High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of clioquinol and its conjugates in biological materials

A method has been established for the determination of clioquinol (C) and its glucuronide (CG) and sulfate (CS) in biological materials. C and its internal standard were extracted with benzene-pyridine from samples. CG and CS were also hydrolyzed to C and extracted by the same method. The extracts were evaporated to dryness and redissolved in methanol. The methanol solution was subjected to HPLC using a column packed with Iatrobeads 6cp.2010 and a UV monitor (254 nm). The mobile phase was 0.1 M citric acid-methanol-n-hexane (8:86:6). The detection limit of C and 1 nmole and its recovery was above 92%.