Application value of UPLC-MS/MS in detecting serum concentration of anti-schizophrenic drugs in patients with mental illnes

Objective: This study was designed to demonstrate the accuracy of ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) in detecting serum concentration of anti-schizophrenic drugs in patients with mental illness. Methods: The study participants were 186 schizophrenia patients treated in our hospital. Serum concentrations of anti-schizophrenic drugs in Chinese patients with mental illness were evaluated according to the reference intervals of drug therapy recommended in the guidelines. Results: Five drugs, namely Aripiprazole (ARI), Amisulpride (AMI), Olanzapine (OLA), Paliperidone (PAL) and Ziprasidone (ZIP) all showed good linearity within the linear range. The within-day precision of the above five drugs was all between 1.3%-8.9% and the inter-day precision was between 1.8%-7.6%, with within-day and inter-day relative standard deviations (RSDs) less than 15.00% and accuracy ranging from 87.00% to 106.73%. However, AMI had a mean blood concentration of 436.31±241.05 ng/mL (median concentration: 379.34 ng/mL), which was significantly higher than the reference range (100-320 ng/mL) recommended in the guidelines. Good recovery rates (86.21%-99.77%) were obtained after the samples were stored at room temperature for 24 h, at 4°C for 48h and at -20°C for half a year. Conclusions: Given that UPLC-MS/MS renders more accurate results in detecting the concentration of psychotropic drugs, it can be applied clinically to detect the concentration of therapeutic drugs in patients with mental illness.