Simultaneous determination of levofloxacin, gatifloxacin and moxifloxacin in serum by liquid chromatography with column switching

Liquid chromatography with a column-switching technique was developed for simultaneous direct quantification of levofloxacin, gatifloxacin and moxifloxacin in human serum. Serum samples were injected on a LiChroCART® 4-4 pre-column (PC) filled with a LiChrospher® 100 RP-18, 5 μm where fluoroquinolones (FQs) were purified and concentrated. The FQs were back-flushed from the PC and then separated on a Supelcosil ABZ+ Plus (150 mm × 4.6 mm i.d.) analytical column with a mobile phase containing 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 2.5), acetonitrile (88:12, v/v) and 2 mM tetrabutyl ammonium bromide. The effects of ion-pair reagents, buffer type, pH and acetonitrile concentrations in the mobile phase on the separation of the three FQs were investigated. Fluorescence detection provided sufficient sensitivity to achieve a quantification limit of 125 ng/ml for levofloxacin and moxifloxacin; 162.5 ng/ml for gatifloxacin with a 5 μl sample size. The on-line process of extraction avoids time-consuming treatment of the samples before injection and run time is shortened. The recovery, selectivity, linearity, precision and accuracy of the method are convenient for pharmacokinetic studies or routine assays.