Determination of paroxetine in blood and urine using micellar liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection

Paroxetine is a potent selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor used for the treatment of depression and related mood disorders. A micellar liquid chromatographic method was developed for the determination of paroxetine in serum and urine. Detection of paroxetine was carried out using a C18 column and a mobile phase of 0.15 M sodium dodecyl sulfate, 6% 1-pentanol at pH 3 (buffer salt 0.01 M NaH2PO4) running under isocratic mode at 1.0 mL/min and electrochemical detection at 0.8 V. The analyte was eluted without interferences in <15 min. The proposed methodology was validated under the guidelines of the International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use in matrix in terms of specificity, linearity (r(2) > 0.9999; 0.5-5 μg/mL range), accuracy (88-97.5%, recovery), repeatability (RSD < 0.54%), intermediate precision (RSD < 0.54%), limit of detection and quantification (0.001 and 0.005 μg/mL, respectively) and robustness (RSD < 3.63%). Developed method was successfully applied to real blood and urine samples as well as in spiked serum and urine samples. The developed method was specific, rapid, precise, reliable, accurate, inexpensive and then suitable for routine analysis of paroxetine in monitorized samples.