Determination of pirlindole in plasma and urine by high-performance liquid chromatography

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method is described for the analysis of pirlindole [2,3,3a,4,5,6-hexahydro-8-methyl-1H-pyrazino(3,2,1-jk)carbazole hydrochloride], a new antidepressive drug. The drug was extracted from plasma into dichloromethane, and the analysis was carried out on a reversed-phase column, the effluent being monitored by fluorescence detection. The method is selective and sensitive (limit of detection 1-2 ng/ml plasma). Urine analysis was done by direct injection of the diluted sample. The method was applied to the analysis of plasma and urine samples of eight healthy male volunteers who received a 75-mg oral dose of a tablet formulation of pirlindole. The method was also applied to a study in three beagle dogs which received pirlindole (1 mg/kg) by infusion (0.1 mg/kg/min) and orally (10 mg/kg) to estimate the absolute bioavailability of the drug.