Fabric phase sorptive extraction for the isolation of five common antidepressants from human urine prior to HPLC-DAD analysis

An innovative fabric phase sorptive extraction-high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (FPSE-HPLC-DAD) method is developed and validated herein for the simultaneous extraction and analysis of five common antidepressants (venlafaxine, paroxetine, fluoxetine, amitriptyline, clomipramine) in human urine samples. Separation was obtained using a reverse phase column LiChroCART-LiChrospher®100 RP-8e (5 μm, 250 × 4 mm) with diode array detection monitoring at 235 nm. Gradient elution was applied at a flow rate of 1.2 mL/min with a mobile phase that consisted of acetonitrile and ammonium acetate (0.05 M). Fabric Phase Sorptive Extraction was evaluated for the first time with regards to the extraction of the examined antidepressants from human urine and proved to be a rapid, simple, environmentally friendly, efficient, and selective sample preparation approach. Sol-gel graphene sorbent, coated on cellulose FPSE media, were the most efficient among other with different polarities. The absolute recovery values were 25.5% for venlafaxine, 33.9% for paroxetine, 67.0% for fluoxetine, 43.0% for amitriptyline and 29.0% for clomipramine, while relative recoveries were higher than 90%. The developed method provides satisfactory limit of detection 0.15 ng/μL.