Molecularly imprinted polymer-based, solid-phase extraction followed by liquid chromatographic determination of lacosamide in rat plasma

A novel sample clean-up technique, water-compatible, molecularly imprinted, solid-phase extraction (MISPE), combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), was developed and validated for selective extraction and determination of lacosamide in rat plasma. The molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized using methacrylic acid as a functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as a cross-linker, chloroform as a porogen, and lacosamide as a template. Its efficacy as a selective sorbent in solid-phase extraction of lacosamide and the effects of various porogenic solvents, pH, crosslinker, and amount of monomer were studied and optimized. The recovery was >98% with a detection limit of 0.03 mu g mL(-1) over a linear range of 0.1-100 mu g mL(-1).