High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis, plasma protein binding and red blood cell partitioning of phenprobamate

A new high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure for the analysis of phenprobamate, a skeletal muscle relaxant in biologic fluids was developed. The method used a C18 reverse phase column, a mobile phase of methanol/acetonitrile/water (33:15:52), and UV detection at 215 nm. The assay procedure was applied to the determination of phenprobamate binding to rat and human plasma proteins using the equilibrium dialysis method. In addition, the red blood cell/plasma partitioning was determined in the whole blood of rats and humans. Phenprobamate exhibited a moderate binding to plasma proteins of rat (74.3 +/- 2.2 per cent) and human (80.5 +/- 1.1 per cent). The protein binding was concentration-independent in the range of 10 to 80 micrograms ml-1. Phenprobamate binding to plasma proteins was also determined in the presence of 10 micrograms ml-1 acetaminophen. The protein binding of phenprobamate was not significantly altered by acetaminophen (74.4 +/- 0.6 per cent for rat plasma; 75.7 +/- 1.6 per cent for human plasma). The distribution ratios of phenprobamate between the red blood cells and plasma were greater than unity, 1.86 and 1.59 in rat and human, respectively, indicating a preferential partitioning of the drug in the red blood cells.