Evaluation of chromatographic methods for the determination of nifedipine in human serum

Gas-liquid chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography were compared for the identification and determination of nifedipine in biological samples and the elaboration of the optimum liquid-liquid extraction procedure. The determination limits were 2 and 10 ng/ml, respectively, and the detection limits were 1 and 5 ng/ml, respectively. The calibration graphs were linear in the ranges 2-300 and 10-500 ng/ml, respectively. Recoveries based on three different concentrations were 88.7-95.8% and 93.7-104.2%, respectively. Both methods are sensitive, specific and reproducible enough for pharmacokinetic studies and therapeutic drug monitoring.