High-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of drotaverine in human plasma and urine

A simple and sensitive HPLC method for the determination of drotaverine in human plasma and urine has been developed. Alkalinized plasma or urine was extracted with organic solvent and the basic components in the organic phase were back-extracted into 0.1 M HCl. An aliquot of the aqueous layer was injected onto the column and the eluent was monitored at 254 nm. Separation was performed on a C18-column with 0.02 M sodium dihydrogen phosphate-methanol (30:70, v/v) containing perchlorate ion at pH 3.2 as mobile phase. Drotaverine was well resolved from the plasma constituents and internal standard. An excellent linearity was observed between peak-height ratios and plasma concentrations and the intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation were always < 10%. The lowest limit of detection (signal-to-noise ratio 3:1) was 6 ng/ml. The method is suitable for therapeutic monitoring and pharmacokinetic studies of drotaverine in humans as well as in animal models.