Metodología UV para la determinación de los antichagásicos Nifurtimox y Benznidazol en sangre

chagas' disease is an endemic parasitic disease in south and central america. there are two drugs available for medical treatment of the disease, nifurtimox (nfx) and benznidazol (bz). there are no standardized or accessible protocols in regional laboratorios to determine the levels of antichagasic drugs in blood. a spectrophotometric method for nfx and bz determination in blood is presented in the present work. blood metabolites are extracted through extrelut？ columns. extracts are evaporated, redissolved in metanol/water mixanalysed by spectrophotometry at 400 nm and 320 nm for nfx and bz, respectively. they are quantified comparing with standard nfx or bz solutions in the solvent. the methodology used was validated between 0.5 and 50 jg/ml of blood for nfx, and between 0.5 and 100 jg/ml of blood for bz. the accuracy, precision, lineality and robustness of the method were satisfactory. the procedure was applied determining blood concentrations after administration of both drugs to rats.