High performance liquid chromatography to determine propranolol in plasma. Drug accumulation in post-surgical patients

An improved, simple and sensitive micromethod based on HPLC-fluorescence is described for quantification of propranolol in plasma. Only 200µL of biological sample were required. The drug and its internal standard (verapamil) are eluted after 3.6 and 8.5 min, respectively, from a 4-micron `C IND. 18i reverse-phase column using a mobile phase consisting of 0.38 M acetate buffer, pH 5.0 and acetonitrile (65:35, v/v, isocratically) with detection at `lâmbda IND. exi- 290 nm and `lâmbda IND. emi - 358 nm. This method, validated on basis of parameters evaluated for the confidence limits of propranolol measurements in spiked blank plasma, presented 1 ng/mL sensitivity, 1-1000 ng/mL linearity, 6.2 per cent and 7.6 per cent for intra- and inter-assay precision respectively, good accuracy and high selectivity...(AU)