Development of a Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatographic Method with Indirect UV Detection for Pregabalin Determination in Serum Samples

A micellar electrokinetic chromatographic (MEKC)/ indirect UV detection method with hydrodynamic and electrokinetic injection has been developed for the determination of pregabalin in the serum samples. Separation of the drug was achieved on Agilent capillary electrophorese in less than 5 min using a 50 cm × 75 μm i.d. uncoated fused-silica capillary and a background electrolyte (BGE) consisting of 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA, 10 mmol L-1), cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB, 1 mmol L-1) and tri-sodium citrate (4% w/v). The influence of various parameters on the separation such as separation voltage, injection time, cassette temperature, pH of BGE and organic modifier was investigated. Method validation shown good linearity (R2> 0.999) in the range of 1.5-100 µg mL-1 of pregabalin. A limit of detection (LOD) of 0.8 μg mL-1 and a limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 2.6 μg mL-1 were reported for pregabalin. The proposed method was found to be suitable and accurate for the determination of pregabalin in serum samples.