DETERMINATION OF 5,10,15,20-TETRA-(M-HYDROXYPHENYL)CHLORIN IN TISSUESBY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

A procedure for the extraction and high performance liquid chromatogra phic (HPLC) determination of the photodynamic therapeutic agent 5,10,1 5,20-tetra(m-hydroxyphenyl)chlorin in human, rat and mouse tissues fol lowing intravenous administration of the drug is described. The tissue (tumour, skin, muscle and liver) was homogenized and extracted into a mixture of methanol:dimethyl sulphoxide:water (32:8:1 by vol.) contai ning, 5,10,15,20-tetra(p-hydroxyphenyl)chlorin as the internal standar d. The precipitated proteins were removed by centrifugation and the su pernatant was separated by reversed phase HPLC on a Hypersil-ODS colum n with 77% (v/v) acetonitrile in 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid as the mobi le phase. The solute was detected with high sensitivity and specificit y by a UV-VIS detector set at 423 nm.