HPLC EC ASSAY OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE ANTIMALARIAL ARTEETHER INTO FAT AND MUSCLE-TISSUE FOLLOWING INTRAVENOUS ADMINISTRATION/

An HPLC/electro-chemical method with an internal standard was develope d for the analysis of arteether in fat and muscle tissue giving good r ecovery and accuracy with moderate precision. Following an intravenous administration of arteether (11.6 mg/Kg in a micro-emulsion), it was found that after 15 minutes the arteether concentration was 18.4 +/- 1 3.1 mu g/g (15.8% of administered dose) in fat and 1.35 +/- 0.25 mu g/ g (5.8% of dose) was found in muscle tissue. The concentration of arte ether in fat tissue initially dropped very rapidly (t(1/2) = 14 min), followed by a much slower rate of elimination (t(1/2) = 34 hr). Using the same dose, vehicle, and route of administration, arteether had bee n reported to be cleared from plasma at a higher rate (t(1/2) = 10 min ).