Simplified toxicologic monitoring of adriamycin, its major metabolites and nogalamycin by reverse-phase high pressure liquid chromatography, Part I: Analytical techniques for isolated human plasma.

A simplified method is presented for routine toxicologic analysis of the antineoplastic drug, adriamycin, and its major metabolites in human plasma. This method employs a single solvent extraction of plasma using an acetonitrile-aqueous NaOH mixture, followed by reverse-phase isocratic high pressure liquid chromatographic (HPLC) analysis. Recoveries of greater than 95% are obtained for adriamycin and its two major derivatives over the range of concentration: 0.2 to 8.0 nmol/mL of plasma. This method of drug and metabolite isolation and HPLC analysis from human plasma provides an efficient and accurate approach to the individualized toxicologic monitoring of adriamycin pharmacokinetics and metabolism.