A simple method for the study of salbutamol pharmacokinetics by ion chromatography with direct conductivity detection

A simple method for the study of the pharmacokinetics of salbutamol using ion chromatography with direct conductivity detection without chemical suppression is presented in this paper. Baseline separation of salbutamol from plasma components was achieved by using diluted HNO3 (2 mmol l−1) as mobile phase with acetonitrile (6%, v/v) as modifier. Atenolol was utilized as internal standard. Under the optimal conditions, the linear regression coefficients of the calibration curves are 0.996 within the concentration range of 1000–3 ng ml−1 salbutamol. The detection limit (signal-to-noise ratio = 3) was 1 ng ml−1 salbutamol. The noncompartmental pharmacokinetic parameters for salbutamol following administration of 8 mg salbutamol to 18 subjects were tested. The results coincided most satisfactorily with the results obtained by using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection.