High-performance liquid chromatographic-ultraviolet determination of primaquine and its metabolites in human plasma and urine.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the simultaneous determination of primaquine and its metabolites from plasma and urine samples obtained after oral administration of primaquine diphosphate. Following partial deproteinization with acetonitrile, samples were chromatographed by direct injection onto a cyano column with UV detection at 254 nm. Levels as low as 100 ng/mL per 20-microL injection were quantitated. Preliminary pharmacokinetic analysis is reported for two human volunteers after oral doses of 60 mg and 90 mg. Two apparent plasma metabolites and two possible urinary metabolites of primaquine are also reported.