Liquid chromatographic determination of para-toluenesulfonamide in edible fillet tissues from three species of fish.

Chloramine-T (N-sodium-N-chloro-p-toluene-sulfonamide) is a candidate therapeutic drug for treating bacterial gill disease, a predominant disease of a variety of fish species. Research has been initiated to obtain the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval for the use of chloramine-T on a variety of fish species. An attribute of a therapeutic aquaculture drug that must be characterized before the FDA approves its use is depletion of the drug's marker residue (the drug's parent compound or metabolite of highest concentration in an edible tissue). para-Toluenesulfonamide (p-TSA) is the primary degradation product and marker residue for chloramine-T in rainbow trout. To conduct residue depletion studies for chloramine-T in fish, a robust analytical method sensitive and specific for p-TSA residues in edible fillet tissue from a variety of fish was required. Homogenized fillet tissues from rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), walleye (Stizostedion vitreum), and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) were fortified at nominal p-TSA concentrations of 17, 67, 200, 333, and 1000 ng/g. Samples were analyzed by isocratic reversed-phase liquid chromatography (LC) with absorbance detection at 226 nm. Mean recoveries of p-TSA ranged from 77 to 93.17%; relative standard deviations ranged from 1.5 to 14%; method quantitation limits ranged from 13 to 18 ng/g; and method detection limits ranged from 3.8 to 5.2 ng/g. The LC parameters produced p-TSA peaks without coelution of endogenous compounds and excluded chromatographic interference from at least 20 chemicals and drugs of potential use in aquaculture.