Sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of chlorhexidine in human serum and urine.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the analysis of chlorhexidine in human serum and urine was developed. Chlorhexidine and the internal standard, chlorpheniramine, were extracted into chloroform, containing 5% 2-propanol, and back-extracted into dilute sulfuric acid. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a C18 column equilibrated with methanol-water (70:30, v/v), containing 0.005 M sodium heptane-sulfonate. The sensitivity of the assay was 20 ng/ml of biological matrix, using 0.5-ml samples. The application of this method to monitor chlorhexidine levels in burn patients treated topically with a chlorhexidine-containing burn cream was demonstrated.