Abstract
A simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method for quantitation of clopamide in human plasma has been developed. the assay uses a reversed-phase C18 microbore column (2 mm I.D. × 100 mm) packed with 5 μm ODS Hypersil. the chromatographic separation was achieved by using an isocratic mobile phase comprising acetonitrile-10 mM phosphate buffer pH 4 (17:83, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.5 ml/min. the eluant was monitored by a UV detector operating at 241 nm. the assay was based on an organic extraction before chromatographic separation. to 1 ml plasma sample, 100 μl of the internal standard, methylparaben (300 ng/ml), and 8 ml of diethyl ether were added. the samples were shaken and centrifuged, the organic layer was then transferred to a tapered centrifuge tube and evaporated to dryness. the residue was reconstituted and injected onto the HPLC column. the inter-and intra-assay coefficients of variation were found to be less than 10%. the lowest limit of detection for clopamide in plasma was 5 ng/ml. the method is sensitive, specific and allows for routine analysis in the pharmacokinetic studies.