Influence of ovariectomy on extracellular fluid volume in rats: assessment of extracellular fluid volume by means of bromide.

There is considerable evidence that the extracellular fluid volume (ECV) may change in disease states or during longitudinal Intervention studies. Therefore, the measurement of ECV is Important for studying body composition in patients and laboratory animals. We present a modified plasma bromide (Br-, non-radioactive) assay using anion-exchange chromatography, in which a small blood sample of 200 microL (100 microL of plasma) appeared to be enough to reproducibly measure ECV. The inter- and intra-assay accuracy of the Br- analysis ranged from -1.6% to 0.9% and from -0.5% to 0%, respectively. The inter- and intra-assay precision ranged from 1.3% to 1.7% and from 0.6% to 1.2%, respectively. This modified precise and accurate Br- analysis in a small blood sample was applied to investigate whether the ECV changed in rats after ovariectomy. Ovariectomy significantly (P < .05) reduced the ECV as compared with results in SHAM rats. This observation indicates that a change in clinical condition may change ECV, which has consequences for the determination of, for example, the fractional absorption and the relative bioavailability of compounds principally distributed through the ECV.

Reversed-phase ion-pair HPLC method for the direct analysis of 1-OH midazolam glucuronide in human serum.

In recent years, it has become clear that the presence of high concentrations of 1-OH midazolam glucuronide is probably the cause of unexplained prolonged midazolam comas in patients with poor renal function. Until recently, only indirect methods for the analysis of this glucuronide were known, which had several disadvantages, such as a long analysis period (>6 hours). This article describes the validation of a method for the direct analysis of this compound in human serum, using reversed-phase ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in combination with solid phase extraction. The intraday and interday coefficients of variation have values below 6% for different possible serum concentrations. The limit of quantification (0.1 mg/L) is much lower than concentrations found in patients with a coma caused by the accumulation of 1-OH midazolam glucuronide. Recovery of 1-OH midazolam glucuronide is almost 100% at three different serum concentrations. Linearity is confirmed for normal serum levels (<1 mg/L) and for serum levels that might occur in patients with impaired renal function (<20 mg/L). Detection is performed at 254 nm with a diode array detector, which can also be used to check the peak purity in case of unexpected impurities.

Rapid method for the analysis of itraconazole and hydroxyitraconazole in serum by high-performance liquid chromatography.

An assay for the determination of itraconazole and its active metabolite hydroxyitraconazole in serum has been developed, using ketoconazole as internal standard. The procedure involved a one-step liquid-liquid extraction of the drug, its metabolite and the internal standard, followed by their separation by reversed-phase HPLC. In this paper the validation of this method is described.