Method for the determination of diphenhydramine in rabbit whole blood by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet (UV) detection in conjunction with gas chromatography (GC) with mass selective detection (MSD).

An HPLC/GC-MSD method for the determination of diphenhydramine in rabbit whole blood has been developed and validated. This method is based on a liquid-liquid extraction and reversed-phase chromatography with ultraviolet absorbance detection monitored at 258 nm. HPLC eluant fractions containing diphenhydramine and the internal standard, orphenadrine, were collected, reextracted, then subjected to GC-MSD analysis. Whole blood was utilized, thereby decreasing the required sample volume and increasing the sensitivity of the assay. Diphenhydramine concentrations can be quantitated over a range of 1 to 1000 ng/ml whole blood.