Curcumin in plasma and urine: quantitation by high-performance liquid chromatography

• Published in: Journal of chromatography. B, Analytical technologies in the biomedical and life sciences Vol. 783; no. 1; pp. 287 - 295
• Main Authors: Heath, Dennis D, Pruitt, Milagros A, Brenner, Dean E, Rock, Cheryl L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 05.01.2003
• Subjects: Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid - methods; Curcumin; Curcumin - analysis; Humans; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; Curcumin
• ISSN: 1570-0232; 1873-376X
• DOI: 10.1016/S1570-0232(02)00714-6

Curcumin, a derivative of the plant Curcuma longa, is used extensively in the food industry. It is a major component of curry powder, and research has shown that curcumin may prevent cancer and other chronic diseases. We have developed a robust automated analytical method for the determination of curcumin in plasma and urine. The method involves extracting the curcumin from 0.2 ml sample volume with ethyl acetate/methanol organic solvents, and use of an internal standard, β-17-estradiol acetate. Analysis utilizes a reversed-phase C 18 column and UV detection at 262 nm. Performance characteristics have been assessed. The assay is linear from 0.2 to 7.0 μg/ml. The coefficient of variation for intra- and inter-day assays is <7.5%. The average recovery of curcumin from plasma and urine is greater than 96%. The data presented in this report demonstrate that the method provides rapid, sensitive, precise and accurate measurements of curcumin concentrations in plasma and urine.