Abstract
Saliva and plasma levels of phenytoin (PHT) and phenobarbital (PB) in epileptic inpatients who were on chronic anticonvulsant medication were determined by homogenous enzyme immunoassay technique (Emit) and ultraviolet spectrophotometric method (UV).
1.There was a good linear correlation between the concentrations of both PHT and PB in saliva and plasma.The saliva concentration of PHT was approximately 10% of the plasma level, and the saliva concentration of PB varied according to the salivary pH, ranging from 30% to 40% of the plasma level.
2. For PHT which is present in lower concentrations in saliva, a modified single dilution technique was developed in EMIT assay instead of the stadard double dilution procedure.The modified EMIT precedure and the UV spectrophotometric method showed a good correlation in determining the saliva levels of PHT and PB.
