DETERMINATION OF TACROLIMUS (FK-506) IN WHOLE-BLOOD USING LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY AND FLUORESCENCE DETECTION

A sensitive and selective liquid chromatographic method, using precolumn derivatization with dansylhydrazine followed by fluorescence detection, has been developed for the determination of tacrolimus (FK 506) in whole blood. After haemolysis, whole blood samples are extracted with diethyl ether and derivatized. After on-line removal of excess dansylhydrazine on a C-18 precolumn, the derivative is loaded on to a C-18 clean-up column, and a heart cut is subsequently transferred to a graphitized carbon column, where the final separation takes place. The method requires 1 ml of sample and has a limit of quantitation of 3 ng/ml. At the 15 ng/ml level the precision is ca 10 %, and the response is linear from the limit of quantitation to ca 200 ng/ml of FK 506 in whole blood. The capacity of the method is 50 samples/day and about 1000 1-ml samples can be analyzed without changing either clean-up or separation column. Finally, the applicability of the method for therapeutic drug monitoring is shown.