Analysis
Amsacrine has been determined in plasma by gas chromatography combined with
flame ionization or nitrogen–phosphorus detection. With the latter method of detection, the limit of sensitivity was approximately 50 ng/mL; with the former, it was 125 ng/mL (Emonds et al., 1981).
Amsacrine has been measured in human nucleated haematopoietic cells by high-
performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) after the leukocytes have been separated from the erythrocytes by dextran sedimentation (Brons et al., 1987). Amsacrine has also been determined in blood and urine by HPLC. The plasma samples were extracted with hexane at pH 3–4 and re-extracted with diethyl ether at pH 9 in the presence of borate present at a high concentration. Hexane extraction is not required for urine samples. After drying, the residue was dissolved in methanol before injection into the
chromatograph. Absorbance was detected at 254 nm for plasma and simultaneously at 254 nm and 405 nm for urine samples (Paxton, 1984). Amsacrine has also been
determined in serum by HPLC with a methanol:dichloromethane:acetate/diethylamine buffer (10:90:0.15) as eluent and ultraviolet detection at 254 nm. The limit of quantification with this method was 20 μg/L (Uges, 1990).