HPLC method for determination of atenolol in human plasma and application to a pharmacokinetic study in Turkey

This paper describes a high-performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of atenolol in human plasma. Atenolol and the internal standard, metoprolol, were extracted from plasma by using a liquid-liquid extraction method. The method was developed on an Ace C18 reverse-phase column using a mobile phase of methanol-water (50:50, v/v) containing 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid. The calibration curve was linear within the concentration range of 5-150 ng/mL. Intra-day and inter-day precision values for atenolol in plasma were less than 6.1, and accuracy (relative error) was better than 5.5%. The mean recovery of atenolol was 98.4% for plasma. The limits of detection and quantification of atenolol were 1.5 and 5 ng/mL, respectively. Also, this assay was successfully applied to six patients with hypertension who had been given an oral tablet of 50 mg atenolol.