Trace determination of vardenafil hydrochloride in commercial formulation and human serum by adsorptive anodic stripping voltammetry at a carbon paste electrode

The electrochemical behavior of vardenafil HCl (VRL) at a carbon paste electrode (CPE) was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, and the mechanism of its oxidation was suggested and discussed. A simple Nujol-based CPE in combination with a sensitive square-wave adsorption anodic stripping voltammetry method was described for trace determination of VRL. The described method showed excellent performance for trace determination of VRL in its formulation "LevitraA (R) tablets" without interference from excipients. The results were statistically compared with those obtained with an established HPLC method; nonsignificant differences were found between the described voltammetric and HPLC methods. The described stripping voltammetric method is highly sensitive (limit of detection = 3 x 10(-10) mol L-1 and limit of quantitation = 1 x 10(-9) mol L-1). It was successfully applied for the determination of VRL in spiked human serum without the necessity for pretreatment and/or time-consuming extraction steps prior to the analysis.