Determination of indinavir in plasma by solid-phase extraction and column liquid chromatography

Indinavir is a specific and potent HIV protease inhibitor. A new column liquid chromatographic method for the determination of this drug is described. This assay was developed for the clinical monitoring of trough concentrations in AIDS patients, using a I-mt plasma sample volume. Determination of indinavir was made by a rapid solid-phase extraction procedure with the new polymeric Oasis HLB sorbent followed by a reversed-phase liquid chromatography and a UV detection at 210 nm. A weighted least squares linear regression (weighting factor = 1/y where y = peak height ratio) was used to calculate the equation relating the peak-height ratio of the drug and the internal standard to the concentration of indinavir in the range 10-800 ng/mL (0.014-1.124 mu M). At the lower limit of quantification (10 ng/mL), the mean accuracy was 102 +/-7% and 104 +/- 11% for within- and between-day analysis, respectively. The limit of detection, based on a signal-to-noise ratio of 2:1, was 4 ng/mL (0.006 mu M). Compounds of interest were eluted from the extraction cartridges with 300 mu L of mobile phase, and mean absolute recoveries of indinavir and internal standard were 66.4% and 80.3%, respectively. No metabolite of indinavir was found to co-elute with the drug or its internal standard. Among the tested drugs, especially nucleoside analogues and the other protease inhibitors used in clinical care, none was found to interfere with the assay at this time. This simple and selective method is suitable for therapeutic indinavir monitoring.