Development and validation of a high-performance liquid chromatographic method with a fluorescence detector for the analysis of epirubicin in human urine and plasma, and its application in drug monitoring

•New LC-FL method was developed to quantify epirubicin in human plasma and urine.•This fast and simple approach can be an interesting alternative to other techniques.•Epirubicin levels were determined in real plasma and urine samples of a cancer patient.•The research can help in drug monitoring therapy, clinical and pharmacokinetic studies.•The results pay attention on potential drug exposure of hospital personnel. The aim of the work was to develop a simple, sensitive and accurate liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (LC-FL) method for the determination of epirubicin in human urine and plasma. Solid phase extraction with HLB cartridges and mixture of dichloromethane:2-propanol:methanol (2:1:1, v/v/v) as the eluent, was used to prepare the samples. The chromatographic analysis was carried out on a Synergi Hydro-RP column with a mobile phase consisting of 40 mM phosphate buffer (pH 4.1) and acetonitrile (69:31, v/v). Epirubicin was monitored at 497 nm and 557 nm for excitation and emission wavelengths, respectively. Validation data confirmed that the limit of detection and limit of quantification was 0.25 ng/mL and 0.5 ng/mL in both matrices. Next, the optimized LC-FL method was applied to determine the level of epirubicin in real samples taken from a 19-year-old patient with metastatic alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (RMA) to create a drug profile. Plasma and urine samples were collected for 24 h after the end of a 6-hour infusion of epirubicin. The obtained results confirmed that the optimized and validated LC-FL method can be successfully used in drug monitoring therapy, pharmacokinetic and clinical studies. Moreover, the current work is also drawing attention to the relatively high level of epirubicin in the patient urine, which requires compliance with the safety rules in contact with this biological fluid by both medical staff and others, e.g. family members.