Matrix solid-phase dispersion technique for the determination of a new antiallergic drug, bilastine, in rat faeces

A matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD) procedure for the isolation and HPLC determination of a new antiallergic agent, bilastine, in rat faeces is presented. The effect on recovery of empirical variables such as nature, pH and volume of the washing and elution liquids and nature of the adsorbent has been tested. The best recoveries were attained using an octadecylsilyl sorbent, 10 ml of a 0.1 M NaHCO3–Na2CO3 aqueous buffer of pH 10.0 as washing solvent and 10 ml of methanol as elution solvent. The extracts were evaporated to dryness and reconstituted in mobile phase before their injection into a HPLC system, equipped with a Discovery RP-amide C16 column and a fluorescence detector. The method allows one to reach recoveries of 95.0% within the concentration range 0.05–10 μg/g, with within-day repeatabilities of less than 5% and between-day repeatabilities of less than 9% within this range. This method has been successfully applied to the excretion studies of bilastine in the rat.