title: Measurement of rapamycin in whole blood using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.
abstract: Rapamycin (RAPA) is an immunosuppressant with a potency similar to FK 506 and up to 100-fold greater than cyclosporine. To date, no data have been reported on the pharmacokinetics and disposition of the drug, primarily due to a lack of suitable methods for its analysis. We describe here an evaluation of a reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for analysis of the drug in whole blood. The method showed excellent analytical recovery of the drug, close to 100%. The sensitivity method was found to be 1.0 micrograms/L with between-run coefficients of variation of 14.4% and 9.8% at 10 and 50 mg/L. The stability of RAPA was investigated with this method in whole-blood specimens. It was found that the drug was stable for 30 days at 4 degrees C and for 55 days at -40 degrees C.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Yatscoff
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Faraci
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bolingbroke
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D006801:Humans; D011090:Polyenes / Q000097:blood*; D020123:Sirolimus; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
chemical_list: D011090:Polyenes; D020123:Sirolimus