Quantification of Voriconazole in rat plasma using HPLC and pharmacokinetic analysis

doi:10.5246/jcps.2025.10.068

Abstract

Abstract:

This study aimed to establish a reliable high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for determining Voriconazole concentrations in rat plasma, employing an internal standard approach to enhance accuracy. The pharmacokinetics of Voriconazole were also investigated. The method utilized Fluconazole as the internal standard, with gradient elution of a methanol-water mobile phase (0–2.5 min: 50% methanol; 2.5–4 min: 50%–70% methanol; after 4 min: 70% methanol). The analysis was performed at 30 °C with a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min, a detection wavelength of 254 nm, and a 20-μL injection volume. Following a single oral dose of Voriconazole (40 mg/kg), plasma concentrations were measured at various time points and analyzed using DAS2.0 software to calculate pharmacokinetic parameters. The method demonstrated excellent linearity (R² = 0.9992) over the concentration range of 0.2–40 mg/L. The extraction recoveries ranged from 85% to 115%, and intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations (RSDs) were below 10%. Pharmacokinetic analysis revealed a distribution half-life of 69.315 min, an elimination half-life of 69.315 min, and an AUC_0–t of 8040.73 min·mg/L after oral administration at 40 mg/kg. The proposed HPLC method was simple, rapid, and precise, making it suitable for pharmacokinetic studies of Voriconazole in rats. Furthermore, this method offered potential applicability for clinical batch detection of Voriconazole in blood samples.

Key words: Voriconazole, HPLC, Pharmacokinetics, Fungal infections

Supporting:

Chenxi Liu, Huan Liu, Tianping Chen, Shiyi He, Jiangling Hu, Xinhui Jiang. Quantification of Voriconazole in rat plasma using HPLC and pharmacokinetic analysis[J]. Journal of Chinese Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2025, 34(10): 921-931.

Figures/Tables 9

Table 1. Extraction recovery results.

Table 2. Determination results of precision and accuracy of Voriconazole plasma samples (n = 5).

Table 3. Results of stability test of Voriconazole plasma samples (n = 5).

Table 4. Voriconazole concentration-time data in rat plasma.

Table 5. Main pharmacokinetic parameters of rats after intragastric administration of Voriconazole.

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