A high-performance liquid chromatographic method for quantitating bupropion in human plasma or serum

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Clinical Chemistry
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Accurate quantification of bupropion is essential for therapeutic drug monitoring.
• Existing methods may lack the speed or reliability required for routine clinical use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for quantifying bupropion in serum or plasma.
• To establish a rapid, reliable, and sensitive assay for therapeutic drug monitoring of bupropion.

Main Methods:

• A single-step liquid-liquid extraction using hexane-isoamyl alcohol and KOH.
• Analysis via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a silica column with UV detection at 248 nm.
• Quantification using a fluorinated analogue of bupropion as the internal standard.

Main Results:

• The method demonstrated good precision (5.2% within-run, 8.5% total) at therapeutic concentrations (30 ng/mL).
• Linearity ranged from 5 ng/mL to 400 ng/mL, with a lower limit of quantitation of 5 ng/mL.
• Minimal interference was observed, with fluoxetine being the only significant interfering analyte.
• Rapid analysis time of less than 7 minutes per injection.

Conclusions:

• The developed HPLC method provides a rapid, reliable, and sensitive assay for bupropion quantification.
• This method is suitable for therapeutic drug monitoring, facilitating optimized patient treatment.
• The assay's efficiency and minimal interference make it a valuable tool in clinical settings.