High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of artemisinine (Qinghaosu) in human plasma and saliva

Abstract

A liquid chromatographic method for the determination of artemisinine in human plasma and saliva is described. Artemisinine was extracted from plasma and saliva samples with ethyl acetate and then converted to a strongly UV-absorbing compound, Q260, by a known pre-column reaction. The samples were chromatographed on a C₁₈ column with a 0.010 M NaH₂PO₄-Na₂HPO₄ buffer solution (water-methanol = 6 + 4) as the mobile phase. The purity and identity of the peaks of interest were examined. The detection limit of artemisinine in plasma and saliva was about 2.5 ng ml^–1. Over the concentration range 10–1000 ng ml^–1, the recovery and relative standard deviation were >95% and 1.2–18%, respectively. Plasma and saliva concentration-time profiles were determined in two healthy volunteers after the administration of artemisinine.