Assay of teicoplanin in serum: comparison of high-performance liquid chromatography and fluorescence polarization immunoassay

A simple liquid extraction coupled with reverse-phase HPLC and UV detection was shown to correlate well with fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) on the Abbott TDx analyser for serum teicoplanin analysis, r2 = 0.974, HPLC = 0.908 TDx + 2.324. A Bland–Altman plot showed no significant bias between the results. The HPLC method was linear over the range 10–100 mg/L. The HPLC method showed very good reproducibility, comparable to FPIA. The inter-assay coefficients of variation were 2.76%, 2.29% and 2.65% at 10.3, 51.4 and 77.1 mg/L, respectively, with intra-assay coefficients of variation of 1.86%, 1.97% and 1.17% at 9.13, 50.65 and 75.1 mg/L, respectively. Recoveries were between 99.1 and 101.8% within the analytical range. The HPLC method described is simple, robust, highly reproducible and suited to a clinical laboratory with the appropriate equipment.