Simultaneous determination of disopyramide and mono-N-dealkyldisopyramide enantiomers in plasma and urine by use of a chiral cellulose-derivative column

This assay allows simultaneous determination of the enantiomers of both disopyramide and its active metabolite, mono-N-dealkyldisopyramide, in 1 mL of plasma or 0.1 mL of urine within approximately 35 min by HPLC with a chiral cellulose-derivative column and ultraviolet detection. Recoveries for the analytes and the internal standard (racemic verapamil) with an extraction from alkalinized plasma or urine into diethyl ether were greater than 90%. Intra- and interassay CVs for disopyramide enantiomers were less than 5.5% at 2.5 mg/L in plasma and less than 6.5% at 25 mg/L in urine; for mono-N-dealkyldisopyramide enantiomers they were less than 6.3% and less than 8.9%, respectively. Intra- and interassay relative errors for determining these analytes in plasma and urine at 2.5 and 25 mg/L, respectively, ranged from -5.9% to +2.5%. The calibration curves for the respective analytes were linear (r = 0.995 or greater, P less than 0.01) from 0.025 to 5.0 mg/L in plasma and from 0.5 to 10 mg/L in urine. The lower detection limits (signal-to-noise ratio of 3) for S(+)-disopyramide and the other analytes were 0.010 and 0.025 mg/L, respectively. We evaluated clinical applicability of this method by determining steady-state plasma concentrations and urinary excretions of the respective analytes in a pediatric patient being treated with racemic disopyramide.