Determination of Meperidine and Normeperidine in Serum by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry

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Abstract
The method presented describes a sensitive and specific quantitative assay for the simultaneous determination of meperidine and its major metabolite, normeperidine, in human serum without derivatization. The drugs and internal standard, phencyclidine, are isolated from serum by a basic extraction and back extraction process. The final extract, with methylene chloride as solvent, is quantitated by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) in the chemical ionization, selected ion monitoring mode of operation. Minimum detectable quantities are 0.17 ng meperidine/mL serum and 0.50 ng normeperidine/mL serum. The coefficient of variation for the quantitative assay is approximately 5%.