Quantitative determination of chloroquine and desethylchloroquine in biological fluids by high performance thin layer chromatography.

A high performance thin layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method for chloroquine (CQ) and desethylchloroquine (DCQ) determinations in plasma, erythrocytes and urine is described. Samples extracted by heptane from an alkaline water phase are separated on HPTLC silica gel plates, using toluene/diethylamine (9:1). The compounds are quantified by scanning fluorescent signals. The detection limit is 0.01 mumol/1 for CQ and DCQ, with an extraction efficiency of 76 +/- 7%. Further simplification could make the method suitable for use in field surveys.