HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY DETERMINATION OF PRAVASTATIN IN PLASMA

Pravastatin is a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhib itor that reduces plasma cholesterol levels. Some analytical methods h ave been described for determination of pravastatin levels in biologic al fluids, but these methods are rather cumbersome and involve expensi ve specialized equipment, usually not available in a clinical setting. A new technique, reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatograph y (HPLC) with ultraviolet (UV) detection capability, has been develope d for the analytical determination of pravastatin in plasma. Extractio n and sample clean-up procedures are simple and rapid to execute, yet yield chromatograms virtually free of interference from endogenous pla sma constituents and other antihypercholesterolemic agents or drugs us ually taken concomitantly with pravastatin. Our detection limit for pr avastatin was 2 ng/ml. Standard curves were linear between 5 and 200 n g/ml, with a coefficient of variation (CV) of < 10% at the limits of q uantitation. This method was used to study pravastatin plasma levels i n two hypercholesterolemic heart-transplant recipients and two hyperch olesterolemic nontransplanted patients. We conclude that the method re ported here would be ideal for therapeutic pravastatin monitoring in p atients.