Determination of idebenone in rat serum and brain by high-performance liquid chromatography using platinum catalyst reduction and electrochemical detection.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of idebenone, a new cerebral metabolism-improving agent, in rat serum and brain has been developed. After separation of idebenone on a reversed-phase column, idebenone was reduced once in a platinum catalyst reduction column connected on-line, then monitored quantitatively by electrochemical detection. A linear relationship between the peak-height ratio of idebenone to the internal standard and idebenone concentration was observed in the range 0.015-50 ng with a detection limit of 5 pg (signal-to-noise ratio = 5). This method was satisfactorily rapid and sensitive, and was successfully applied to the determination of idebenone in rat serum and brain tissues.