Determination of esmolol in serum by capillary zone electrophoresis and its monitoring in course of heart surgery

A new Capillary Zone Electrophoresis (CZE) procedure for determination of e smolol, an ultra-short-acting beta -blocker, in serum was developed. Dichlo romethane was applied as a deproteination agent and it was used also for th e inactivation of erythrocytal esterase and in the same time for the extrac tion of esmolol from blood. The re-extraction of esmolol from organic phase to water phase was performed by 0.01 M HCl. An aliquot of 200 ml of acid a queous phase was used for the injection and analysis. CZE determination was done in 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH = 8.0) with detection at 222 nm. The co ncentration detection limit of esmolol in serum was 0.051 mug/ml. This meth od was applied in an extensive heart surgery experiment on pigs (Sus scrofa ). (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.