A simple method for the assay of colistin in human plasma, using pre-column derivatization with 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate in solid-phase extraction cartridges and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

A simple, selective and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method is described for the determination of colistin in human plasma. Derivatization with 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate was performed in the same solid-phase extraction C-18 cartridge used for sample pre-treatment, followed by reversed-phase HPLC with fluorimetric detection. Quantification was achieved using the ratio of the summed peak areas of colistin A and B derivatives to that of the derivative of netilmicin (internal standard), Linear calibration curves were obtained within the concentrations of colistin sulfate from 0.10 to 4.0 mg/l in plasma. Accuracy was within 10% and reproducibility (RSD) was less than 10%. Crown copyright. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.