High-Performance Liquid Chromatographic Determination of Acetazolamide in Human Plasma

Abstract

A simple, rapid and specific HPLC method has been developed to determine acetazolamide concentrations in human plasma. The assay procedure requires only 250 μl of sample with direct injection of the organic supernatant after protein precipitation with acetonitrile. Chlorothiazide was used as an internal standard. A reversed-phase C₁₈ μBondapak column was employed for the chromatographic separation. The eluent was monitored at 265 nm using a UV variable wavelength detector. The retention times for acetazolamide (ACZ) and chlorothiazide (CTZ) were 6 and 8 min respectively. A linear relationship (r).995) was obtained over the 1-20 μg/ml concentration range. The limit of sensitivity for ACZ was 0.5 μg/ml, with greater than 85% recovery of ACZ and internal standard. The method was applied to human plasma samples obtained after administration of a 250 mg acetazolamide tablet.