Interaction of mitoxantrone with heparin and its application to the quantitation of heparin

The interaction of heparin of high molecular weight with mitoxantrone, an anthraquinone derivative, had been studied by spectrophotometry. Heparin links the mitoxantrone and the binding sites are probably the anionic groups of the mucopolysaccharide since the linking is displaced by Na+. This interaction of mitoxantrone with heparin could provides a sensitive and simple method for quantitation of heparin in non proteic medium and could appear of clinical relevance in some circumstances.