Simultaneous determination of three carbapenem antibiotics in plasma by HPLC with ultraviolet detection

• Published in: Journal of chromatography. B, Analytical technologies in the biomedical and life sciences Vol. 875; no. 2; pp. 551 - 556
• Main Authors: Legrand, Tiphaine, Chhun, Stéphanie, Rey, Elisabeth, Blanchet, Benoît, Zahar, Jean-Ralph, Lanternier, Fanny, Pons, Gérard, Jullien, Vincent
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 15.11.2008; Elsevier
• Subjects: Analysis; Analytical, structural and metabolic biochemistry; Anti-Bacterial Agents - blood; beta-Lactams - blood; Biological and medical sciences; Carbapenem; Carbapenems - blood; Ceftazidime - blood; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid - methods; Drug Stability; Ertapenem; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General pharmacology; HPLC; Humans; Imipenem; Imipenem - blood; Medical sciences; Meropenem; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Reference Standards; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Thienamycins - blood; Ultraviolet detection; Carbapenem; Ultraviolet detection; Meropenem; Ertapenem; HPLC; Imipenem; Biological fluid; Chemical analysis; β-Lactams; HPLC chromatography; Blood plasma; Antibiotic; Carbapenem derivatives; Ultraviolet detector; Simultaneous measurement; Antibacterial agent
• ISSN: 1570-0232; 1873-376X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2008.09.020

A simple, precise and accurate high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method using ultraviolet (UV) detection has been developed for simultaneous determination of carbapenem antibiotics: imipenem, meropenem and ertapenem in human plasma. Samples were spiked with ceftazidime as internal standard and proteins were precipitated by acetonitrile. Separation was achieved on a C8 column with a mobile phase composed of phosphate buffer 0.1 M (pH 6.8) and methanol in gradient elution mode. Detection was performed at 298 nm. Calibration curves were linear from 0.5 to 80 mg/L for each compound, with correlation coefficients over 0.997. Intra- and inter-day validation studies showed accuracy between −4.5 and 8.1% and precision below 10.4%. Mean recoveries were 82.2, 90.8 and 87.7% for imipenem, meropenem and ertapenem, respectively. This method provides a useful tool for the therapeutic drug monitoring of carbapenems.