Determination of ephedra alkaloids in urine and plasma by HPLC-UV: collaborative study

Ten collaborating laboratories determined the ephedra alkaloid content (ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, norephedrine, norpseudoephedrine, methylephedrine, and methylpseudoephedrine) in 8 blind duplicates of human plasma and urine using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection. In addition to negative urine and plasma controls, urine samples were spiked with individual ephedra alkaloids ranging in concentration from about 1 to 5 microg/mL. Plasma samples were spiked with individual ephedra alkaloids ranging in concentration from about 100 to 400 ng/mL. Sample solutions were treated to solid-phase extraction using a strong-cation exchange column to help remove interferences. The HPLC analyses were performed on a polar-embedded phenyl column using UV detection at 210 nm. The ephedra alkaloids were not consistently detected in any of the spiked plasma samples. When ephedra alkaloids were detected in the plasma samples, reproducibility between blind replicate samples was very poor. Repeatability, reproducibility, and accuracy were also very poor for the spiked urine samples. On the basis of these results, the HPLC-UV method for the determination of ephedra alkaloids in human urine and plasma is not recommended for adoption as Official First Action.