High-performance liquid chromatography method for analyzing the antiretroviral agent efavirenz in human plasma

Efavirenz (EFV, DMP-266) is a new antiretroviral agent belonging to the class of nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. It has recently been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in management of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Preliminary pharmacokinetic studies on EFV in healthy volunteers show that the drug may influence the metabolism of protease inhibitors. For the determination of EFV in human plasma, a validated and specific reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method, with UV detection, was developed. We used 100 microL plasma sample for a liquid-liquid extraction with diethyl ether after basification. The mobile phase was a mixture of acetonitrile and water, pumped at a flow rate of 1.2 mL/min. Ultraviolet detection was carried out at a wavelength of 247 nm. Retention times for EFV and internal standard (IS) were 5.3 and 4.5 minutes, respectively, and there was no chromatographic interference from other commonly administered drugs. The limit of detection was 100 ng/mL. The described assay is a rapid and accurate method for measurement of EFV in plasma: the easy preparation and small sample size makes this assay highly suitable for pharmacokinetic studies and routine clinical analysis in patients with HIV. In addition, the reproducibility of the method is only moderately increased by including IS, so analyzing without IS may be an alternative.