Abstract
A simple, rapid and reproducible high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the determination of loracarbef in human plasma has been developed and evaluated. Plasma protein was precipitated with ammonium sulfate. The drug and the internal standard (Cefetamet) were eluted from a μ-bondapak C-18 column with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile:methanol:water:glacial acetic acid (2.5:17.5:79.2:0.8%, v/v). The column eluent was monitored at 265 nm. Quantification was achieved by the measurement of the peak-height ratio of the analyte to the internal standard and the limit of quantification for loracarbef in plasma is 0.5 ug/ml. The within-day coefficient of variation (CV) ranged from 2.28% to 3.67%, and between-day CV from 2.38% to 5.59% at three different concentrations. The absolute recoveries ranged from 91.1% to 93.88%, and the relative recoveries from 93.4% to 108% at three different concentrations. Preliminary stability tests showed that loracarbef is stable for at least 5-weeks in human plasma after freezing. The method is applied for the determination of the pharmacokinetic parameters of loracarbef after oral administration to 2 beagle dogs.