Determination of the concentration of adriamycin and its metabolites in the serum and tissues of Ehrlich carcinoma-bearing mice by high-performance liquid chromatography.

The concentration of adriamycin and its metabolites in serum and tissues was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a lapse of time after a single intraperitoneal administration to Ehrlich carcinoma-bearing mice. HPLC was carried out by using Zorbax Sil as the stationary phase and 3.8% sodium acetate in isopropanol as the mobile phase, at an excitation wavelength of 470 nm and an emission wavelength of 585 nm. Extraction of adriamycin using chloroform-methanol (4:1) gave recoveries of 98% from serum and 66-96% from tissues. Adriamycin rapidly disappeared from the serum, and the content of adriamycin per gram of tissue decreased in the order liver, duodenum, kidneys, spleen, lung, heart and tumour, and a high tissue retention occurred in the spleen and heart. The main metabolites of adriamycin were adriamycinone and adriamycinol, and other minor metabolites were detected.