Instrumental planar chromatographic method for determination of carbamazepine in human serum

An instrumental planar chromatographic (HPTLC) method for quantification of carbamazepine in human serum was developed using liquid-liquid extraction with dichloromethane, fluorescence activation with perchloric acid 60%/ethanol/water (1:1:1, v/v) and fluorescence detection. Planar chromatographic separation was performed on precoated silica gel F254 HPTLC plates using a mixture of ethyl acetate/toluene/methanol/acetic acid glacial (5:4:0.5:0.5, v/v) as mobile phase. Densitometric detection was done at 366 nm. The method was validated for linearity, precision and accuracy. Linear calibration curves in the range of 3 and 20 ng/microL showed correlation coefficient of 0.998. The intra-assay and inter-assay precision, expressed as the RSD, were in the range of 0.41-1.24% (n = 3) and 2.17-3.17% (n = 9), respectively. The LOD was 0.19 ng, and the LOQ was 0.57 ng. Accuracy, calculated as percentage recovery, was between 98.98 and 101.96%, with a RSD not higher than 1.52%. The method was selective for the active principle tested. In conclusion, the method is useful for quantitative determination of carbamazepine in human serum.