Determination of flurbiprofen in human serum by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection.

A reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method is described for the determination of flurbiprofen in human serum. Flurbiprofen is extracted from hydrochloric acid-acidified serum with pentane-ether (80:20). An octadecylsilane column was used with a mobile phase of acetonitrile-water-phosphoric acid (650:350:0.5, v/v/v). A fluorescence detector with excitation at 250 nm and emission at 315 nm provided a quantifiable peak for 0.1 microgram/mL of flurbiprofen in 0.5 mL of plasma. A comparison between UV and fluorescence detection systems is presented. The method is applicable to human bioavailability and pharmacokinetic studies with flurbiprofen.