Determination of ceftazidime in plasma by RP‐HPLC and ultraviolet detection

A simple high‐performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of ceftazidime in plasma has been developed. Using an ultrafiltration technique samples were separated by reverse‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography on a Symmetry C 18 4.6 × 250 mm column (5.0 μm) and ultraviolet absorbance was measured at 260 nm. The mobile phase was a mixture of 10 m m potassium phosphate monobasic pH 2.5 with phosphoric acid and acetonitrile (90:10). The standard curve ranged from 0.1 to 100 μg/ml. Intra‐ and inter‐assay variability for ceftazidime was <12%, and the average recovery was 89%. The lower limit of quantification was 0.1 μg/ml. This method has been used successfully to analyze frog plasma samples at this institution and it could be applied to other small volume samples in a clinical or research setting.