A simple RP-HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of curcumin and its prodrug, curcumin didecanoate, in rat plasma and the application to pharmacokinetic study.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of curcumin and its prodrug, curcumin didecanoate (CurDD), in rat plasma. The analytes were extracted by ethyl acetate following the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate, and separated on a reverse-phase C(18) column using a gradient mobile phase system of acetonitrile-tetrahydrofuran-water containing 0.1% formic acid. Detection by UV absorption at 425 nm gave a lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) of 5 and 10 ng/mL for curcumin and CurDD in 50 μL of plasma, respectively. Intra- and inter-day precisions of quality control samples except those at LLOQ were within 15% for curcumin and CurDD, respectively, and the accuracies for both compounds were between 93.9 and 108%. The method was successfully applied to determine plasma concentration-time curves of curcumin and CurDD in rats following intravenous (i.v.) administration of curcumin or CurDD at doses of 1 mg/kg (calculated as curcumin). The results suggested that i.v. dosed CurDD provided sustained plasma levels of curcumin.