Determination and pharmacokinetics of ergometrine maleate in rabbit blood with on line microdialysis sampling and fluorescence detection.

The study describes a flow injection on-line microdialysis system for in vivo monitoring of ergometrine maleate in rabbit blood with fluorescence detection. A flow-through microdialysis probe was used for intravenous sampling by pumping of the blood from the tested rabbit through the flow-through microdialysis probe located outside the living system at a flow rate of 15 microl min-1. The perfusion rate is 5 microl min-1. The ergometrine maleate in the dialysate was detected on-line with a flow injection fluorescence system after the ergometrine maleate administration (0.2 mg kg-1, i.v.). The dialysate sample volume was about 15 microl. The system was linearly related to the concentration of ergometrine maleate in the range 1-140 ng ml-1 (r=0.9989) with a detection limit 0.3 ng ml-1 (3sigma). The pharmacokinetic parameters of ergometrine maleate were calculated utilizing the pharmacokinetic software 'NDST-21' by a one-compartmental open model.