Analysis of macrolide antibiotics by liquid chromatography

A compilation of the most representative single and multianalyte HPLC methods for the analysis of macrolide antibiotics published during the last two decades is presented in this paper. Its scope is the coverage of two main areas which require the determination of macrolide antibiotics at a low concentration level, i.e. pharmacokinetic studies and residue analysis. Both of these areas involve the treatment of biological and foodstuff matrices, respectively. A detailed explanation of the different sample preparation procedures as well as the experimental conditions and the main analytical features are provided for each referred method in order to allow the reader to select the most suitable conditions for their particular purpose.