A Rapid and Sensitive HPLC-Fluorescence Method for Determination of Mirtazapine and Its two Major Metabolites in Human Plasma

A rapid and sensitive HPLC method has been developed for the quantification of mirtazapine (MRZ), a noradrenergic and specific serotonergic inhibitor antidepressant (NaSSA) and its two major metabolites N-desmethyl mirtazapine (NDM) and 8-hydroxymirtazapine (8-OHM) in human plasma. The separation was achieved using Chromolith C-18 column and a mobile phase of acetonitrile: phosphate buffer (pH = 3, 20: 80, v/v) in isocratic mode at a flow rate of 2 mL/min. A fluorescence detector was set at 290 and 350 nm for excitation and emission, respectively. Zolpidem was used as the internal standard. Liquid-liquid extraction was applied for sample clean up. All analytes were eluted in less than 5 minutes with LOQ of 1 ng/mL for MRZ and 2 ng/mL for both NDM and 8-OHM. The developed method was successfully applied to quantify MRZ and its metabolites in plasma of a healthy volunteer.