DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A SOLID-PHASE EXTRACTION AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHIC ASSAY FOR A NOVEL FLUORINATED 2-NITROIMIDAZOLE HYPOXIA PROBE (SR-4554) IN BALB/C MOUSE PLASMA

N-(2-Hydroxy-3,3,3-trifluoropropyl)-2-(2-nitro-1-imidazolyl) acetamide, a novel 2-nitroimidazole, is currently being developed as a non-invasive probe for tumour hypoxia. A sensitive (minimum quantifiable level = 25 ng/ml; C.V. = 6.01%) and selective assay has, therefore, been developed for the analysis of this compound in mouse plasma. The assay employed a solid-phase extraction followed by a rapid (10 min) HPLC analysis with UV-photodiode-array detection. No drug-related metabolites were observed in plasma when mice were treated with 180 mg/kg of the drug. The assay has proved to be suitable for studying the plasma pharmacokinetics of this fluorinated 2-nitroimidazole in mice.