Determination of chinoform in biological fluids and nervous tissues of the dog by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A sensitive gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric method for the determination of 5-chloro-7-iodo-8-hydroxyquinoline (chinoform, clioquinol) in biological fluids and nervous tissues is described. Chinoform was converted into the pentafluorobenzyl ether, which was separated on a 10% Dexsil 300GC column and determined by the use of chinoform-d 4 as an internal standard. The clean-up of chionoform in plasma and urine was efficiently achieved by extracting with benzene, while the drug in the tissue was pretreated successively by extraction with 12.5% v/v pyridine-benzene, separation on a Clin-Elut cartridge and adsorption on alumina. The quantitation limit of chinoform was 100pg, and the recovery rates of chinoform added to plasma and tissue were 98% and 92%, respectively. The chinoform levels in biological fluids and tissues in dogs after prolonged administration of the drug at a dose of 400 mg/kg/day were measured by the proposed method. The plasma level and tissue distribution of chinoform are also discussed.