Column-switching high-performance liquid chromatography of ofloxacin in human saliva and correlation of ofloxacin level in saliva and serum.

Abstract

A column-switching high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay was developed for the determination of ofloxacin in saliva. The saliva samples were directly introduced into a C8 HPLC column using a C18 precolumn. Ofloxacin and lomefloxacin as internal standards were detected spectrophotometrically at 300 nm. Determination of ofloxacin was possible in the concentration range 50-3,000 ng/ml, and the limit of detection was 20 ng/ ml. The recovery of ofloxacin added to saliva was 96.9-101.2% with a coefficient of variation of < 2.9%. These pharmacokinetic studies were made of healthy volunteers after treatment with ofloxacin. The maximum concentration of saliva and serum ofloxacin was 513.3-2,053.0 ng/ml and 768.2-3,089.0 ng/ml for dose of 100 mg or 200 mg, respectively. The AUC0-6 was 1,736.8-6,519.9 ng/h/ml in saliva and 2,875.5-10,086.0 ng/h/ml in serum, respectively. The saliva versus serum concentration ratio was 0.4-0.7 for doses of 100 and 200 mg. A good correlation between saliva and serum level of ofloxacin was obtained by this HPLC method (r = 0.949).