Propofol (Pro) is an ultra-short-acting hypnotic agent used for general anesthesia that has no analgesic properties. Remifentanil (Rem) is an ultra-short-acting opioid administered concomitantly as an analgesic with Pro. To evaluate the pharmacokinetic interactions between Pro and Rem, we developed and validated a method combining high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry for simultaneous determination of Pro and Rem. The proposed method was successfully used to study the pharmacokinetic interactions of Pro and Rem coadministered to rats.
Keywords: LC-MS/MS; pharmacokinetic interactions; propofol; rat plasma; remifentanil.
Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.