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1 A new sensitive, specific and rapid radioimmunoassay procedure for the determination of plasma concentrations of the neuroleptic drug perphenazine is described. 2 The antiserum developed for perphenazine did not cross-react with most of the major metabolites of perphenazine nor the tricyclic antidepressants and antianxiety agents commonly co-administered with the drug. 3 The assay, based on the above antiserum, enabled the quantitation of 50 pg of the drug in 200 microliters of plasma with a coefficient of variation of about 8% and therefore should be applicable for single dose pharmacokinetic studies, as well as therapeutic monitoring of the drug in patients.

1 A new sensitive and rapid radioimmunoassay procedure for the determination of the plasma concentrations of the neuroleptic drug trifluoperazine is described. 2 The antiserum developed for trifluoperazine cross-reacted with N-desmethyltrifluoperazine and 7-hydroxytrifluoperazine to the extent of 26 and 24% respectively but its cross-reactivity with commonly co-administered tricyclic antidepressants and antianxiety agents tested was negligible. 3 The assay, based on the above antiserum, enabled the quantitation of 50 pg of the drug in 200 microliters of plasma with a coefficient of variation of about 2% and therefore should be applicable for singly dose pharmacokinetic and bioavailability studies. It should be applicable to therapeutic monitoring of the drug in patients.

The disposition of trifluoperazine (TFP) was studied in five healthy volunteers following oral administration of a 5 mg tablet. Using a very sensitive GC-MS technique plasma TFP concentrations were measured up until 24 h following drug ingestion. Peak plasma concentrations varied widely (range 0.53-3.09 ng ml-1) and were reached 2.8 +/- 0.5 h following ingestion of the TFP tablet. The apparent terminal elimination half-life of TFP was 12.5 +/- 1.4 h. The area under the plasma concentration-time curve differed widely between subjects (range: 5.9-17.6 ng ml-1 h) suggesting large individual differences in the extent of presystemic TFP elimination.