure for the simultaneous determination of the anticonvulsants oxcarbazepine, carbamazepine and three of their metabolites (10-hydroxy-10, 11-dihydro-carbamazepine, trans-10, 11-dihydroxy-10, 11-dihydro-carbamazepine and 10, 11-epoxy-carbamazepine) in serum or plasma. The alkalinized sample is extracted with ethyl acetate. The extract is evaporated to dryness and taken up with the mobile phase. An aliquot is injected into the liquid chromatograph and eluted with water/methanol/acetonitrile (55/40/5, by vol.) on a 5-μm C-18 reversed-phase column. Eluent is monitored at 254 nm. No interference by other anticonvulsants or by endogenous constituents from the sample is observed. Owing to its good precision, specificity, sensitivity, and selectivity, this method is well adapted to the therapeutic monitoring of oxcarbazepine or carbamazepine treated patients, as well as for pharmacokinetic studies.