Rapid determination of PEGylated liposomal doxorubicin and its major metabolite in human plasma by ultraviolet–visible high-performance liquid chromatography

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the quantification of doxorubicin derived from PEGylated liposomal doxorubicin (Doxil) and its major metabolite in human plasma. This method utilizes Triton X-100 to disperse the liposome, followed by a protein precipitation step with 5-sulfosalicylic acid. Analytes in the resultant supernatant are separated on a Discovery RP amide C16 column (250×3 mm I.D., 5 μm) using an isocratic elution with a mobile phase consisting of 0.05 M sodium acetate (pH 4.0) and acetonitrile (72:28). The retention times for doxorubicin and the internal standard daunorubicin were 4.8 and 10.1 min, respectively. The column eluate was monitored by UV–visible detection at 487 nm. The determination of doxorubicin was found to be linear in the range of 1.0 ng/mL to 25 μg/mL, with intra-day and inter-day coefficients of variation and percent error ≤10%. The recovery of doxorubicin from plasma was >69.3%, with a liposomal dispersion efficiency of >95.7%. Our analytical method for free and PEGylated doxorubicin in human plasma is rapid, avoids organic extractions, and maintains sensitivity for the parent compound and its major metabolite, doxorubicinol.