SIMULTANEOUS DETERMINATION OF DAPSONE, MONOACETYLDAPSONE AND PYRIMETHAMINE IN WHOLE-BLOOD AND PLASMA BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

A sensitive, selective and rapid reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the simultaneous analysis of dapsone, monoacetyldapsone and pyrimethamine in human whole blood and plasma. The procedure involved extraction of the compounds and the internal standard, monopropionyldapsone, with tert.-butylmethyl ether under alkaline conditions. A newly marketed column, Supelcosil LC-ABZ (Supelco, 15 cm x 4.6 mm I.D.), was employed. The mobile phase, consisting of acetonitrile-methanol-phosphate buffer (2:1:7, v/v/v), was delivered at a flow-rate of 1.2 ml/min, and ultraviolet absorbance was monitored at 286 nm. The limit of determination using a 150-mul sample was 10 ng/ml (40 nM) for dapsone and pyrimethamine and 8 ng/ml (28 nM) for monoacetyldapsone. Given that only a small amount of blood is required in this method, it could now be applied in studies involving blood level monitoring and pharmacokinetics in children on Maloprim (dapsone-pyrimethamine) prophylaxis in malaria endemic areas.