Stability of norepinephrine in normal saline solution

CHED 1278

Peter J Iles, peter.iles@slcc.edu1, Luther Giddings, lu.giddings@slcc.edu2, Ron Valcarce, ron.valcarce@slcc.edu2, Neil Bastian, neil.bastian@slcc.edu2, Sesh Seshadri, sesh.seshadri@slcc.edu2, Mark Hebert2, Cortney Hebert2, So Kang2, Spencer Bremmer2, Trevor Feagin2, and Mequi Arrendondo2. (1) Division Chair Natural Sciences, Salt Lake Community College, 4600 South Redwood Rd, PO Box 30808, Salt Lake City, UT 84130, (2) Chemistry Department, Salt Lake Community College, 4600 South Redwood Rd, PO Box 30808, Salt Lake City, UT 84130
The ACS student affiliates at SLCC now encompasses a pharmacy branch and this reports the first drug related research project conducted by the group. Norepinephrine is a medication frequently used to rapidly increase and sustain blood pressure for patients in intensive care units. Norepinephrine drips are usually prepared with 5% dextrose to decrease loss of potency by oxidation. Infusing 5% dextrose into patients with specific medical conditions (eg, traumatic brain injury) can lead to negative patient outcomes; therefore an alternative solution such as 0.9% normal saline (0.9% NS) should be used. Due to the exigency of this medication it is produced in advance but only has evidence of therapeutic potency in NS for up to 24 hours. Our project analyzed the degradation of norepinephrine in normal saline for up to 72 hours stored at room temperature. This analysis was conducted using a high-pressure liquid chromatograph equipped with a reverse phase C18 column and variable-wavelength UV and electrochemical detection.
 

Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Medicinal Chemistry
2:00 PM-4:00 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster

Division of Chemical Education

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008