Investigation of the pharmacokinetics and determination of tramadol in rabbit plasma by a high-performance liquid chromatography–diode array detector method using liquid–liquid extraction

An HPLC system using a new, simple and rapid liquid–liquid extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography–diode array detector method (HPLC–DAD) detection was validated to determine tramadol concentration in rabbit plasma. The method described was applied to a pharmacokinetic study of intravenous tramadol injections in rabbits. The extraction with ethylacetate yielded good response. The recovery of tramadol from plasma averaged 90.40%. Serial plasma samples were obtained prior to, during and after completion of the infusion for determination of tramadol concentrations. Tramadol concentrations were measured using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and pharmacokinetic application with intravenous tramadol in rabbits revealed that tramadol followed one-compartment open model. Maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) and area under the plasma concentration–time curve (AUC) for tramadol were 14.3 μg mL−1 and 42.2 μg h mL−1, respectively. The method developed was successfully applied to a simple, rapid, specific, sensitive and accurate HPLC method for investigation of the pharmacokinetics of tramadol in rabbit plasma.