TABLE 3.
Main validation parameters of the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method applied to quantify escitalopram in plasma, brain, and lung matrices.
| Validation parameter | Mouse matrices (n = 3) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Plasma | Brain homogenate | Lung homogenate | |
| Calibration range (µg/ml) | 0.0150–1.00 | 0.00750–0.500 | 0.0150–1.00 |
| Regression equation a | Y = 5.97–0.0335 | Y = 13.0–0.0546 | Y = 6.51–0.0441 |
| Coefficient of determination (r 2) b | 0.996 | 0.996 | 0.994 |
| LLOQ (µg/ml) | 0.0150 | 0.00750 | 0.0150 |
| Inter-day | |||
| Precision (%CV) | 4.13–9.83 | 4.89–12.3 | 0.836–7.71 |
| Accuracy (%RE) | −9.61 to −1.01 | −0.900–1.36 | −9.27 to −0.517 |
| Intra-day | |||
| Precision (%CV) | 3.85–12.4 | 5.59–14.0 | 3.90–14.6 |
| Accuracy (%RE) | −14.3 to −1.47 | −9.51 to −1.03 | −12.4 to −5.05 |
LLOQ, lower limit of quantification; CV, coefficient of variation; %RE, deviation from nominal value.
a
Equation of the calibration curve is given by the general equation of y = mx + b, with m corresponding to the slope and b to the intercept. The equation represents the peak area signals of escitalopram to that of the internal standard (y), versus the corresponding concentration of escitalopram (x).
b
Weighted linear regression using 1/×2 as the best weighting factor.