Development of a method for the determination of danofloxacin in plasma by HPLC with fluorescence detection

A simple and sensitive HPLC method has been developed for the determination of danofloxacin (DAN) in plasma. Sample preparations were carried out by adding phosphate buffer (pH 7.4, 0.1 M), followed by extraction with trichloromethane. DAN and the internal standard, sarafloxacin (SAR), were separated on a reversed-phase column, and eluted with aqueous solution-acetonitrile (80:20 v/v). The fluorescence of the column effluent was monitored at lambda(ex) = 338 and lambda(em) = 425 nm. The retention times were 2.80 and 4. 40 min for DAN and SAR, respectively. The method was shown to be linear from 1 to 1500 ng/mL (r(2) = 0.999). The detection and quantitation limit were 1 and 5 ng/mL, respectively. Mean recovery was determined as 80% by the analysis of plasma standards containing 150, 750 and 1500 ng/mL. Inter- and intra-assay precisions were 4.0% and 2.4%, respectively.     

Development and validation of high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry for assay of madecassoside in rat plasma and its application to pharmacokinetic study

A rapid, sensitive and specific high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometric (LC-ESI-MS) method was developed and validated for the quantification of madecassoside, a major active constituent of Centella asiatica (L.) Urb. herbs, in rat plasma. With paeoniflorin as an internal standard (IS), a simple liquid-liquid extraction process was employed for the plasma sample preparation. Chromatographic separation was achieved within 6 min on a Shim-pack CLC-ODS column using acetonitrile and water (60:40, v/v) containing 0.1% (v/v) formic acid as the mobile phase. The detection was performed by MS with electrospray ionization interface in negative selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode. The linear range was 11-5500 ng/mL with the square regression coefficient (r(2) ) of 0.9995. The lower limit of quantification was 11 ng/mL. The intra- and inter- day precision ranged from 4.99 to 9.03%, and the accuracy was between 95.82 and 111.80%. The average recoveries of madecassoside and IS from spiked plasma samples were >92%. The developed method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of madecassoside in rats after an oral administration.     

Validation and pharmacokinetic application of a method for determination of doxazosin in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography

A simple high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of doxazosin in human plasma was developed and validated. Prazosin was used as internal standard. After extraction twice with ethyl acetate, chromatographic separation of doxazosin in human plasma was carried out using a reversed-phase Apollo C18 column (250 x 4.6 mm, 5 microm) with mobile phase of methanol-acetonitrile-0.04 m disodium hydrogen orthophosphate (22:22:56, v/v/v) adjusted to pH 4.9 with 0.9 m phosphoric acid and quantified by fluorescence detection operated with an excitation wavelength of 246 nm and an emission wavelength of 389 nm. The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of this assay was 1 ng/mL using 500 microL human plasma. Linearity was established over the range 1-25 ng/mL (r2 > 0.9994). The intra- and inter-day accuracy ranged from 90.5 to 104.4% and the coefficient of variation were not more than 8.6% for both intra- and inter-day precision, over the range of the calibration curve. The absolute recoveries of doxazosin and prazosin from human plasma were more than 91%. Doxazosin demonstrated acceptable short-term, long-term and freeze-thaw stability in human plasma. The assay has been successfully applied to plasma sample ana-lysis for pharmacokinetic study.     

Determination of atrasentan by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection in human plasma.

Atrasentan is an endothelin antagonist selective for the ET(A) receptor in development at Abbott Laboratories for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and cell proliferation disorders. A simple and sensitive chromatographic method for the determination of atrasentan in human plasma has been developed and validated. The analytical method involves acidification of the plasma samples with 0.3 N HCl prior to extraction with 1:1 (v:v) hexane/tert-butylmethylether. The organic extract was evaporated to dryness, reconstituted with 20:80 (v:v) acetonitrile/0.05 M K(2)HPO(4) and washed with 75:25 (v:v) hexane/tert-butylmethylether. The organic layer was discarded and the aqueous layer was injected into the HPLC. Atrasentan and internal standard (ABT-790) were separated from interference using a 250 x 4.6 mm, 5 microm, 120 A Phenomenex Spherisorb C(8) analytical column with a 50 x 4.6 mm, Alltech Absorbosphere 5 microm CN guard cartridge using a mobile phase consisting of 25:15:5:55 (v:v:v:v) acetonitrile/isopropanol/methanol/0.05 M K(2)HPO(4), pH 7.0, at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. Fluorescence detection was achieved using lambda(ex) 278 nm and lambda(em) 322 nm. For a 1.0 mL plasma sample volume, the limit of quantitation was approximately 200 pg/mL. The method was linear from 0.2 to 1300 ng/mL (r(2) = 0.9986). Inter- and intra-day assay RSD (n = 6) were less than 10%. Mean accuracy determinations showed the quality control samples to range between 94 and 99% of the theoretical concentration.     

Quantitative determination of isorhamnetin, quercetin and kaempferol in rat plasma by liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry and its application to the pharmacokinetic study of isorhamnetin

A simple and sensitive liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the quantification of quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin in rat plasma. After being treated with beta-glucuronidase and sulfatase, the analytes were extracted by liquid/liquid extraction with the internal standard (IS; baicalein). The chromatographic separation was performed on a Diamonsil C(18) column with a mobile phase consisting of 2% formic acid/methanol (10:90, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.00 mL/min, with a split of 200 microL to the mass spectrometer. Validation results indicated that the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was 1 ng . mL(-1). The assay exhibited a linear range of 1-200 ng . mL(-1) and gave a correlation coefficient of 0.9980 or better for each analyte. Quality control samples (1, 5, 20 and 100 ng . mL(-1)) in six replicates from each of three different runs demonstrated an intra-assay precision (RSD) of 1.1-8.9%, an inter-assay precision of 1.6-10.8%, and an overall accuracy (bias) of <13.4%. The extraction recovery of each analyte and internal standard was 70-80%. In the present study, we have investigated the pharmacokinetic profiles of isorhamnetin after oral application in rats equipped with a jugular catheter. After oral dosing of isorhamnetin, the mean values (n = 10) of C(max) were 57.8, 64.8 and 75.2 ng . mL(-1) which were achieved at a T(max) of 8.0, 6.4 and 7.2 h for oral doses of 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 mg . kg(-1) body weight, respectively. The corresponding mean values for isorhamnetin area under the curver (AUC) from 0 to 60 h were 838.2, 1262.8, 1623.4 ng . h . mL(-1). Our results further demonstrated that the samples analyzed showed isorhamnetin could not be transformed into quercetin or kaempferol in rats, indicating that the demethylation of the 3'-oxymethyl group of isorhamnetin does not occur in Wistar rats.     

Determination of triptolide and triptonide in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography

An isocratic high-performance liquid chromatographic method for determination of triptolide and triptonide in human plasma is described. Plasma samples were extracted with OasisHLB solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridges. After pretreatment, they were separated on a SymmetryShieldRP(18) column with a mobile phase of acetonitrile-water (40:60,v/v) at 40 degrees C. The effluent was monitored at UV 217 nm. Linearity (0.010-1.0 mg/L) was good, and the lower limit of detection was 3 ng/mL for triptolide and 4.5 ng/mL for triptonide (S/N = 3). The relative standard deviations of intra- and inter-day assay were less than 15% and the recoveries were better than 80%. The developed method was applied to the determination of triptolide and triptonide concentration in a patient's plasma after taking the medicament containing Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. F.     

HPLC determination of diltiazem in human plasma and its application to pharmacokinetics in humans

A simple and sensitive reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic method (HPLC) has been developed and validated for the routine analysis of diltiazem in human plasma and the study of the pharmacokinetics of the drug in the human body. Diltiazem and diazepa (internal standard) were extracted with a mixed organic solution of hexane, chloroform and isopropanol (60:40:5, v/v/v), and then HPLC separation of the drugs was performed on an Spherisorb C(18) column and detected by ultraviolet absorbance at 239 nm. The use of methanol-water solution (containing 2.8 mm triethylamine, 80:20, v/v) as the mobile phase at a fl ow-rate of 1.2 mL/min enables the baseline separation of the drugs free from interferences with isocratic elution. The method was linear in the clinical range 0-300 ng/mL and the lower limit of detection of diltiazem in plasma was 3 ng/mL. The range of percentage of relative standard deviation (%RSD) was from 3.5 to 6.8% for within-day analyses and from 6.2 to 8.4% for between-day analyses, respectively. The extraction recoveries of diltiazem from spiked human plasma (n = 5) at three concentrations were 91.4-104.0%. The method has been used to determine diltiazem in human plasma samples from eight volunteers who had taken diltiazem hydrochloride slow release tables and the data obtained was fitted with a program on computer to study the pharmacokinetics. The results showed that the peak level in plasma approximately averaged 118.5 +/- 14.3 ng/mL at 3.1 +/- 0.4 h, and the areas under the drug concentration curves (AUC) was 793.1 +/- 83.1 ng.h/mL.     

An improved HPLC method for rapid quantitation of diazepam and its major metabolites in human plasma

A rapid and specific HPLC method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of diazepam and its main active metabolites, desmethyldiazepam, oxazepam and temazepam in human plasma. Plasma samples were extracted using toluene. HPLC system included a Chromolith Performance RP-18e 100 mm x 4.6mm column, using 10mM phosphate buffer (pH 2.5)-methanol-acetonitrile (63:10:27, v/v) as mobile phase running at 2 mL min(-1). UV detector (lambda=230 nm) was used. The calibration curves were linear in the concentration range of 2-800 ng mL(-1) for diazepam and 2-200 ng mL(-1) for the three metabolites (r(2)>0.99). The lower limit of quantification was 2 ng mL(-1) for all analytes. Within and between-day precisions in the measurement of QC samples were in the range of 1.8-18.0% for all analytes. The developed procedure was used to assess the pharmacokinetics of diazepam and its main metabolites following single dose administration of 10mg diazepam orally to healthy subjects.     

Simultaneous determination of diclofenac potassium and drotaverine hydrochloride in human plasma using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

A simple high-performance liquid chromatographic method with ultraviolet detection is proposed for the estimation of diclofenac potassium and drotaverine hydrochloride in human plasma. Liquid-liquid extraction was carried out with a mixture of dichloromethane-isopropyl alcohol (80:20, v/v). Chromatographic separation of the analytes and internal standard was achieved on an analytical 250 × 4.6 mm i.d. reversed-phase Thermo BDS Hypersil C8 (5 μm particle size) column using a mobile phase of acetonitrile-0.02M ammonium acetate buffer (53:47, v/v) at pH 3.5. The run time was less than 15 min. Column eluate was monitored at 230 nm. The linearity over the concentration ranges of 25-1500 ng/mL and 32-960 ng/mL was obtained for diclofenac potassium and drotaverine hydrochloride, respectively. The limit of quantification was 25 and 32 ng/mL for diclofenac potassium and drotaverine hydrochloride, respectively. Recoveries of diclofenac potassium and drotaverine hydrochloride from plasma were 97.45% and 98.27%, respectively.     

Improved HPLC method for doxorubicin quantification in rat plasma to study the pharmacokinetics of micelle-encapsulated and liposome-encapsulated doxorubicin formulations

An improved simple, rapid and accurate HPLC method for quantification of doxorubicin derived from micelle-encapsulated or liposome-encapsulated doxorubicin formulation in rat plasma was described. The mobile phase consisting of a mixture of methanol-water [containing 0.1% formic acid anhydrous and 0.1% ammonia solution (25%), pH 3.0], 60:40, was delivered at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. Sample preparation for micelle- or liposome-encapsulated doxorubicin in rat plasma were achieved directly by protein precipitation with acetonitrile. Doxorubicin and daunorubicin (internal standard, IS) were separated on a C(18) reversed-phase HPLC column and quantified by a fluoresence detection with an excitation wavelength of 475 nm and an emission wavelength of 580 nm. The linearity was obtained over the range of 5.0-1000.0 ng/mL and 1.0-200.0 microg/mL for doxorubicin and the lower limit of quantitation was 5.0 ng/mL. For each level of quality control samples, inter- and intra-assay precision was less than 9.6 and 5.1% (relative standard deviation), respectively, and percentage error was within +/-2.6%. The extraction recoveries of doxorubicin in the range of 10 ng/mL to 100 microg/mL in rat plasma were between 94.1 and 105.6%. This method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of doxorubicin formulations after i.v. administration to rats.     

Determination of huperzine A in human plasma by liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry: application to a bioequivalence study on Chinese volunteers

A simple, sensitive and selective LC-MS-MS method has been developed for the quantification of huperzine A in human plasma. Huperzine A and pseudoephedrine hydrochloride (internal standard) were isolated from human plasma by extraction with ethyl acetate, chromatographed on a C(18) column with a mobile phase consisting of 0.2% formic acid-methanol (15:85, v/v) and detected using a tandem mass spectrometer with an electrospray ionization interface. The lower limit of quantification was 0.0508 ng/mL, and the assay exhibited a linear range of 0.0508-5.08 ng/mL (r = 0.9998). The method was successfully applied to investigate the bioequivalence between two kinds of tablets (test vs reference product) in 18 healthy male Chinese volunteers. After a single 0.2 mg dose for the test and reference product, the resulting means of major pharmacokinetic parameters such as AUC(0-24), AUC(0-infinity), C(max), T(max) and t(1/2) of huperzine A were 16.35 +/- 3.42 vs 16.38 +/- 3.61 ng h/mL, 17.53 +/- 3.80 vs 17.70 +/- 3.97 ng h/mL, 2.47 +/- 0.49 vs 2.51 +/- 0.51 ng/mL, 1.3 +/- 0.4 vs 1.2 +/- 0.3 h and 5.92 +/- 0.75 vs 6.18 +/- 0.66 h, respectively, indicating that these two kinds of tablets were bioequivalent.     

Monitoring of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine in urine by high-performance liquid chromatography after pre-column derivatization with glyoxal reagents

A new, simple and sensitive pre-column fluorescence derivatization high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of the oxidative DNA stress marker, 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine, was developed. Solid-phase extraction using an Oasis HLB cartridge avoided troublesome sample preparation steps, interference from charged species and frequent and essential electrode maintenance in electrochemical procedures. 8-Oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine and other guanine compounds were selectively derivatized with glyoxal reagents (phenylglyoxal, 3,4-methylenedioxyglyoxal, 2-naphtylglyoxal and 6-methoxynaphthylglyoxal) at 40-60 degrees C. Derivatization with 6-methoxynaphthylglyoxal at 40 degrees C for 30 min gave the strongest fluorescence product. The fluorescence derivatives from reaction with 6-methoxynaphthylglyoxal were separated on a Capcell Pak C18 SG 120A column (4.6 mm i.d. x 150 mm, 5 microm) with acetonitrile-5 mM phosphate buffer (pH 6.0; 3:7, v/v) as mobile phase. The detection wavelength of the fluorescence derivative of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine was lambda(ex) 400 nm and lambda(em) 510 nm. The detection limit of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine was 1 ng/mL using 50 mL of urine. The calibration graphs were linear up to 30 microg/mL for 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine. The relative standard deviation of 20 ng/mL of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine was 7.0%. The proposed method was compared with the enzymatic ELISA 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine analysis method (8-OH-dG Check, JaICA, Shizuoka, Japan). The correlation coefficient was 0.79 (n = 20) and y = 0.85x + 5.34. The proposed method was applied to the monitoring of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine in urine from male heavy smokers.     

Simultaneous quantification of five anthraquinones in rat plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

A sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method with fluorescence detection (excitation 435 and emission 515 nm) was established and validated for quantification of five anthraquinones (aloe-emodin, rhein, emodin, chrysophanol and physcion) in rat plasma. Following a single-step liquid-liquid extraction, the analytes and internal standard (1,8-dihydroxyanthraquinone) were separated on a reversed-phase C(18) column with water-phosphoric acid-methanol as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The linear ranges of the calibration curves were 6.5-1300 ng/mL for aloe-emodin, 20-4000 ng/mL for rhein, 40-8000 ng/mL for emodin, 15-3000 ng/mL for chrysophanol and 13-2600 ng/mL for physcion. The lower limit of quantification was 6.5 ng/mL for aloe-emodin, 20 ng/mL for rhein, 40 ng/mL for emodin, 15 ng/mL for chrysophanol and 13 ng/mL for physcion. The mean accuracy was 94.3-105.1% for aloe-emodin, 90.3-108.8% for rhein, 92.6-106.7% for emodin, 95.8-103.8% for chrysophanol and 98.7-101.2% for physcion. The within-batch and between-batch precisions were < or = 5.5% and < or = 13.4%, respectively. This method is suitable for determining the five anthraquinones in plasma simultaneously and thus investigating the pharmacokinetics of anthraquinones from Xiexin decoction in rats.     

Analysis of Amisulpride in Human Plasma by SPE and LC with Fluorescence Detection

A rapid, precise, accurate, and selective high-performance liquid chromatographic method with fluorescence detection has been validated and used for analysis of amisulpride in human plasma after a simple solid-phase extraction procedure. Compounds were separated on a CN column with 0.03?M potassium dihydrogen phosphate (pH 6.5)-acetonitrile 65:35 (v/v) as mobile phase. Fluorescence detection was performed at excitation and emission wavelengths of 274 and 370?nm, respectively. Calibration plots were linear over the concentration range 10-1,000?ng?mL(-1) in human plasma, and the lower limit of quantification was 10?ng?mL(-1). Accuracy was between 0.4 and 6.4% and precision was between 3.1 and 7.5%. Amisulpride was sufficiently stable through three freeze-thaw cycles, during storage for 6?h at room temperature, and for 2?months at -22?°C. The method is suitable for the analysis of clinical samples from pharmacokinetic studies.     

A Simple and Rapid Reversed Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatographic Method for Quantification of Alprazolam and α-Hydroxyalprazolam in Plasma

Abstract

A simple and rapid reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method for the determination of alprazolam and a-hydroxyalprazolam in plasma is described. Flunictrazepam was used as internal standard. Plasma samples were buffered with sodium borate and extracted with dichloromethane /n-pentane 4:6 v/v for 60 sec on a vortex apparatus. Extraction solvent was evaporated to dryness and extraction residues were reconstituted in the mobile phase. Samples were chromatographed on a 5μ Lichrospher RP-18 column (25cm × 4mm i. d) using acetonitrile/water 40:60 v/v as the mobile phase. The column effluent was monitored at 230nm. The lower limit of detection was 1ng/ml for alprazolam and a-hydroxyalprazolam while the lower limit of quantification was 2ng/ml for both compounds. Peak height and plasma     

Quantitative determination of imatinib in human plasma with high-performance liquid chromatography and ultraviolet detection

A simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed to quantitate imatinib in human plasma. Imatinib and the internal standard dasatinib were separated using a mobile phase of 0.5% KH(2)PO(4) (pH3.5)-acetonitrile-methanol (55:25:20, v/v/v) on a CAPCELL PAK C18 MG II column (250 mm × 4.6 mm) at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min and measurement at UV 265 nm. Analysis required 100 μL of plasma and involved a solid phase extraction with an Oasis HLB cartridge, which gave recoveries of imatinib from 73% to 76%. The lower limit of quantification for imatinib was 10 ng/mL. The linear range of this assay was between 10 and 5000 ng/mL (regression line r(2) > 0.9992). Inter- and intra-day coefficients of variation were less than 11.9% and accuracies were within 8.3% over the linear range. The plasma concentrations of imatinib obtained by our present method were almost the same as those assayed by an LC-MS-MS method at the Toray Research Center, Inc. This method can be applied effectively to measure imatinib concentrations in clinical samples.     

Development and validation of a high‐performance liquid chromatography method for determination of lisinopril in human plasma by magnetic solid‐phase extraction and pre‐column derivatization

A sensitive, reliable and simple HPLC method was developed for the determination of lisinopril in human plasma. The method consists of extraction and clean‐up steps based on magnetic solid‐phase extraction and pre‐column derivatization with a fluorescent reagent. The mobile phase consisted of a mixture of methanol–sodium dihydrogen phosphate (pH 3.0; 0.005 m ; 75:25, v/v). The flow rate was set at 0.7 mL/min. Fluorescence detection was performed at 470nm excitation and 530nm emission wavelengths. Total chromatography run time was 5 min. The average extraction recovery of lisinopril and fluvoxamine (internal standard) was ≥82.8%. The limits of detection and quantification were determined as 1 and 3 ng/mL respectively. The method exhibited a linear calibration line over the concentration range of 3–1000 ng/mL with coefficient of determination (r²) of ≥0.98. The within‐run and between‐run precisions were satisfactory with values of CV of 1.8–12.8% (accuracy from 99.2 to 94.7%) and 2.4–13.7% (accuracy from 99.5 to 92.2%), respectively. These developments led to considerable improvement in method sensitivity and reliability. The method was validated according to the US Food and Drug Administration guidelines. Therefore, it can be considered as a suitable method for determination of lisinopril in plasma samples.     

Determination of nifedipine in dog plasma by high‐performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometric detection

Nifedipine is a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker used widely in the management of hypertension and other cardiovascular disorders. In this work, a simple, rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated to determine nifedipine in dog plasma using nimodipine as the internal standard. Chromatographic separation was carried out on a C₈ column. The mobile phase consisted of a mixture of acetonitrile, water and formic acid (60:40:0.2, v/v/v) at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. Detection was performed on a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer in selected reaction monitoring mode via an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization source. The method has a lower limit of quantification of 0.20 ng/mL with consumption of plasma as low as 0.05 mL. The linear calibration curves were obtained in the concentration range of 0.20–50.0 ng/mL (r = 0.9948). The recoveries of the liquid extraction method were 74.5–84.1%. Intra‐day and inter‐day precisions were 4.1–8.8 and 6.7–7.4%, respectively. The quantification was not interfered with by other plasma components and the method was applied to determine nifedipine in plasma after a single oral administration of two controlled‐release nifedipine tablets to beagle dogs. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An automated analyzer for vancomycin in plasma samples by column-switching high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection

An automated analyzer for vancomycin in rat plasma by column-switching high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection was developed. The method includes in-line extraction of vancomycin by ion-exchange cartridge column and a separation on a reversed-phase column with UV detection at 215 nm. Plasma samples were diluted by mobile phase solution and directly injected to HPLC. Vancomycin was quantitatively recovered from rat plasma samples. The separation was completed within 15 min. The calibration curve was linear over the range from 0.5 to 100 microg/mL with the detection and quantification limits of 0.5 microg/mL (2.5 ng on column; signal-to-noise ratio = 3). The values of precision in intra- and inter-day assays (n = 3) were less than 1.92 and 3.69%, respectively. This method does not require time-consuming pre-treatment and is suitable for the routine assay of plasma samples.     

Sensitive analysis of donepezil in plasma by capillary electrophoresis combining on-column field-amplified sample stacking and its application in Alzheimer's disease

Field-amplified sample stacking (FASS) in capillary electrophoresis (CE) was used to determine the concentration of donepezil, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, in human plasma. A sample pretreatment by liquid-liquid extraction with isopropanol/n-hexane (v/v 3:97) and subsequent quantification by FASS-CE was used. Before sample loading, a water plug (0.5 psi, 6 s) was injected to permit FASS. Electrokinetic injection (7 kV, 90 s) was used to introduce sample cations. The separation condition for donepezil was performed in electrolyte solutions containing Tris buffer (60 mM, pH 4.0) with sodium octanesulfonate 40 mM and 0.01% polyvinyl alcohol as a dynamic coating to reduce analytes' interaction with capillary wall. The separation was performed at 28 kV and detected at 200 nm. Using atenolol as an internal standard, the linear ranges of the method for the determination of donepezil in human plasma were over a range of 1-50 ng/mL. The limit of detection was 0.1 ng/mL (S/N=3, sampling 90 s at 7 kV). One female volunteer (54 years old) was orally administered a single dose of 10 mg donepezil (Aricept, Eisai), and blood samples were drawn over a 60 h period for pharmacokinetic study. The method was also applied successfully to monitor donepezil in sixteen Alzheimer's disease patients' plasmas.