Simultaneous determination of cefotaxime and desacetylcefotaxime in human plasma and cerebrospinal fluid by high-performance liquid chromatography

A simple and sensitive HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of ce fotaxime (I) and desacetylcefotaxime (II) in human plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is described. The assay involves deproteinisation and subseque nt separation on a reversed-phase HPLC column, with ultraviolet detection a t 262 nm. Retention times were 6.8 and 2.2 min for cefotaxime and desacetyl cefotaxime, respectively. Average recoveries for the analytes were 78% (I) and 88% (II) from both matrices. Linear responses were observed over a wide range (0.58-940 mug/ml for (I) in plasma, 0.80-55.8 mug/ml for (I) in CSF, 0.54-148 mug/ml for (II) in plasma and 0.50-36.0 mug/ml for (II) in CSF). (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.