Amantadine hydrochloride monitoring by dried plasma spot technique: High-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry based clinical assay.

Amantadine plasma concentrations correlate well with desired therapeutic effects and adverse outcomes; information on amantadine exposure could be useful when multiple amantadine clearance pathways are impaired or non-compliance is suspected. Micro-sampling strategies, like dried plasma spot, would be particularly useful because ambulatory patients that do not attend a clinic can easily sample a few drops of blood by themselves at the required time of the dosing interval. We developed and validated a dried-plasma-spot-based high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay to quantify amantadine. This assay met relevant validation requirements within a hematocrit range of 20-50% and was linear from 100 to 2000 ng/mL. Amantadine was stable in dried plasma spots for up to 21 days at room temperature, regardless of whether the dried plasma spot was protected from light or not. The correlation between paired dried and wet plasma concentrations was assessed in 52 patients. Deming regression coefficients between wet plasma and simultaneously pipetted dried plasma spots were used to predict plasma concentrations. Bland-Altman plots revealed a strong agreement between dried and wet plasma concentrations, supporting the clinical usefulness of dried plasma spots for amantadine monitoring with a self-sampling strategy at a convenient time and place for the patient.

On-line competitive host-guest interactions in a turn-on fluorometric method to amantadine determination in human serum and pharmaceutical formulations.

A competitive assay between the antiviral Amantadine and the dye Thionine for the Cucurbit[8]uril cavity was carried out in a flow injection analysis system for the indirect fluorescence detection of Amantadine. Both, Cucurbit[7]uril and Cucurbit[8]uril Thionine complexes were evaluated for the competitive assay. The use of a 12-port injection valve allows the on-line reaction in the flow system. Once optimized all the experimental variables, the methodology developed allows the detection of Amantadine at the 0.16µM level with excellent accuracy (Er ≤ 8.2%) and reproducibility (RSD ≤ 6.3%) for all the concentration range assayed. This one-step turn-on fluorescence methodology allows reaching sampling frequencies of 68 samples per hour. The selectivity of the method was evaluated against different antiviral drugs. Moreover, the performance of the methodology proposed was tested by the Amantadine determination in human serum and pharmaceutical formulations samples. The results demonstrated that the method can be applied to Amantadine determination in real samples of different nature with excellent recoveries, ranging from 83% to 98% depending on the matrix assayed.

The effect of intravenous sulfobutylether7 -ß-cyclodextrin on the pharmacokinetics of a series of adamantane-containing compounds.

Intravenously administered (i.v.) drug-cyclodextrin (CD) inclusion complexes are generally expected to dissociate rapidly and completely, such that the i.v. pharmacokinetic profile of a drug is unchanged in the presence of CD. The altered pharmacokinetics of a synthetic ozonide in rats has been attributed to an unusually high-binding affinity (2.3 × 10(6) M(-1) ) between the drug and sulfobutylether7 -ß-cyclodextrin (SBE7 -ß-CD) with further studies suggesting a significant binding contribution from the adamantane ring. This work investigated the binding affinity of three adamantane derivatives [amantadine (AMA), memantine (MEM) and rimantadine (RIM)] to SBE7 -ß-CD and the impact of complexation on their i.v. pharmacokinetics. In vitro studies defined the plasma protein binding, as well as the impact of SBE7 -ß-CD on erythrocyte partitioning of each compound. SBE7 -ß-CD binding constants for the compounds were within the typical range for drug-like molecules (10(2) -10(4) M(-1) ). The pharmacokinetics of AMA and MEM were unchanged; however, significant alteration of RIM plasma and urinary pharmacokinetics was observed when formulated with CD. In vitro studies suggested two factors contributing to the altered pharmacokinetics: (1) low plasma protein binding of RIM, and (2) decreased erythrocyte partitioning in the presence of high SBE7 -ß-CD concentrations. This work demonstrated the potential for typical drug-cyclodextrin interactions to alter drug plasma pharmacokinetics.

Pharmacokinetics of oral amantadine in greyhound dogs.

This study reports the pharmacokinetics of amantadine in greyhound dogs after oral administration. Five healthy greyhound dogs were used. A single oral dose of 100 mg amantadine hydrochloride (mean dose 2.8 mg/kg as amantadine hydrochloride) was administered to nonfasted subjects. Blood samples were collected at predetermined time points from 0 to 24 h after administration, and plasma concentrations of amantadine were measured by liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. Noncompartmental pharmacokinetic analyses were performed. Amantadine was well tolerated in all dogs with no adverse effects observed. The mean (range) amantadine CMAX was 275 ng/mL (225-351 ng/mL) at 2.6 h (1-4 h) with a terminal half-life of 4.96 h (4.11-6.59 h). The results of this study can be used to design dosages to assess multidose pharmacokinetics and dosages designed to achieve targeted concentrations in order to assess the clinical effects of amantadine in a variety of conditions including chronic pain. Further studies should also assess the pharmacokinetics of amantadine in other dog breeds or using population pharmacokinetics studies including multiple dog breeds to assess potential breed-specific differences in the pharmacokinetics of amantadine in dogs.

Possible involvement of cationic-drug sensitive transport systems in the blood-to-brain influx and brain-to-blood efflux of amantadine across the blood-brain barrier.

The purpose of this study was to characterize the brain-to-blood efflux transport of amantadine across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The apparent in vivo efflux rate constant for [(3) H]amantadine from the rat brain (keff ) was found to be 1.53 × 10(-2) min(-1) after intracerebral microinjection using the brain efflux index method. The efflux of [(3) H]amantadine was inhibited by 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP(+) ), a cationic neurotoxin, suggesting that amantadine transport from the brain to the blood across the BBB potentially involves the rat plasma membrane monoamine transporter (rPMAT). On the other hand, other selected substrates for organic cation transporters (OCTs) and organic anion transporters (OATs), as well as inhibitors of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), did not affect the efflux transport of [(3) H]amantadine. In addition, in vitro studies using an immortalized rat brain endothelial cell line (GPNT) showed that the uptake and retention of [(3) H]amantadine by the cells was not changed by the addition of cyclosporin, which is an inhibitor of P-gp. However, cyclosporin affected the uptake and retention of rhodamine123. Finally, the initial brain uptake of [(3) H]amantadine was determined using an in situ mouse brain perfusion technique. Notably, the brain uptake clearance for [(3) H]amantadine was significantly decreased with the co-perfusion of quinidine or verapamil, which are cationic P-gp inhibitors, while MPP(+) did not have a significant effect. It is thus concluded that while P-gp is not involved, it is possible that rPMAT and the cationic drug-sensitive transport system participate in the brain-to-blood efflux and the blood-to-brain influx of amantadine across the BBB, respectively.

Determination of amantadine in biological fluids using simultaneous derivatization and dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction followed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection.

A one-step derivatization and microextraction technique for the determination of amantadine in the human plasma and urine samples is presented. An appropriate mixture of methanol (disperser solvent), 1,2-dibromoethane (extraction solvent), and butylchloroformate (derivatization agent) is rapidly injected into samples. After centrifuging, the sedimented phase is analyzed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID). The kind of extraction and disperser solvents and their volumes, amount of derivatization agent and reaction/extraction time which are effective in derivatization/dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) procedure are optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the enrichment factor (EF) of the target analyte was obtained to be 408 and 420, and limit of detection (LOD) 4.2 and 2.7ngmL(-1), in plasma and urine respectively. The linear range is 14-5000 and 8.7-5000ng/mL for plasma and urine, respectively (squared correlation coefficient≥0.990). The relative recoveries obtained for the spiked plasma and urine samples are between 72% and 93%. Moreover, the inter- and intra-day precisions are acceptable at all spiked concentrations (relative standard deviation <7%). Finally the method was successfully applied to determine amantadine in biological samples.

Application of quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for the determination ofamantadine and acyclovir in plasma and pharmaceutical samples.

Rapid, simple, and selective methods for determining amantadine HCI and acyclovir antiviral drugs in pharmaceutical and plasma samples were developed using 1H-NMR spectroscopy with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO-d6) as the solvent. Integrations of the 1H-NMR signals at 2.07 and 7.82 ppm were used, respectively, for quantifying the two drugs, with the malonic acid signal at 3.24 ppm as the internal reference signal. Average recoveries of 98.24-101.00 +/- 4.82% and 97.7-100.38 +/- 3.36% were obtained for amantadine HCI and acyclovir in pharmaceutical samples, respectively. Average recoveries of 97.36-103.68 +/- 2.99 and 93.81-99.80 +/- 2.93 were obtained, respectively, for both drugs in plasma samples. The statistical Student's t-test gave t-values < or = 1.41 for analyzed pharmaceutical samples and t-values < or = 0.29 for analyzed plasma samples. These values indicated insignificant difference between the real and measured contents at the 95% confidence level. Application of the statistical F-test for the analytical results of amantadine HCI gave F-values < or = 6.44 and 2.80 in pharmaceutical and plasma samples, respectively. F-values < or = 6.82 and 3.86 were obtained for acyclovir in pharmaceutical and plasma, respectively. These values indicated insignificant differences in precisions between the developed NMR methods and arbitrarily chosen HPLC methods reported for determining both drugs in pharmaceutical and plasma samples.

Analysis of amantadine in biological fluids using hollow fiber-based liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction followed by corona discharge ion mobility spectrometry.

A method based on liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction combined with corona discharge ion mobility spectrometry was developed for the analysis of amantadine in human urine and plasma samples. Amantadine was extracted from alkaline aqueous sample as donor phase through a thin phase of organic solvent (n-dodecane) filling the pores of the hollow fiber wall and then back extracted into the organic acceptor phase (methanol) located in the lumen of the hollow fiber. All variables affecting the extraction of analyte including acceptor organic solvent type, concentration of NaOH in donor phase, ionic strength of the sample and extraction time were studied. The linear range was 20-1000 and 5-250 ng/mL for plasma and urine, respectively (r(2)≥0.990). The limits of detection were calculated to be 7.2 and 1.6 ng/mL for plasma and urine, respectively. The relative standard deviation was lower than 8.2% for both urine and plasma samples. The enrichment factors were between 45 and 54. The method was successfully applied for the analysis of amantadine in urine and plasma samples.

Pharmacokinetics of amantadine in cats.

This study reports the pharmacokinetics of amantadine in cats, after both i.v. and oral administration. Six healthy adult domestic shorthair female cats were used. Amantadine HCl (5 mg/kg, equivalent to 4 mg/kg amantadine base) was administered either intravenously or orally in a crossover randomized design. Blood samples were collected immediately prior to amantadine administration, and at various times up to 1440 min following intravenous, or up to 2880 min following oral administration. Plasma amantadine concentrations were determined by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and plasma amantadine concentration-time data were fitted to compartmental models. A two-compartment model with elimination from the central compartment best described the disposition of amantadine administered intravenously in cats, and a one-compartment model best described the disposition of oral amantadine in cats. After i.v. administration, the apparent volume of distribution of the central compartment and apparent volume of distribution at steady-state [mean ± SEM (range)], and the clearance and terminal half-life [harmonic mean ± jackknife pseudo-SD (range)] were 1.5 ± 0.3 (0.7-2.5) L/kg, 4.3 ± 0.2 (3.7-5.0) L/kg, 8.2 ± 2.1 (5.9-11.4) mL·min/kg, and 348 ± 49 (307-465) min, respectively. Systemic availability [mean ± SEM (range)] and terminal half-life after oral administration [harmonic mean ± jackknife pseudo-SD (range)] were 130 ± 11 (86-160)% and 324 ± 41 (277-381) min, respectively.

Simultaneous determination of memantine and amantadine in human plasma as fluorescein derivatives by micellar electrokinetic chromatography with laser-induced fluorescence detection and its clinical application.

A nonionic surfactant MEKC method with LIF detection was developed for the simultaneous determination of memantine, an anti-Alzheimer's disease agent, and amantadine, an anti-Parkinson's disease drug, in human plasma. Before analysis, the plasma samples were pretreated by liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate, and derivatized with 6-carboxyfluorescein N-hydroxysuccinimide ester. The chemical derivatization is performed with 6-carboxyfluorescein N-hydroxysuccinimide ester in ACN - 5 mM pH 9.0 borate buffer (40:60, v/v) at 35 degrees C for 3 h. After the derivatization reaction, hydrodynamic injection (0.5 psi, 8 s) was used to introduce the derivatized solution, and the separation was performed in borate buffer (30 mM, pH 9.5) with the nonionic surfactant Brij-35 (0.07%, w/v); the separation voltage was 6 kV. The linear ranges of the method for the determination of memantine and amantadine in human plasma were over a range of 2.0-60.0 ng/mL. The detection limit was 0.5 ng/mL (S/N=3). This method was applied successfully to monitor the concentration of memantine or amantadine in patients with Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease.

Potentiometric determination of trace amounts of amantadine using a modified carbon-paste electrode.

A chemically modified carbon-paste electrode has been described for the sensitive and selective determination of amantadine. Beta-cyclodextrin was used as modifier. The electrode shows a sub-Nernstian response of 51.0 +/- 1.0 mV decade(-1) for amantadine in the concentration range of 6.3 x 10(-10)-7.1 x 10(-7) M at 25 degrees C. The optimum pH value was maintained at 4.5 using a 0.02 M acetate buffer. The limit of detection of the electrode was 6.3 x 10(-10) M of amantadine. The electrode responded very rapidly (<60 s) to changes in the concentration of amantadine, and its lifetime was more than three months. The relative standard deviation of measurements for a 2.0 x 10(-7) M of amantadine was 0.68% (n = 7). The application of a modified carbon-paste electrode to the determination of amantadine in its pharmaceutical preparations showed a relative error of 2%. The recovery of amantadine (2.5 x 10(-8) M) from a blood-serum sample was 94%.

Rapid simultaneous determination of paracetamol, amantadine hydrochloride, caffeine and chlorpheniramine maleate in human plasma by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry.

A rapid, simple and sensitive high performance liquid chromatography with positive ion electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS) was first developed and validated to simultaneously determine paracetamol (PAR, CAS 103-90-2), amantadine hydrochloride (ATH, CAS 665-66-7), caffeine (CAF, CAS 58-08-2) and chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM, CAS 113-92-8) in human plasma using tramadol hydrochloride (TMH, CAS 22204-88-2) as internal standard (IS). Following methanol-induced protein precipitation, the analytes were separated using a mobile phase comprised of methanol:water (0.5% formic acid) = 20:80 (v/v) on a commercially available column (150 mm x 2.1 mm I.D., 5 microm) and analyzed by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry in the selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode with the precursor to product ion transitions m/z 152.3-->110.2 for PAR, 152.3-->135.3 for ATH, 195.1-->138.3 for CAF, 275.2-->230.3 for CPM and 264.2-->58.2 for TMH. The standard curves were linear (r2 > 0.99) over the concentration range of 0.2-20 microg/mL for PAR, 20-2000 ng/mL for ATH and CAF, 0.1-10 ng/mL for CPM and had good accuracy and precision, respectively. The within- and between-batch precisions were less than 15% in terms of relative standard deviation (RSD). The lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) were 0.2 microg/mL, 20 ng/mL, 20 ng/mL and 0.1 ng/mL for PAR, ATH, CAF and CPM, respectively. The described method has been successfully applied to study the pharmacokinetics of paracetamol-amantadine hydrochloride tablets in Chinese healthy male volunteers with great precision and sensitivity.

Plasma amantadine concentrations in patients with Parkinson's disease.

We determined plasma amantadine concentrations in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) in daily clinical practice and investigated the relationship between plasma concentration and adverse reactions to clarify the safe therapeutic range. Seventy-eight consecutive PD patients on stable amantadine treatment were recruited. Plasma concentration of amantadine was measured 3h after the administration of morning amantadine dose. Serum creatinine was measured to estimate renal function. The mean daily dose of amantadine was 135.1+/-62.3mg/day, and the mean plasma amantadine concentration was 812.5+/-839.5 ng/ml (range, 91-4400 ng/ml). Plasma amantadine concentration increased according to increasing renal dysfunction. Three patients exhibited adverse reactions, such as myoclonus, hallucinations, and delirium, and all of them showed plasma amantadine concentration >3000 ng/ml. None of the three cases had previously shown such side effects. PD patients who have not developed any psychiatric symptoms as adverse reactions to the treatment may develop myoclonus, hallucination, or delirium when the plasma concentration of amantadine exceeds 3000 ng/ml. It is therefore recommended to use amantadine at the plasma concentration of less than 3000 ng/ml in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, especially in elderly patients.

New method for high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of amantadine and its analogues in rat plasma.

A novel precolumn derivatization method is described for the quantitative determination of amantadine, rimantadine and memantine in biological samples by HPLC with UV detection. The derivatization was performed at room temperature using anthraquinone-2-sulfonyl chloride (ASC) as reagent for only 10 min and without postderivatization treatment to inactivate excess reagent. The derivatives were analyzed by isocratic HPLC with a UV detector at 256 nm on a Lichrosper C18 column. The linear range for the determination of three drugs spiked in plasma (0.2 ml) was 0.05-5.0 microg/ml for amantadine and rimantadine, 0.05-2.0 microg/ml for memantine, respectively. The limits of detection and quantification were 20 and 50 ng/ml for the analytes, respectively. Application of the method to the analysis of amantadine, rimantadine and memantine in rat plasma and pharmacokinetic studies are demonstrated and proved feasible.

Amantadine as an additive treatment in patients suffering from drug-resistant unipolar depression.

The paper describes the effect of amantadine addition to imipramine therapy in patients suffering from treatment-resistant unipolar depression who fulfilled DSM IV criteria for major (unipolar) depression. Fifty patients were enrolled in the study on the basis of their histories of illness and therapy. After a 2-week drug-free period, 25 subjects belonging to the first group were treated only with imipramine twice daily (100 mg/day) for 12 weeks, and 25 subjects belonging to the second group were treated with imipramine twice daily (100 mg/day) for 6 weeks and then amantadine was introduced (150 mg/day, twice daily) and administered jointly with imipramine for the successive 6 weeks. Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) was used to assess the efficacy of antidepressant therapy. Imipramine did not change the HDRS score after 3, 6 or 12 weeks of treatment when compared with the washout (before treatment). The addition of amantadine to the classic antidepressant reduced HDRS scores after 6-week joint treatment. Moreover, the obtained pharmacokinetic data indicated that amantadine did not significantly influence the plasma concentration of imipramine and its metabolite desipramine in patients treated jointly with imipramine and amantadine, which suggests lack of a pharmacokinetic interaction. The obtained results indicate that joint therapy with an antidepressant and amantadine may be effective in treatment-resistant unipolar depression.

Quantitative determination of amantadine in human plasma by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and the application in a bioequivalence study.

A sensitive liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) method is developed and validated for rapid determination of amantadine in human plasma. Desloratadine was used as the internal standard (I.S.). Human plasma (0.2 mL) was first alkalified with 100 microL of sodium hydroxide (3M) and then extracted with 1 mL of n-hexane containing 1% isopropanol (v/v) and 10% dichloromethane (v/v) by vortex-mixer for 3 min. The mixture was centrifuged at 14,000 rpm for 5 min. The supernatant was evaporated to dryness and the residue was dissolved in mobile phase. Samples were separated using a Thermo Hypersil-HyPURITYC18 reversed-phase column (150 mm x 2.1 mm i.d., 5 microm). Mobile phase consisted of methanol-acetonitrile-20 mM ammonium acetate (45:10:45, v/v/v) containing 1% acetic acid with pH 4.0. Amantadine and I.S. were measured by electrospray ion source in positive selective ion monitoring mode. The good linearity ranged from 3.9 to 1000 ng/mL and the lowest limit of quantification was 3.9 ng/mL. The extraction efficiencies were approximately 70% and recoveries of method ranged from 98.53 to 103.24%. The intra-day relative standard deviations (R.S.D.) were less than 8.43% and inter-day R.S.D. below 10.59%. The quality control samples were stable when kept at room temperature for 12h, at -20 degrees C for 30 days and after four freeze/thaw cycles. The method has been successfully used to evaluation of the pharmacokinetics and bioequivalence of amantadine in 20 healthy volunteers after an oral dose of 100 mg amantadine.

Pharmacokinetic characterization of amantadine in human brain tissue.

Amantadine concentrations in human brain tissue were assessed in order to estimate population pharmacokinetic parameters using the computer program NONMEM. The elimination constant in brain tissue was determined to be 0.00447 [1/h], resulting in a t1/2 of 6.5 days for the mean patient in the population investigated (n = 19). An estimate of 65.5 L was obtained for the apparent volume of distribution. The elimination half-life of amantadine from brain tissue is much longer than from blood and is comparable to the previously investigated neuroleptic drugs haloperidol and levomepromazine.

Determination of serum amantadine by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

BACKGROUND: Amantadine (1-adamantylamine) is used for treatment of influenza, hepatitis C, parkinsonism, and multiple sclerosis. Current amantadine analysis by HPLC or gas chromatography (GC) requires a laborious sample pretreatment with extraction and/or derivatization steps. We established an LC-MS/MS method without protein precipitation, centrifugation, extraction and derivatization steps. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 50 microl sample+50 microl of 0.4 mg/l 1-(1-adamantyl)pyridinium bromide as internal standard+1000 microl water (96-well plate). Of this 25 microl+500 microl water (96-well plate; final serum dilution 1:462). LC-MS/MS: Surveyor MS pump, Autosampler, triple-quadrupole TSQ Quantum mass spectrometer (Thermo Electron). Autosampling: 2 microl of each sample. Chromatography: isocratic water/acetonitrile (60/40 v/v) with 5 g/l formic acid, flow rate 0.2 ml/min, run time 3 min, Phenomenex Luna C8(2) (100 x 2.0 mm (i.d.); 3-microm bead size) column. Mass spectrometry: electrospray atmospheric pressure ionization, positive ion and selective reaction monitoring mode, ion transitions m/z 152.0-->135.1 (at 22 eV amantadine) and 214.1-->135.1 (at 26 eV internal standard). RESULTS: Calibration curves were constructed with spiked serum samples (amantadine 50-1000 microg/l, r>0.99). No carry over (5000 microg/l). No ion suppression with retention times similar to those of amantadine (1.8 min) and the internal standard (2.1 min). Detection limit 20 mg/l, linearity 20-5000 mg/l, intra-assay/inter-assay CV<6%/<8%, recovery 99-101%. Method comparison: LC-MS/MS=1.23 x GC-45 (Passing-Bablok regression). No significant bias between GC and LC-MS/MS (Bland-Altman plot). CONCLUSION: We consider the sample pretreatment without deproteination, derivatization and centrifugation steps and the specificity of the tandem mass spectrometry as the most important points of our amantadine analysis method.

Simultaneous determination of amantadine and rimantadine by HPLC in rat plasma with pre-column derivatization and fluorescence detection for pharmacokinetic studies.

We investigated simultaneous high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) determination of amantadine hydrochloride (AMA) and rimantadine hydrochloride (RIM) levels in rat plasma after fluorescent derivatization with o-phthalaldehyde and 2-mercaptoethanol. Afterwards, the method was applied to determine their pharmacokinetics. The retention times of AMA and RIM derivatives were 12.6 and 22.2 min and the lower limits of detection were 0.025 and 0.016 microg/mL, respectively. The coefficients of variation for intra- and inter-day assay of AMA and RIM were less than 5.1 and 7.6%, respectively. After i.v. administration of AMA or RIM to rats, the total body clearance and distribution volume at the steady-state of RIM were higher than those of AMA. Bioavailability of AMA and RIM was 34.9 and 37.2%, respectively. When AMA and RIM were p.o. co-administered, the area under the plasma concentration--time curve of RIM was significantly lower than that after RIM alone. On the other hand, pharmacokinetic parameters of AMA did not significantly change. These results indicate that our HPLC assay is simple, rapid, sensitive and reproducible for simultaneously determining AMA and RIM concentrations in rat plasma and is applicable to their pharmacokinetic studies. Also, co-administration of AMA and RIM may result in the lack of pharmacological effects of RIM.