High-performance liquid chromatographic assay for 2'-deoxy-3'-thiacytidine in human serum.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of 2'-deoxy-3'-thiacytidine (3TC), a novel dideoxy-nucleoside analogue, in human serum is described. 3TC was extracted from serum samples using Bond Elut Certify solid-phase extraction cartridges prior to reversed-phase chromatography with UV detection. The method has been shown to be valid over the concentration range 10-5000 ng/ml using a 1-ml sample volume, both before and after heat treatment of the samples at 60 degrees C for 3 h. The method has been automated using a Zymark robot and used in the analysis of serum samples from HIV positive patients.