SIMULTANEOUS DETERMINATION OF IMIPENEM AND MEROPENEM IN HUMAN PLASMA BY CAPILLARY ELECTROPHORESIS USING CONTACTLESS CONDUCTIVITY DETECTOR

Abstract

Imipenem and meropenem are antibiotics belonging to carbapenem group. They have been used to
treat seriously infected diseases for patients under intensive care. In this study, capillary
electrophoresis using capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector (CE-C
4D) was chosen to
simultaneously determine these antibiotics in human plasma samples. The optimized electrolyte
solution consists of 10 mM Tris/acetic acid, pH 8.0. A fused silica capillary (50 µm ID, 375 µm OD)
with a length of 60 cm (effective length 50 cm) was used. Detection limits of 0.75 and 1.5 ppm were
achieved for imipenem and meropenem, respectively. The validated method was successfully applied to
analyze imipenem and meropenem in human plasma samples from patients under intensive care.