Azidothymidine triphosphate determination using micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography.

: There is a need to perform pharmacokinetic studies in the pediatric population utilizing antiretroviral drugs, which have shown effectiveness for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In order to establish a relationship between efficacy and toxicity, we need to detect and quantitate these antiretroviral nucleosides and their metabolites at the intracellular level. Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MECC) was used for the separation of five nucleotides: cytidine triphosphate (CTP), adenosine triphosphate (ATP), thymidine triphosphate (TTP), guanosine triphosphate (GTP) and azidothymidine triphosphate (AZT-TP). Attomoles of these nucleotides were satisfactorily resolved in short run times with high peak efficiencies. In addition, nanoliters of sample volume were used to perform the analysis using ultraviolet (UV) detection at 254 nm.