High-performance liquid chromatographic assay of sulbactam using pre-column reaction with 1,2,4-triazole.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the determination of sulbactam in human and rat plasma and urine has been developed. Sulbactam was reacted with 1,2,4-triazole to yield a product having an ultraviolet absorption maximum at 326 nm. The product was separated using reversed-phase HPLC from the regular components of plasma and urine with an ion-pair buffer at 50 degrees C and detected at the ultraviolet maximum. The limits of accurate determination were 0.2 and 1.0 micrograms/ml in plasma and urine, respectively. The coefficients of variation of inter- and intra-assays in human plasma spiked at 4.0 micrograms/ml (n = 5) were 1.02 and 3.05%, respectively. Coexisting cefoperazone, penicillins, or the alkaline degradation product(s) of sulbactam did not interfere in the sulbactam assay. The pharmacokinetic behaviour of sulbactam and cefoperazone coadministered to rats was estimated by moment analysis.