Abstract

The analysis of cisplatin has been investigated using a variety of electrochemical and chromatographic techniques. Methods were developed for the simultaneous determination of cisplatin and its major hydrolysis products by HPLC with ultra-violet (UV) and electrochemical (EC) detection. The first method involved the use of reversed-phase separation using sulphonic acids as ion-pair reagents. Using a mercury based detector, limits of detection were 5 ug/ml. The second procedure involved the use of an alumina stationary phase. The interaction of cisplatin with both human serum albumin (HSA) and the amino acid cystine was then investigated using adsorptive stripping voltammetry (AdSV). A mechanism was proposed for the electroreduction of these biologically important molecules. A fractional coefficient for the binding of cisplatin to HSA at pH 7.4 was calculated to be 0.32. The reactivity of hydrolysis products of cisplatin was shown to be greater than that of the parent drug. Finally, a method was developed for the direct determination of inorganic platinum in urine using differential pulse polarography (DPP) and AdSV, following complexation with ethylenediammine. The method developed was compared with a graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometric (GFAAS) technique.