Simple and sensitive assay of zonisamide in human serum by high-performance liquid chromatography using a solid-phase extraction technique.

A rapid and sensitive method for the assay of zonisamide in serum was developed using a solid-phase extraction technique followed by high-performance liquid chromatography. A 20-microliter volume of human serum was first purified with a Bond-Elut cartridge column. Then, the methanol eluate was injected onto a reversed-phase HPLC column with a UV detector. The mobile phase was acetonitrile-methanol-distilled water (17:20:63, v/v) and the detection wavelength was 246 nm. The detection limit was 0.1 micrograms/ml in serum. The coefficients of variation were 4.2-5.6% and 5.1-9.1% for the within-day and between-day assays, respectively. This method can be used for clinical pharmacokinetic studies of zonisamide in serum even in infant patients with epilepsy.