Determination of olanzapine in serum by high-performance liquid chromatography using ultraviolet detection considering the easy oxidability of the compound and the presence of other psychotropic drugs.

A method for determination of the atypical neuroleptic drug olanzapine in serum was developed. After a single-step liquid-liquid extraction, the compound was separated from other constituents on a normal-phase silica gel column using a buffer-methanol mobile phase and measured by UV absorption at 270 nm. Addition of 0.25% ascorbic acid to serum protects olanzapine against oxidation during extraction and stabilizes the easily oxidised compound during storage. Inter-day variation was <8% at serum levels found in olanzapine treated patients. Analytical interference from coadministered psychoactive drugs and their metabolites were studied. Only risperidone, also a relatively newly developed antipsychotic drug, interfered, but the most commonly used antidepressants and traditional antipsychotics and their metabolites did not interfere.