Determination of rufloxacin, a new tricyclic fluoroquinolone in biological fluids using high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection.

A simple, specific, and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography method has been developed for routine monitoring of the antimicrobial agent rufloxacin in human serum and urine. Serum or urine-spiked with internal standard pipemidic acid, were vortex-mixed for 2 min with dichloromethane at pH 7.4. The evaporated extract was dissolved in 0.05 M NaOH. The mobile phase consisted of orthophosphoric acid, tetrabutylammonium iodide, and methanol. Drugs were resolved at ambient temperature on a 10 micron Viosfer LC-RP-18 column (250 x 4.6 mm I.D.) equipped with a guard column. Flow rate was 1.8 ml/min, and monitoring was performed at 295 nm. The calibration curve was linear from 0.1 to 10 micrograms/ml for human serum and from 0.05 to 10 micrograms/ml for urine. Retention times were 3.1 and 6.3 min for internal standard and rufloxacin. The detection limit of rufloxacin was 0.05 microgram/ml for human serum and 0.03 microgram/ml for urine. No interference from other commonly administered drugs or endogenous substances was observed. The assay demonstrated sufficient sensitivity and specificity for the study of the pharmacokinetics of rufloxacin in humans.