Serum level determination of fluconazole by high-performance liquid chromatography and bioassay

An HPLC method using a reverse phase system, an isocratic mobile phase and 1-phenyl-1,2-ethanediol as internal standard and a weil diffusion bioassay using a strain of Candida pseudotropicalis were compared for the measurement of fluconazole in serum. Both methods permit determination of fluconazole in the range from 1 mg/L to 30 mg/L. The correlation between both methods was found to be r = 0.89. Both methods are useful for monitoring the serum level of fluconazole in clinical routine work.