FLUOROMETRIC-DETERMINATION OF NICORANDIL IN HUMAN PLASMA BY A HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHIC POSTCOLUMN ULTRAVIOLET DETECTION SYSTEM EQUIPPED WITH ONLINE BACK-PRESSURE TUBING

For the determination of nicorandil in plasma, a fluorometric techniqu e using HPLC-postcolumn UV detection has been developed. The chromatog raphic system consisted of a single pump, photoreactor and on-line bac k-pressure tubing. The system was suitable for the separation of nicor andil under the present reaction conditions. The calibration graph was linear over the range 6.5-1170 ng ml(-1) using an injected volume of 100 mu l. The pretreatment of the plasma samples consisted only of dep roteinizing steps by adding perchloric acid. The mean recovery from pl asma was 90.2%.