Determination of salbutamol in human plasma and urine by high-performance liquid chromatography with a coulometric...

A method is developed to determine salbutamol in human plasma and urine using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a coulometric electrode array system, based on the electrochemical behavior of salbutamol at graphite electrode. The mobile phase component A is 30 mM sodium dihydroxy phosphate-30 mM triethylamine and is adjusted to pH 6.0 with 20% phosphate acid. The mobile phase component B is methanol. The optimized mobile phase composition was A and B in the proportion of 90:10 (v/v). Paracetamol is selected as the external standard. The human plasma and urine samples are pretreated using solid-phase extraction cartridges (Sep-Pak Silica), and the eluting solution is monitored by the coulometric electrode array system. The electrode potentials are set at 300, 400, 550, and 650 mV, respectively. Calibration curves show good linearity, and the recovery of salbutamol proves to be constant and unaffected by the concentration of the drug. This method, developed using HPLC-electrochemical detection, is reproducible and sensitive enough for the determination of salbutamol in human plasma and urine.