High-Performance liquid chromatographic determination of dibromomannitol in plasma

Myelobromol 1,6-dibromo-1,6-dideoxy-D-mannitol (dibromomannitol, DBM) is a bifunctional alkylating agent that has been in clinical use since 1963. It is currently included at high dose in preconditioning regimen for bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and is a main-stay of treatment for polycythaemia vera. A high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the determination of DBM in the plasma. The basis of the assay is a derivatization with sodium-diethyldithiocarbamate at 42°C in the presence of 1-bromo-1-deoxy-3,6-anhydro-galactitol as internal standard (IS). The analysis was carried out on a 250×4mm Hypersil 5 CPS column equipped with a 20×4 mm Hypersil 10 CPS precolumn. The eluent consisted of heptane:isopropyl-alcohol: glacial acetic acid=600:76:80 w/w. The flow rate was 1.2 mL min−1. UV detection was performed at 254 nm. The calibration graph was linear in the concentration range of 2.5–260 μM of DBM in plasma. The limit of detection was 1.0 μM. The precision and accuracy of the method was between the good laboratory practice (GLP) required limits.