Liquid Chromatographic Analysis of Adriamycin and Metabolites in Biological Fluids

Abstract

A definitive approach to the analysis of plasma, bile, and urine levels of the widely used antitumor drug Adriamycin using two complementary high performance liquid chromatographic systems, one normal phase and the other reversed phase, is described. Sensitivity in the 2–10 picomole per sample range is achieved by means of fluorescence detection. The use of the two systems in parallel provides an unequivocal basis for the characterization and determination of Adriamycin and its principal metabolite, adriamycinol, and enables the measurement of anthracycline fluorescent aglycones and conjugates, as well.