Abstract

A rapid and cost effective method for the analysis of metronidazole in biological samples was developed. The extraction method is a simple single-step liquid-liquid process that has eliminated the need for costly extraction and evaporation equipment. The mobile phase consists largely of water, making the method cheap to run with less than 6 min total analytical time per sample. The calibration curve was linear from 0 to 2.00 µg/ml. The regression coefficient was 0.99. The method is highly sensitive, with limit of detection of 1 ng/ml. The coefficient of variation for within-day run was less than 4% while that of day-to-day run was less than 6%. There were no interfering peaks from endogenous materials in the serum. The method was validated and used for pharmacokinetic studies.

Key words: Metronidazole, Liquid chromatographic, biological fluids.