Development of a simple column-switching high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for rapid and simultaneous routine serum monitoring of lamotrigine, oxcarbazepine and 10-monohydroxycarbazepine (MHD)

Using isocratic column-switching high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) we established a group method for automated quantitative analysis of the antiepileptic drugs lamotrigine, oxcarbazepine and its metabolite 10-monohydroxycarbazepine (MHD) that are also used in psychiatry as mood stabilizers. Samples were cleaned from interfering proteins and lipids by transfer onto a pre-column, using a PerfectBond® C-8 material, with 8% acetonitrile in water as a pre-column eluent. Separation was performed by elution onto the analytical column (Betasil® C6 5 μm, 250 mm × 4.6 mm) at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min with potassium dihydrogenphosphate buffer (20 mmol/l, pH3.0)/acetonitrile (70/30; v/v) as analytical eluent. UV-spectrophotometric detection was set to 215 nm for all three compounds. The analytical run was finished within 18 min. Detection limit was 30 ng/ml for lamotrigine, 35 ng/ml for oxcarbazepine and 25 ng/ml for 10-monohydroxycarbazepine. The method was found to be suitable for automated analysis of serum samples of patients treated with lamotrigine and oxcarbazepine.