High-pressure liquid chromatographic determination of amoxicillin in urine

A rapid and specific high-pressure liquid chromatographic (HPLC) assay was developed for the simultaneous determination of amoxicillin and its pencilloic acid metabolite in urine. The two compounds, assayed directly in urine or after dilution with water-methanol (85:15), are separated by reversed-phase chromatography and quantitated spectrofluorometrically following postcolumn derivatization with fluorescamine. Linear calibration curves were measured in the ranges of 25-250 and 50-400 ng injected for amoxicillin and the penicilloic acid metabolite, respectively. The sensitivity limit of the assay is 2.5-5.0 microgram/ml of urine for amoxicillin and the penicilloic acid metabolite. Urine samples (0-8 hr) taken from six subjects following single 250-mg po doses and assayed by HPLC showed ranges of cumulative percent of the dose excreted as amoxicillin and the penicilloic acid metabolite (reported as amoxicillin equivalents) of 50.2-68.0, and 21.6-30.0%, respectively. An excellent correlation (r = 0.985) was demonstrated for the measurement of amoxicillin concentrations by the HPLC and microbiological assays.