Simultaneous Determination of Maprotiline, Desipramine, and Moclobemide by Reversed-Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Statistical Optimization

Abstract

A method for separation of three antidepressants, maprotiline, desipramine, and moclobemide, by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) was developed and validated. To find optimal conditions and estimate the impact of individual parameters on the separation, a complete set of 23 interdependent relationships of the mobile phase composition, temperature, and the volume flow rate were examined. Full separation of the investigated components from a laboratory mixture was achieved on a Supelcosil LC-18 (120mmx4.6mm, 5 mu m) column, using two solvent systems, 3% ammonium ion in water/ethanol and acetonitrile, and alternating isocratic gradient-isocratic elution modes. Relevance of the proposed method for therapeutic drug monitoring is anticipated.