Development of a sensitive and specific radioimmunoassay for benztropine

A benztropine RIA based on polyclonal antisera raised in New Zealand white rabbits has been developed. The drug-protein conjugates employed had a variety of moles of benztropine hemisuccinate coupled per mole of protein (bovine serum albumin or bovine thyroglobulin). Six antisera were developed and the one with the highest titer was further evaluated for its cross reactivity to N-desmethylbenztropine (4%) and the antipsychotic agents fluphenazine, flupenthixol, chlorpromazine, and haloperidol (all < 1%). The selected antiserum demonstrated sufficient sensitivity to measure benztropine from 0.156 to 100 ng/mL plasma in a 200-microL plasma sample, with a mean CV of < 6%. The RIA was applied to the analysis of steady-state plasma samples obtained from patients undergoing treatment with benztropine and plasma samples obtained from human volunteers and dogs orally dosed with the drug. Both the human and dog plasma samples, when analyzed after hydrolysis with beta-glucuronidase/sulfatase, demonstrated increments in benztropine concentrations, suggesting the drug may be undergoing biotransformation to phase II metabolite(s). In addition, when benztropine was selectively extracted from the unhydrolyzed plasma samples, there was a significant decrease in drug level, which further suggested that the antiserum cross reacted with phase II metabolite(s). The shape of the plasma concentration versus time profile obtained from the dog studies suggested that the drug might also undergo enterohepatic recycling.