Liquid chromatographic method for determining the macrolide antibiotic sedecamycin and its major metabolites in swine plasma and tissues

A liquid chromatographic (LC) method was developed to determine sedecamycin, a 17-membered macrolide antibiotic used for treating swine dysentery, and its major metabolites (lankacidin C, lankacidinol A, and lankacidinol) in swine plasma and tissues. Plasma is directly extracted with ethyl acetate and analyzed by liquid chromatography without purification. Tissues are homogenized in a phosphate buffer containing sodium chloride, and then extracted with ethyl acetate. The extracts are subjected to silica gel-Florisil, double-layered column chromatography to remove endogenous interfering substances. The LC determination uses silica gel and ODS-silica as a stationary phase. The detection limits for sedecamycin and its metabolites were less than or equal to 0.05 ppm, and average recoveries and coefficients of variation (0.2-1 ppm range) were greater than 75% and less than 10%, respectively.