DETERMINATION OF FLUVOXAMINE IN HUMAN PLASMA BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH FLUORESCENCE DETECTION

Fluvoxamine and nortriptyline, the assay internal standard, were extracted from plasma with ethyl acetate, then reacted with dansyl chloride. The derivatives were quantitated by isocratic reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. The assay calibration range for fluvoxamine was 10-1000 ng/ml using a 1-ml plasma sample. Pooled plasma quality control sample relative recoveries at 25 and 250 ng/ml were 103 and 105%, respectively. Estimates of quality control inter-day precision during validation were less-than-or-equal-to 3% relative standard deviation. The assay was cross-validated with a gas chromatographic method and has been employed in therapeutic drug level monitoring.