Measurement of Cefixime in Serum and Cerebrospinal Fluid by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

Cefixime is a new cephalosporin antibiotic for oral administration. A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed to measure cefixime in small volumes of serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to conduct a pharmacokinetics study in pediatric patients. The assay involved precipitation of serum proteins with 6% trichloroacetic acid, using 7-hydroxycoumarin as an internal standard. Chromatographic separation was accomplished using ultrasphere C8 column and mobile phase containing 15% acetonitrile in a buffer at a detection wave length of 280 nm. The retention time of cefixime and 7-hydroxycoumarin was about 5 and 9 minutes, respectively. The method was suitable for quantitation of cefixime at a concentration ranging from 0.05 to 10 μg/ml. The coefficient of variation was less than 3%. The technique was used successfully to measure cefixime in serum and CSF obtained from an infant receiving cefixime.