Simultaneous determination of antiepileptic drugs and their two active metabolites by HPLC

An HPLC procedure for the determination of lamotrigine (LAM) simultaneously with other antiepileptic drugs, primidone (PD), phenobarbital (PB), phenytoin (DPH), carbamazepine (CMZ), and two active metabolites 2-phenyl-2-ethyl-malonamide (PEMA) and 10,11-dihydro-10,11-epoxycarbamazepine (EPO) was developed and validated. The method involves an ordinary RP system and a liquid-liquid extraction. The mobile phase consisting of water/ACN/methanol/triethylamine in the ratio 72:23: 5: 0.1 with pH 7.0 was selected as the best one after the assays testing both pH and triethylamine contents. UV detection was carried out at a wavelength of 220 nm and the whole analysis took 15 min. The method was linear in the range of 0.5-25 mg/L for PEMA and LAM; 1.25-25 mg/L for PD and CMZ; 0.625-12.5 mg/L for EPC; 1.5-60 mg/L for PB; and 1.25-50 mg/L for DPH, respectively. Within-day CV% and between-day CV% were within 10%. The developed HPLC method can be used for routine therapeutic drug monitoring both in children and adults.