Determination of ciprofloxacin concentrations in human serum and urine by HPLC with ultraviolet and fluorescence detection

Abstract

Objective: To develop a simple and sensitive high performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of ciprofloxacin concentrations in human serum and urine.

Method: Serum proteins were removed by ultrafiltration through a filtering device after the addition of a displacing reagent. Urine samples were diluted with mobile phase prior to injection. Separation was achieved with a C18 reverse-phase column and using ultraviolet (UVD) and fluorescence detection (FD) for serum samples and UVD for urine samples.

Results: The quantitation limits of the assay were 20 ng/ml (FD) and 100 ng/ml (UVD) in serum and 1 microg/ml in urine. The assay was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of ciprofloxacin in healthy volunteers.

Conclusion: The method presented for ciprofloxacin assay in human serum and urine requires less sample clean up and is more sensitive than those reported in the literature.