Development of ELISAs for irinotecan and its active metabolite SN-38

Two highly sensitive and specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for the determination of 7-ethyl-10-[4-(1-piperidino)-1-piperidino]carbonyloxy-camptothecin (irinotecan) and 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38), an active metabolite of irinotecan, were developed, which are capable of measuring as low as 16 and 160 pg of each drug/ml, respectively. Anti-irinotecan antibody was obtained by immunizing rabbits with irinotecan conjugated with mercaptosuccinyl bovine serum albumin (MS.BSA) using N-(4-diazophenyl)maleimide (DPM) as a heterobifunctional coupling agent. An enzyme marker was similarly prepared by coupling irinotecan with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) via DPM. This ELISA for irinotecan was specific for irinotecan and showed almost no cross-reactivity with its active metabolite SN-38. Anti-SN-38 antibody was obtained by immunizing rabbits with SN-38 conjugated with BSA using the N-succinimidyl ester method. An enzyme marker was prepared by coupling SN-38 with HRP employing DPM. The ELISA for SN-38 was specific to SN-38 and showed a very slight cross-reactivity with irinotecan (0.08%). Using the 2 assays, we reconfirmed the rapid metabolite of irinotecan with rat serum. The 2 ELISAs may be a valuable tool for studies of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of these drugs.