Liquid-chromatographic assay of diazepam and its major metabolites in serum, and application to pharmacokinetic study of high doses of diazepam in schizophrenics.

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Abstract
In this rapid, sensitive method for simultaneously determining diazepam and its biologically active metabolites--nordiazepam, oxazepam, and temazepam--in serum, 250 to 1000 microL of serum is extracted with ether and the extracted compounds are quantified by "high-performance" liquid chromatography on a Shimpack FLC-C8 microparticulate column. Absorbance of the effluent is monitored at 254 nm. The limit of detection in serum is about 10 micrograms/L for each drug. Analytical recovery of each drug added to the serum varied from 91 to 102% for oxazepam and temazepam, from 82 to 99% for nordiazepam and diazepam. Within-day and between-day CVs ranged from 2 to 5% for oxazepam and temazepam, and from 2 to 7% for nordiazepam and diazepam. We also report results on using this assay in a pharmacokinetic study of high doses of diazepam used to treat chronic schizophrenic patients.

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