RAPID AND SELECTIVE ANALYSIS OF SECNIDAZOLE IN HUMAN PLASMA USING HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH ULTRAVIOLET DETECTION

A rapid, reproducible high-performance liquid chromatographic method f or the determination of secnidazole, 5-nitroimidazole class of antipro tozoals from blood is described. Metronidazole was used as an internal standard. A simple extraction step with dichloromethane was done befo re chromatography on a C-18 column with the wavelength fixed at 276 nm on the UV detector. Blood levels up to 500 ng/ml have been measured w ith good precision in the healthy volunteers after 1 g of secnidazole was administered. The present described method can readily be utilized for routine pharmacokinetic studies.