Rapid direct determination of trace amounts of salicylic acid in deproteinized serum by means of high-pressure liquid--liquid chromatography.

Abstract

A simple method for the quantitative analysis of salicylic acid in blood serum is described. A liquid--liquid chromatographic system, consisting of a long-chain aliphatic amine as the stationary phase and dilute aqueous perchloric acid as the mobile phase, enables the direct injection of deproteinized serum into the system. No change in the chromatographic properties of the system was noticed after 2000 injections of deproteinized serum. Quantitative analysis is possible using peak area or peak height measurements. The method has a high precision: relative standard deviations of 0.4% and 5% are found for samples containing 10 micrograms and 10 ng injected salicylic acid respectively. The detection limit is found to be about 1 ng slicylic acid, corresponding to 40 ppb salicylic acid in serum. Simultaneously administered drugs such as indomethacin, acetylsalicylic acid, caffeine and phenacetin, and metabolites of salicylic acid do not interfere with the analysis. The time course of the concentration of salicylic acid in serum is demonstrated after oral administration of 1 g sodium-salicylate. The phase system was also found to be suitable for the analysis of salicylic acid in urine.