The validation of plasma darunavir concentrations determined by the HPLC method for protease inhibitors

Darunavir (DRV) is a new protease inhibitor used to treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type-1. The aim of this study was to validate the determination of plasma DRV concentrations using the HPLC method, a simple procedure for simultaneous determination of seven HIV protease inhibitors and efavirenz. The calibration curve was linear (range of 0.13 to 10.36 microg/ml). The average accuracy ranged from 100.7 to 105.6%. Both the interday and intraday coefficients of variation were less than 6.7%, which was similar to or much lower than previously reported values by the LC/MS/MS method. It is concluded that HPLC can be used to determine plasma DRV concentrations and routinely in the clinical setting; thus, this HPLC method enables further study of DRV pharmacokinetics in conventional hospital laboratories.