Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016:2016:5976324.
doi: 10.1155/2016/5976324. Epub 2016 Oct 17.

Determination of Levetiracetam in Human Plasma by Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction Followed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Greyce Kelly Steinhorst Alcantara  1 , Leandro Augusto Calixto  2 , Luiz Alberto Beraldo de Moraes  3 , Regina Helena Costa Queiroz  4 , Anderson Rodrigo Moraes de Oliveira  3 , Cristiane Masetto de Gaitani  1
Affiliations

Determination of Levetiracetam in Human Plasma by Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction Followed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Greyce Kelly Steinhorst Alcantara et al. J Anal Methods Chem. 2016.

Abstract

Levetiracetam (LEV) is an antiepileptic drug that is clinically effective in generalized and partial epilepsy syndromes. The use of this drug has been increasing in clinical practice and intra- or -interindividual variability has been exhibited for special population. For this reason, bioanalytical methods are required for drug monitoring in biological matrices. So this work presents a dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction method followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (DLLME-GC-MS) for LEV quantification in human plasma. However, due to the matrix complexity a previous purification step is required. Unlike other pretreatment techniques presented in the literature, for the first time, a procedure employing ultrafiltration tubes Amicon® (10 kDa porous size) without organic solvent consumption was developed. GC-MS analyses were carried out using a linear temperature program, capillary fused silica column, and helium as the carrier gas. DLLME optimized parameters were type and volume of extraction and dispersing solvents, salt addition, and vortex agitation time. Under chosen parameters (extraction solvent: chloroform, 130 μL; dispersing solvent: isopropyl alcohol, 400 μL; no salt addition and no vortex agitation time), the method was completely validated and all parameters were in agreement with the literature recommendations. LEV was quantified in patient's plasma sample using less than 550 μL of organic solvent.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structures: (a) levetiracetam and (b) carbamazepine (IS).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Steps of DLLME procedure.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Optimization of DLLME procedure: (a) extraction solvent type, (b) dispersing solvent type, (c) extraction solvent (chloroform) volume, (d) dispersing solvent (isopropyl alcohol) volume, (e) vortex agitation time, and (f) salt addition.
Figure 4
Figure 4
GC-MS chromatograms obtained from the analysis of an extracted patient plasma sample: (a) patient sample after the levetiracetam intake (plasma concentration of levetiracetam was 25 μg mL−1) and (b) a drug-free plasma sample; SIM mode is (I) m/z 123 and (II) m/z 193.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Shah J. S., Vidyasagar G., Barot H. Stability indicating RP-HPLC method for estimation of levetiracetam in pharmaceutical formulation and application to pharmacokinetic study. Der Pharmacia Sinica. 2012;3(5):576–589.
    1. Oláh E., Bacsói G., Fekete J., Sharma V. K. Determination of ng/mL levetiracetam using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–photodiode absorbance. Journal of Chromatographic Science. 2012;50(3):253–258. doi: 10.1093/chromsci/bmr053. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Krasowski M. D. Therapeutic drug monitoring of the newer anti-epilepsy medications. Pharmaceuticals. 2010;3(6):1909–1935. doi: 10.3390/ph3061908. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Patsalos P. N. Pharmacokinetic profile of levetiracetam: toward ideal characteristics. Pharmacology & Therapeutics. 2000;85(2):77–85. doi: 10.1016/s0163-7258(99)00052-2. - DOI - PubMed
    1. French J. A., Tonner F. Levetiracetam. In: Shorvon S., Perucca E., Engel J., editors. The Treatment of Epilepsy. 3rd. chapter 44. 2009. pp. 559–573.