Determination of Diltiazem and its Metabolites in Plasma by High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

Abstract In this high performance liquid chromatographic method described for the analysis of diltiazem and its metabolites, the compounds of interest are separated with high efficiency and selectivity on a Nucleosil C18 column, 3 μm particle size. Stability assay shows a significant degradation of diltiazem and its metabolites in blood samples and only a significant degradation of the major metabolite, N-demethyldiltiazem in plasma when samples are kept at room temperature. This observation shows the necessity of observing rigorous conditions during collection, transport and treatment of blood samples. This method is applied to the analysis of plasma samples from patients under diltiazem therapy.