Determination of atorvastatin in human plasma by magnetic solid-phase extraction combined with HPLC and application to a pharmacokinetic study

A simple and sensitive analytical procedure by solid-phase extraction method combined with high-performance liquid chromatography and using of graphene–magnetite nanomaterials as sorbent has been developed for the determination of atorvastatin in human plasma. A magnetic solid-phase extraction method as a simple, fast, and efficient extraction technique has been used for sample preparation. A solid nanocomposite material, graphene nanosheets decorated with magnetite nanoparticles, was used as a magnetic adsorbent and the adsorption process was optimized in this study. RP C18 column was used with mobile phase composed of acetonitrile–10?mM orthophosphoric acid by isocratic elution with the flow rate of 1?mL?min^?1. Fluorimetric detection was used by the excitation wavelength at 282?nm and the emission wavelength at 400?nm. It was found that the calibration curve was linear in the 30–150?ng?mL^?1. Limit of detection and limit of quantitation values were found to be 10 and 30?ng?mL^?1, respectively. The intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviation values were less than 5.27%. It has been concluded that the new developed method provides fast, simple, cost reduced, and sensitive assay for atorvastatin determination in human plasma. This method is also applied to a pharmacokinetic study.