Development of a capillary electrophoresis assay for the determination of carvedilol enantiomers in serum using cyclodextrins.

A capillary electrophoresis method using cyclodextrins as the chiral selectors was developed for the determination of carvedilol enantiomers in serum. Several types of cyclodextrins were evaluated. The effect of cyclodextrin concentration on enantiomer resolution was investigated. Best results were obtained using 10 mM hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin in the run buffer. The effect of voltage on efficiency was assessed. Other electrophoretic conditions were optimized. The method was validated for carvedilol enantiomers in serum. Linearity of detection was assessed over the concentration range of 50-4000 ng/ml of each enantiomer in serum. Intra- and inter-assay variability obtained were under 8% for both enantiomers.