High-performance liquid chromatographic assay for abacavir and its two major metabolites in human urine and cerebrospinal fluid

A simple, reversed-phase HPLC assay has been developed and validated to measure the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitor abacavir and its two major metabolites, a 5′-glucuronide and a 5′-carboxylate, in human urine and cerebrospinal fluid. Sample preparation involved centrifuging to minimize particulates, then diluting the supernatant before HPLC separation and ultraviolet detection at 295 nm. The method described was used successfully to measure concentrations of abacavir and its two major metabolites in urine and cerebrospinal fluid from HIV-1 infected subjects.