A rapid liquid chromatographic method for the determination of metoclopramide in human plasma

A new sensitive analytical method is described for the measurement of metoclopramide in 1 ml plasma samples. The extraction step is followed by simple back-extraction and direct injection into the high-performance chromatographic (HPLC) column, with ultraviolet absorbance detection at 275 nm and reverse phase chromatography. The limit of detection for metoclopramide was 3 ng/ml and standard curves were linear over a concentration range of 5 to 1,000 ng/ml. The lowest quantifiable concentration of 5 ng/ml could be determined with a coefficient of variation of 6.5%. The method compares favourably with HPLC methods already described for metoclopramide and gives rapid and reproducible results in subjects receiving the drug.