Determination of barbiturates in mouse tissues by high-performance liquid chromatography

Procedures for determining barbiturates in mouse tissues were investigated. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with mixtures of water and methanol as the mobile phase and muBondapak C18 as the stationary phase is superior to gas and thin-layer chromatography with respect to ease of sample preparation, accuracy, sensitivity and time required for analysis. The first step in the analysis, the extraction of barbiturates from tissues, was also investigated and good recoveries were achieved. The time courses of barbiturate concentrations in mouse brain, kidneys and liver after oral administration of barbiturate-beta-cyclodextrin complex to mice were determined by HPLC using UV detection at 210 nm.