High-performance liquid chromatographic method for the routine determination of sulphadimidine, its hydroxy metabolites and N4-acetylsulphadimidine in body fluids and cell culture media.

A simple high-performance liquid chromatographic method is presented for the determination of trace amounts of sulphadimidine (SDD), its hydroxylated metabolites and N4-acetyl-SDD in blood plasma, urine, hepatocyte culture media and microsomal incubations. The synthesis of 5-hydroxy-SDD and an improved method for the isolation of 4-methylhydroxy-SDD from urine are described and their respective specific absorption coefficients at 265 nm are calculated by on-line radiochemical and ultraviolet detection. The limit of detection of the analytical method is 0.05 micrograms/ml for SDD and its hydroxy metabolites and 0.2 micrograms/ml for N4-acetyl-SDD. Linear calibration graphs for SDD and its metabolites were constructed from 0.2 to 50 micrograms/ml. The method has been applied to biotransformation studies in vivo and in vitro.