Propranolol in Serum by High Pressure Liquid Chromatography Using Nitrile (CN) Bonded Columns in Reverse Phase

Abstract

A method for monitoring therapeutic levels of the .beta.-blocking and antiarrhythmic drug propranolol in serum was developed as a high performance liquid chromatography [HPLC] technique using bonded nitrile columns in a reverse phase mode with an aqueous methanol mobile phase containing acetate as a counterion. The performance characteristics of 8 different types of reverse phase columns are discussed with evaluation for use in the method. The present method combines basic organic (cyclohexane) extraction with fluorescence detection of the chromatographic effluent to provide a specific, rapid, precise and reliable technique that was successfully used to monitor propranolol therapy in several hundred patients without interference by propranolol metabolites or other drugs. The method compares well with other methods and is suitable for therapeutic drug monitoring by routine clinical laboratories.