Since antimony is the active species in the antileishmanial drug meglumine antimoniate (MA), the knowledge of the exact metal concentration is critical for its experimental and clinical use. On the other hand, the involvement of thiols, such as cysteine (Cys), in the metabolism of this drug remains to be clarified. In the present work, the reduction reaction of SbV by Cys was kinetically characterized. The reaction orders with respect to Sb and Cys were equal to 1.0 and 3.3, respectively. The rate constant for the reduction reaction was pH-dependent. This reaction was exploited to effectively reduce SbV in MA, for the subsequent photometric determination of SbIII using the chromogen bromopyrogallol red. Reduction efficiencies of 100% were achieved at pH 3. Solutions with Sb concentration as low as 0.5 mmol L-1 were successfully assayed. The method was also applied to the determination of Sb in liposomal formulations of MA.
cysteine; antimony; reduction; liposomes; meglumine antimoniate
