Enantioselective high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of baclofen in human plasma

A new analytical method for the separation and determination of R-(−)- and S-(+)- baclofen enantiomers in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection was developed. Enantioselective resolution of the baclofen enantiomers was achieved by using teicoplanin macrocyclic antibiotic chiral stationary phase (CSP) known as Chirobiotic T with a polar ionic mobile phase (PIM) consisting of methanol: glacial acetic acid: triethylamine, 100:0.1:0.1, (v/v/v) at a flow rate of 0.5 ml min−1 and UV detection set at 220 nm. The analytes of interest with S-(+)-sulpiride as the internal standard were extracted from human plasma using liquid–liquid extraction procedure with ethyl ether under alkaline condition prior to HPLC analysis. Recoveries for R-(−)- and S-(+)-baclofen enantiomers were in the ranges of 96–103% at 60–2500 ng ml−1 level. Intra-day and inter-day precision calculated as %RSD was in the ranges of 1.2–5.2 and 1.3–4.3% for both enantiomers, respectively. Intra-day and inter-day accuracy calculated as percentage error were in the ranges of 1.2–3.9 and 1.1–3.9% for both enantiomers, respectively. Linear calibration curves in the concentration ranges of 20–3000 ng ml−1 for each enantiomer showed correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9997. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) and limit of detection (LOD) for each enantiomer in human plasma were 20 and 10 ng ml−1 (S/N=3) respectively.