Development of an analytical method for cefpirome in plasma by simplified HPLC technique and its applications

The objective of this study was to develop a rapid and simplified, reliable high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for quantification of cefpirome (CAS 98753-19-6) in plasma. After precipitation of the plasma containing the internal standard, hydrochlorothiazide, with 5% trichloroacetic acid (TCA), the analysis of the cefpirome level in the plasma samples was carried out using a reverse-phase C(18) column with the ultraviolet detector set at a wavelength of 258 nm. The chromatographic separation was accomplished with an isocratic mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-acetate buffer pH 5. The proposed method was specific and sensitive with a lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) of 0.5 mu g/ml. This HPLC method was validated by examining the precision and accuracy for inter- and intra-day analysis in the concentration range 0.5-64.0 mu g/ml. The relative standard deviation in the inter- and intra-day validation was less than 3%. Analytical recovery was more than 84%, and cefpirome was found to be stable in human plasma during both the storage and assay procedures. A satisfactory pharmacokinetic study of cefpirome was carried out in rabbits using the devised procedure.