High-performance thin-layer chromatographic determination of lamotrigine in serum

A simple and rapid high-performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) determination of lamotrigine (LTG) in serum is reported. The method involves extraction of the drug by ethyl acetate followed by separation on TLC silica plates using a mixture of toluene-acetone-ammonia (7:3:0.5), as eluting solvent. Densitometric analysis was carried out at 312 nm with lamotrigine being detected at Rf of 0.54. The analytical method has excellent linearity (r=0.998) in the range of 20-300 ng/spot. This assay range is adequate for analyzing human serum, as it corresponds to lamotrigine concentrations measured in human serum from epileptic patients. The method was validated for sensitivity, selectivity, extraction efficiency, accuracy and intra and inter-day reproducibility. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were found to be 6.4 and 10.2 ng, respectively. Good accuracy is reported in the range of 92.06-97.12% and high precision with %CV in range of 0.53-2.59. The method was applied for determination of serum lamotrigine levels in epileptic patients and in pharmacokinetic study of lamotrigine administered orally to rabbits.