title: Determination of artemether and its metabolite, dihydroartemisinin, in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography and electrochemical detection in the reductive mode.
abstract: An analytical method for the determination of artemether (A) and its metabolite dihydroartemisinin (DHA) in human plasma has been developed and validated. The method is based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and electrochemical detection in the reductive mode. A, DHA and artemisinin, the internal standard (I.S.), were extracted from plasma (1 ml) with 1-chlorobutane-isooctane (55:45, v/v). The solvent was transferred, evaporated to dryness under nitrogen and the residue dissolved in 600 microliters of water-ethyl alcohol (50:50, v/v). Chromatography was performed on a Nova-Pak CN, 4 microns analytical column (150 mm x 3.9 mm I.D.) at 35 degrees C. The mobile phase consisted of pH 5 acetate-acetonitrile (85:15, v/v) at a flow-rate of 1 ml/min. The analytes were detected by electrochemical detection in the reductive mode at a potential of -1.0 V. Intra-day accuracy and precision were assessed from the relative recoveries (found concentration in % of the nominal value) of spiked samples analysed on the same day (concentration range 10.9 to 202 ng/ml of A and 11.2 to 206 ng/ml of DHA in plasma). The mean recoveries over the entire concentration range were from 96 to 100% for A with C.V. from 6 to 13%, from 92% to 100% for DHA (alpha-tautomer) with C.V. from 4 to 16%. For A, the mean recovery was 96% at the limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 10.9 ng/ml with a C.V. of 13%. For DHA, the mean recovery was 100% at the LOQ of 11.2 ng/ml with a C.V. of 16%.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoires Ciba-Geigy, Bioanalytics and Pharmacokinetics, Rueil-Malmaison, France.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sandrenan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sioufi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Godbillon
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Netter
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Donker
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: van Valkenburg
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates; D000097:Acetonitriles; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000097:blood*; D000077549:Artemether; D037621:Artemisinins; D001322:Autoanalysis; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004355:Drug Stability; D006801:Humans; D011786:Quality Control; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; D000097:Acetonitriles; D000962:Antimalarials; D037621:Artemisinins; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; C039060:artenimol; D000077549:Artemether; C032159:acetonitrile