Simultaneous determination of gemcitabine and its metabolite in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography

Gemcitabine (dFdC) is a pyrimidine antimetabolite with broad spectrum activity against tumors. In this paper, a normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the determination of the parent drug (dFdC) and its metabolite (dFdU) in human plasma. The described sample preparation procedure for determination of dFdC and dFdU is rapid, sensitive, reproducible and simple. The linear regression equations obtained by least square regression method, were area under the curve=0.0371 concentration (ng ml−1)+192.53 and 1.05·10−4 concentration (ng ml−1)−1.2693 for dFdC and dFdU, respectively. The assay for dFdC and dFdU described in the present report has been applied to plasma samples from a bladder cancer patient.