High-pressure liquid-chromatographic determination of 5-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-5-phenylhydantoin in humanurine.

We describe a sensitive and precise high-pressure liquid-chromatographic method for measurement of total 5-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-5-phenylhydantoin, a metabolite of phenytoin, in urine. An aliquot of urine, containing 5-(4-methylphenyl)-5-phenylhydantoin as an internal standard, is processed and chromatographed. The metabolite and internal standard are identified from their retention times and quantitated from their relative response factors. The metabolite is separated from normal urine constituents and internal standard in less than 8 min. The sensitivity of the method is such that after the usual dose it can be measured in 0.5 ml of urine; the lower limit of detection is 300 ng.