RAPID AND SENSITIVE DETERMINATION OF THALIDOMIDE IN HUMAN PLASMA BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

A sensitive and rapid High-performance liquid chromatographic method u sing U.V.detection, has been developed for the analysis of thalidomide in plasma. This involved a single liquid-solid extraction on Extra-Se p-C8 column in the presence of an internal standard (ciprofloxacin). A nalysis was performed by isocratic elution with a mobile phase consist ed of 0.01 M aqueous potassium dihydrogen phosphate containing 21% (V/ V) acetonitrile and 4.5 mM Heptane sulfonic acid, adjusted to pH 2.3, with U.V detection at 295 nn. The limit of sensitivity of the assay wa s 0.06 mg/l. The method was applied to a pharmacokinetic study (50 to 100 mg)in patients with erythema nodusum leprosum (ENL) with a good ac curacy (96-111%) and precision (less than 5.8%).