Application of Optical Methods for Determination of Concentration of Doxorubicin in Blood and Plasma

The aim of presented research is to develop a simple and quick method of spectrophotometric detection for the determination of doxorubicin hydrochloride in blood and plasma. Anthracycline antibiotics are among the most effective antineoplastic agents. However, despite their high efficacy in the treatment of various types of cancer, their administration is limited primarily because they exhibit myocardial toxicity. This may be a limiting factor in the dosage of medications; nevertheless, drugs exhibiting this mechanism of action constitute a very important group of chemotherapeutics. One of the more widely studied antibiotics from the anthracycline group is doxorubicin. It exhibits the highest antineoplastic activity from among a number of derivative compounds. Because of the adverse effects of doxorubicin, especially cardiotoxicity, it is important to maintain control of its concentration in body fluids. The method in the study consists of extraction doxorubicin from the plasma or blood and measurements of the absorbance of light in the visible light range in a DOX solution with respect to a reference sample. The research used blood and plasma samples spiked with doxorubicin to give concentrations in the range of 0.2–10 µg/mL. Obtained LODs were 1.6 µg/mL and 1.2 µg/mL, respectively.

Electrochemical Reduction of Quinones in Different Media: A Review

The electron transfer reactions involving quinones, hydroquinones, and catechols are very important in many areas of chemistry, especially in biological systems. The therapeutic efficiency as well as toxicity of anthracycline anticancer drugs, a class of anthraquinones, is governed by their electrochemical properties. Other quinones serve as important functional moiety in various biological systems like electron-proton carriers in the respiratory chain and their involvement in photosynthetic electron flow systems. The present paper summarizes literatures on the reduction of quinones in different solvents under various conditions using different electrochemical methods. The influence of different reaction conditions including pH of the media, nature of supporting electrolytes, nature of other additives, intramolecular or intermolecular hydrogen bonding, ion pair formation, polarity of the solvents, stabilization of the semiquinone and quinone dianion, catalytic property, and adsorption at the electrode surface, are discussed and relationships between reaction conditions and products formed have been presented.

Voltammetric and amperometric determination of doxorubicin using carbon paste electrodes

Direct current voltammetric (DCV) and differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) determination of antineoplastic agent doxorubicin (DOX) at a carbon paste electrode (CPE) was developed. Britton–Robinson buffer (pH 7.0) was used as a supporting electrolyte. The limits of detection are 8 × 10–7 mol l–1 (DCV) and 6 × 10–8 mol l–1 (DPV). The accumulation of DOX at the electrode surface was used to decrease the limits of detection down to 2.2 × 10–7 mol l–1 for adsorptive stripping DC voltammetry (DCAdSV) and 2.8 × 10–9 mol l–1 for adsorptive stripping differential pulse voltammetry (DPAdSV) at CPE. The results of the voltammetric methods were utilized for the development of a new determination of doxorubicin using HPLC with amperometric detection on CPE based on spherical microparticles of glassy carbon in a wall-jet configuration. A column with chemically bonded C18 stationary phase and a mobile phase containing 0.01 M phosphate buffer (pH 5.0)–methanol 25:75 (v/v) were used. The limit of detection is 4 × 10–7 mol l–1 (HPLC with electrochemical detection (ED)).

Redox kinetics of adriamycin adsorbed on the surface of graphite and mercury electrodes

Kinetics of the surface redox reactions of adriamycin (doxorubicin hydrochloride) adsorbed on paraffin-impregnated graphite electrode (PIGE) and on mercury electrode is measured by square-wave voltammetry. In 0.9 mol/L KNO3 buffered to pH 4.65, the standard electrode reaction rate constants of the first quinone/hydroquinone redox couple (see Scheme 2) on PIGE and mercury are k(s1)=49+/-12 s(-1) and k(s1)=147+/-36 s(-1), respectively. Under the same conditions, the standard rate constant of the second redox couple on the PIGE is smaller than 4 s(-1) and the electron transfer coefficient of the reduction is alpha2=0.35.

Carbon paste electrode based on surface activation for trace adriamycin determination by a preconcentration and voltammetric method

A voltammetric determination of adriamycin (ADM) at a carbon paste electrode (CPE) in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) is described. ADM strongly adsorbs on the surface of the electrode by the adsorption of CTAB, thereby affecting the reduction current. This method provides a detection limit below 10(-10) mol/L for ADM. The experimental parameters, which influence the voltammetric responses of ADM, e.g. the pH value, variety and concentration of surfactants and the scan rate, were optimized. The reduction peak current changes linearly with the ADM concentration over the range from 2.5 x 10(-8) mol/L to 5 x 10(-6) mol/L. The detection limit is 4 x 10(-10) mol/L for an accumulation time of 3 min. The coefficient of variation, determined at 4 x 10(-6) mol/L ADM, is 3.0% (n = 8). Using this method, ADM in the patient's urine samples, which undergoes active ADM chemotherapy, was determined.

Advances in the voltammetric analysis of small biologically relevant compounds

The problems associated with attempting to apply voltammetric techniques to the analysis of biologically relevant organics within complex media are identified and, through reviewing the very recent literature (1999-mid-2001), possible solutions are described. The boundaries of the search were limited to research targeted at the resolution of specific problems, associated with quantitative determinations. Various strategies have emerged to counter problems of poor sensitivity and selectivity and these have been summarized and critically appraised. Where possible, the characteristics of each approach have been distilled into a table format to ease comparison. Emphasis has been placed on the collation of information that will improve the intrinsic electrode response and as such should be of value to those interested in pursuing electroanalytical methodologies regardless of context.