• 1 January 1977
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 5  (2) , 97-103
Abstract
A method was developed for quantitative measurement of trifluoperazine [a neuroleptic used in psychiatric therapy] and its metabolites, 7-hydroxytrifluoperazine and desmethyltrifluoperazine, in rat organs. Trifluoperazine sulfoxide could be assayed, but it proved to represent only a very minor part of total biotransformation products in tissues. Alkalinized tissue homogenates were extracted with di-isopropyl ether. Following removal of the bulk of lipids, the compounds to be quantitated were separated by TLC and measured by UV reflectance photometry on the plates. In recovery experiments, the method proved to possess a high reproducibility. The sensitivity limit for quantitative determination was about 0.1 nmol/extract, and the limit of detectability was 0.025-0.05 nmol. The applicability of the method was shown by analyzing tissues of rats that had received 12.3 .mu.mol/kg of trifluoperazine, i.p.