Analytical aspects of sample handling during the quantification of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in clinical applications

The pharmacotherapy of depression utilizes different classes of antidepressants, with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) being the most prominent first line of treatment. Currently, there is an increasing demand in public health and in clinical practice for fast and precise methods of monitoring SSRI levels during therapy for depression. In recent years, significant effort has been devoted to devel-oping instrumental methods that enable lower limits of detection and quantitation along with separation of multiple analytes, thus providing more robust results and superior enantioselective determination of SSRIs. However, the preparation of biological material for analysis remains a bottleneck in the majority of analytical procedures. In this review, we discuss recent developments in methods for preparing various conventional and non-conventional complex biological matrices to enable the precise determination of SSRI levels. In addition, we address the advantages and challenges associated with the developed methodologies and their potential application in clinical studies.(c) 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.