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The isoxazol derivative leflunomide [N-(4'-trifluoromethylphenyl)-5-methylisoxazole-4-carboxamide] is an inhibitor of de novo pyrimidine synthesis used for the treatment of rheumatoid artrithis. In the present study, a liquid-liquid extraction-based reversed-phase HPLC method with UV detection was validated and applied for the analysis of leflunomide and its active metabolite, A77 1726, in human plasma. The analytes were separated using a mobile phase, consisting of acetonitrile, water and formic acid (40/59.8/0.2, v/v), at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min, and UV detection at 261 nm. The retention times for A77 1726, leflunomide and warfarin (internal standard) were 8.2, 16.2 and 12.2 min, respectively. The validated quantification range of the method was 0.05-100 micro g/mL for leflunomide and 0.1-100 micro g/mL for A77 1726. The developed procedure was applied to assess steady-state plasma concentrations of A77 1726 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with 10 or 20 mg leflunomide per day.

No abstract

A new method for the quantification of celecoxib in human plasma based on reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) mass spectrometry (MS) after liquid-liquid extraction is presented. The method is rapid, sensitive and highly selective. The retention time of celecoxib was 2.3 min. The limit of quantification was 5 microg/L. Rofecoxib was used as internal standard. After validation, the method was used to study the pharmacokinetic profile of celecoxib following administration of a single oral dose (200 mg) in 12 healthy volunteers. Since celecoxib should be metabolized primarily by cytochrome 2C9 (CYP2C9), a poor metabolizer (PM) for this cytochrome P450 enzyme was included in the study. Pharmacokinetic characteristics (mean +/- SD) of extensive metabolizers (EM) were t(max) 2.9+/-1.2h, c(max) 842+/-280 microg/L, AUC(infinity) 6246+/-2147 microg h/L and t(1/2) 7.8+/-2.7h. The area under the curve (AUC(infinity)) for the PM was 12561 microg h/L. However, we found no noticeable increase in half life in the PM (11.5 h) after a single dose of celecoxib.