Determination of the new podophyllotoxin derivative NK 611 in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of the new podophyllotoxin derivative NK 611 in plasma samples. A solid-liquid extraction procedure with C18 extraction columns was used for extraction of plasma samples containing NK 611. The adsorbed NK 611 was eluted from the extraction columns with methanol-acetonitrile (50:50, v/v). The elution liquid was injected into a reversed-phase system consisting of a Chrompack C18 column. The mobile phase was acetonitrile-20 mM phosphate buffer, pH 7 (30:70, v/v). The UV detection mode allows sensitive determination of NK 611 in plasma within phase I trials. The limit of detection was 10 ng/ml, the limit of quantitation 35 ng/ml (for 1 ml of extracted plasma and 20-microliters injection volume). The calibration curve is linear within the concentration range 100-1000 ng/ml. The recovery of NK 611 from spiked plasma samples was approximately 80%.