Automatic determination of diltiazem and desacetyldiltiazem in human plasma using liquid-solid extraction on...

An automatic liquid-solid extraction (LSE) procedure to be coupled to HPLC for the determination of diltiazem and desacetyldiltiazem in plasma has been developed. The LSE operations are performed on disposable extraction cartridges (DECs) by means of a sample processor equipped with a robotic arm holding a needle through which the different liquids are dispensed. The operating parameters of LSE have been optimized with respect to recovery, detectability and reproducibility by using, whenever possible, aqueous solutions of the analytes. Different kinds of DECs have been tested. For the compounds studied, DECs filled with 50 mg of cyanopropyl silica have been selected. The influence of the pH of the buffer used in the washing step has been studied, leading finally to the selection of the same phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) as in the HPLC mobile phase. The minimum volume of methanol which still gives a nearly complete elution of the analytes from the extraction cartridges has been determined. Under these conditions, a high sensitivity can be obtained without an evaporation step. Moreover, the volume of buffer to be added to the methanolic eluate before injection into the HPLC system has been optimized in such a way that a focusing effect is obtained at the top of the analytical column while the dilution of the extract is minimized.