Determination of meprobamate in serum by alkaline hydrolysis, trimethylsilyl derivatization and detection by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Simultaneous determination of carisoprodol and meprobamate in human hair using solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of the trimethylsilyl derivatives

Carisoprodol (CSP) is a musculoskeletal relaxant whose active metabolite is meprobamate (MPB). This drug has recently been noticed to be abused as an inexpensive alternative to illicit drugs in Korea. A method using solid-phase extraction (SPE) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was developed for the determination of CSP and MPB in human hair. Hair samples (30 mg) were washed with distilled water and acetone, cut into small fragments (<1 mm), incubated in 1.0 M HCl overnight at 50 degrees C, and then adjusted to pH 6.5. The drugs were extracted from the resulting hydrolyzed solutions using a SPE column. The eluents were evaporated to dryness, then derivatized using N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) with 1% trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) at 120 degrees C for 30 min. The derivatized extract (1 microL) was injected into the GC/MS system. Recoveries were in the range of 91.5-93.1% for CSP and 85.5-93.0% for MPB. The linear ranges were 0.5-10.0 ng/mg for both CSP and MPB with good correlation coefficients (r(2) = 0.995). The intra-day precision and accuracy ranged from 1.5 to 9.3% and -17.5 to 3.6%, respectively, and the inter-day precision and accuracy ranged from 3.9 to 6.2% and -15.0 to -3.9%, respectively. The limits of detection for CSP and MPB were 0.13 and 0.12 ng/mg, respectively. The applicability of the method was proven by analyzing a hair sample from an authentic abuser.

Gas chromatographic determination of meprobamate in human plasma

A simplified and rapid gas chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of meprobamate in human plasma. The procedure includes a single-step extraction of alkalinized sample with chloroform, and chromatography on a non-polar fused-silica capillary column with flame ionization detection. The method is accurate (97.7 +/- 5.7% at 20 mg/l) and precise (maximum coefficient of variation of 9.5%). It provides an alternative to existing methods and is particularly suitable for toxicological studies.

Determination of meprobamate in pharmaceutical dosage forms also containing carbromal by liquid chromatography and indirect photometric detection

In a pharmaceutical form also containing carbromal, meprobamate could not be quantified selectively by classical methods described in pharmacopoeias due to a significant interference from carbromal. Consequently, reversed-phase HPLC methods have been developed to separate the two active ingredients using indirect photometric detection to visualize and determine meprobamate which has very poor chromophoric properties. Different parameters influencing the sensitivity of the indirect response, such as the nature of the highly absorbing compound added to the mobile phase (the marker) as well as the methanol content and the pH of this phase, have been studied. Two chromatographic systems containing benzoic acid or cinnamic acid as the marker, have been optimized and validated. Good linearity and reproducibility have been obtained with both systems but the cinnamic acid method has the advantage that meprobamate and carbromal can be determined simultaneously at 273 nm.