ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the selection, development, and evaluation of analytical methods for the measurement of drugs in biological fluids. In order to present a reasonably comprehensive treatment, the discussion will be biased toward methods intended to be used for elucidation of pharmacokinetics of the drug. When beginning the development of a new drug, this is often unknown. In the early phases of development mentioned relatively large doses of drug will be administered to animals and sensitivity requirements may not be so demanding. The analyst should have a thorough understanding of the physicochemical characteristics of the drug being studied. All compounds which absorb light will have some fluorescence; fluorescence can be induced in many drugs by the application of strong shortwave irradiation. Evaluation must be done for the species being studied in toxicology and metabolism studies because of the potential of other interfering compounds in some species, and the differences in metabolism, which can be quite dramatic.
