Determination of oxprenolol and its glucuronide metabolite in plasma and urine using high-performance liquid chromatography

A HPLC assay is presented for the determination of oxprenolol (1) and its glucuronic acid conjugate (2) in human plasma and urine. The procedure employs a selective re-extraction using alprenolol (3) as the internal standard, followed by reversed-phase chromatography and UV-detection. The minimal detectable concentration is 10 ng/ml in plasma and 50 ng/ml in urine, using 1.0 and 0.5 ml of plasma and urine, respectively. Within-run and day-to-day variations are below 10% at all concentrations examined. Plasma and urine samples of either healthy volunteers or patients with renal failure are free of interferences from endogenous compounds and drugs frequently used in these patients. The glucuronic acid conjugate of oxprenolol is determined as the parent compound after hydrolytic cleavage with beta-glucuronidase/arylsulfatase. The specificity and selectivity of this cleavage are also demonstrated.