Determination of Cremophor EL in plasma after sample preparation with solid phase extraction and plasma protein precipitation.

The non-ionic emulsifier Cremophor EL can be quantified using a special potentiometric titration technique with barium chloride activation and precipitation with sodium tetraphenylborate. The end point of the titration is indicated by an ionsensitive coated wire electrode which responds to an excess of tetraphenylborate ions. Sample preparation is necessary to quantify the excipient in plasma of patients receiving ciclosporin formulations with Cremophor EL (Sandimmun), since plasma proteins cause disturbances of the titration. Solid phase extraction was tested with various sorbent materials. Although some of the sorbents yielded good extraction rates of Cremophor EL from aqueous solutions, the extraction rates from plasma were significantly lower. Therefore, plasma protein precipitation with acetonitrile has been examined as an alternative to SPE and has been proved the superior method. Using the precipitation technique, a recovery rate of above 90% was achieved. Furthermore, the limit of detection from plasma was found to be 30 microg, in analogy to the determination from aqueous solutions. The combination of the plasma protein precipitation with the potentiometric titration allows quantitation and thus pharmakokinetic investigations of Cremophor EL in patients treated with Sandimmun after kidney-transplantation.