Determination of pharmaceuticals in plasma by capillary electrophoresis without sample pretreatment reproducibility, limit of quantitation and limit of detection

An on-site and portable electrochemical sensing platform based on spinel zinc ferrite nanoparticles for the quality control of paracetamol in pharmaceutical samples

In this study, crystalline spinel zinc ferrite nanoparticles (ZnFe2O4 NPs) were successfully prepared and proposed as a high-performance electrode material for the construction of an electrochemical sensing platform for the detection of paracetamol (PCM). By modifying a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPE) with ZnFe2O4 NPs, the electrochemical characteristics of the ZnFe2O4/SPE and the electrochemical oxidation of PCM were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), chronoamperometry (CA), and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) methods. The calculated electrochemical kinetic parameters from these techniques including electrochemically active surface area (ECSA), peak-to-peak separation (ΔEp), charge transfer resistance (Rct), standard heterogeneous electron-transfer rate constants (k0), electron transfer coefficient (α), catalytic rate constant (kcat), adsorption capacity (Γ), and diffusion coefficient (D) proved that the as-synthesized ZnFe2O4 NPs have rapid electron/mass transfer characteristics, intrinsic electrocatalytic activity, and facilitate the adsorption-diffusion of PCM molecules towards the modified electrode surface. As expected, the ZnFe2O4/SPE offered excellent analytical performance towards sensing of PCM with a detection limit of 0.29 μM, a wide linear range of 0.5-400 μM, and high electrochemical sensitivity of 1.1 μA μM-1 cm-2. Moreover, the proposed ZnFe2O4-based electrochemical nanosensor also exhibited good repeatability, high anti-interference ability, and practical feasibility toward PCM sensing in a pharmaceutical tablet. Based on these observations, the designed electrochemical platform not only provides a high-performance nanosensor for the rapid and highly efficient detection of PCM but also opens a new avenue for routine quality control analysis of pharmaceutical formulations.

Precise small volume sample handling for capillary electrophoresis

CE is one of the most important analytical techniques. Although the injected sample volume in CE is only in the nanoliter range, most commercial CE instruments need approximately 50 μL of the sample in the injection vial to perform the analysis. Hence, in order to fully profit from the low injection volumes, smaller vial volumes are required. Thus experiments were performed using silicone oil, which has higher density than water (1.09 g/mL) to replace sample dead volume in the vial. The results were compared to those performed without using the silicone oil in the sample vial. As an example five standard proteins namely beta-lactoglobulin, BSA, HSA, myoglobin, and ovalbumin, and one of the coagulation cascade involved proteins called vitonectin were investigated using CE. Mobility ratios and peak areas were compared. However, no significant changes were observed (RSDs% for mobility ratios and peak areas were better than 0.9 and 5.8%, respectively). Afterwards, an affinity CE method was used to investigate the interactions of two proteins, namely HSA and vitronectin, with three ligands namely enoxaparin sodium, unfractionated heparin, and pentosan polysulfate sodium. Mobility shift precision results showed that the employment of the filling has no noticeable effect on any of the protein-ligand interactions. Using a commercial PrinCE instrument and an autosampler the required sample volume is reduced down to 10 μL, and almost this complete volume can be subsequently injected during repeated experiments.

Preparation of β-cyclodextrin functionalized reduced graphene oxide: application for electrochemical determination of paracetamol

A sensitive electrochemical sensor of paracetamol was developed based on a β-CD/reduced graphene oxide modified electrode.

MEKC as a powerful growing analytical technique

This review summarizes the principle and the developments in MEKC in terms of separation power, sensitivity, and detection approaches more than 25 years after its appearance. Newly used surfactants are mentioned. Classical and new sample concentration techniques in MEKC are described. The different detection approaches in MEKC with advantages, limitations, and future prospects are also discussed. This review highlights the wider application of MEKC in different analytical fields. Various recent selected applications of this technique in different analytical fields are reported.

Precision of micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography in the determination of seven antibiotics in pharmaceuticals and feedstuffs

Validation of analytical procedures is important for their efficient and reliable application. The International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and pharmacopoeia guidelines achieved a great deal in harmonising the definitions of the required validation characteristics. It is well known that poor reproducibility limits the practical implementation of capillary electrophoresis (CE). A precision study on four different MEKC methods was performed with 11 samples, containing seven antibiotics, by two analysts, in few days, on two capillary electrophoresis instruments. Five pharmaceutical preparations and three animal feeds were used. Precision was statistically analysed using migration time, peak area and height of each compound, as well as electroosmotic front (EOF). In 25 of 31 cases, the reproducibility of peak area, peak height and migration time was good (<5%). In most cases the reproducibility of peak area was much better than the reproducibility of peak height. The worst reproducibility that we observed was 12.7% for peak height and 7.6% for peak area.

On-column electroextraction and separation of antisense oligonucleotides in human plasma by capillary gel electrophoresis

A novel approach is presented for the direct injection, and subsequent separation, of antisense phosphorothioate oligonucleotides in human plasma by capillary gel electrophoresis. The plasma, spiked with the antisense, was simply diluted 1:1 with acidified water and inserted into the sample holder in the capillary electrophoresis instrument. The separation capillary, filled with a dextran solution (replaceable polymer) and a short zone of acidified water at the injection side, was dipped into the plasma sample vial and voltage applied for simultaneous electrokinetic extraction and injection of antisense. The sample vial was then exchanged for the buffer vial, separation voltage applied, and size-sieving separation achieved. Separation time is less than 9 min and total time per analysis cycle 20 min, including rinsing of the capillary, filling with polymer, electroextraction/injection, and separation. This automated method can handle small sample volumes (4 microl) and has a detection limit of 0.5 microgml(-1) for a 16-mer phosphorothioate employing UV-detection. The capillary is stable for about 50 analyses.

Importance of the counterion in optimization of a borate electrolyte system for analyses of anions in samples with complex matrices performed by capillary zone electrophoresis

Borate buffers are common background electrolytes for analyses of anions in capillary zone electrophoresis. Usually, sodium borate at a given pH is used and this specification seems to be sufficient for a successful analysis. In this paper, we show that free migration of OH(-) may deteriorate the analysis of a typical anionic analysis of clinical samples due to uncontrolled migration of OH(-) throughout the systems of analyzed zones and may damage the stacking of anionic analytes of interest. We have proven that the use of ammonium borate may remedy the situation where the presence of ammonium may selectively stop the free migration of OH(-) ions, slow down their effective mobility and bring their safe behavior resulting in reproducible stacking of clinically important anions. Results of real analyses of human serum samples confirmed the proposed method and proved that substitution of sodium for ammonium in borate buffers offers reliable analyses of clinical samples having chloride as the bulk component. The experimental results given in this paper are supported also by computer simulation, which can not only support the positive results but also show the dynamics of the separation that is otherwise hidden to any detection possibilities.

Analysis of synthetic anti-diabetic drugs in adulterated traditional Chinese medicines by high-performance capillary electrophoresis

Four synthetic anti-diabetic drugs, acetohexamide (ACE), chlorpropamide (CHL), glibenclamide (GLI) and tolbutamide (TOL), which can be found as adulterants in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) were assayed simultaneously using high-performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) in 4 min with UV detection at 200 nm. The electrolyte was a buffer solution containing 100 mM phosphate buffer (NaH2PO4/Na2B4O7, pH 7.5). Applied voltage was 15.0 kV and temperature was 30 degrees C. 2-(4-Hydroxyphenyl) ethyl ammonium chloride (HEA) was used as an internal standard. The effects of buffer concentration, pH and supplied voltage on separation were investigated. The relative standard deviations (R.S.D.) of these anti-diabetic drugs for intra-day and inter-day analyses were 0.23-4.27 and 1.23-6.33%, respectively. The recoveries of the synthetic drug adulterants in traditional Chinese medicinal formula ranged from 81.3 to 105.5%. GLI was found and determined in a real sample of TCM.

Capillary electrophoresis-a high performance analytical separation technique

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is often one of the preferred techniques in pharmaceutical quality control and in clinical chemistry, particularly considering the high selectivity and lower costs compared to HPLC. The precision of CE is as good as in liquid chromatography (LC). The sample-throughput is high due to short analysis times. Efforts for sample pre-treatment are usually minor in CE. Urine and even blood plasma can be directly injected without further pre-treatment. After summarising the basic principles of CE, general strategies for method development are described to achieve selective, efficient, precise, fast, sensitive, and validated methods. Sample pre-treatment requirements are discussed. Standard buffer recipes, surfactants used in micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), chiral selectors, useful buffer additives, actions to deal with complex matrices, and aspects of validation have been collected. Other techniques that can be performed with CE instruments, such as capillary isoelectric focusing (CIEF), capillary isotachophoresis (CITP), and capillary electrochromatography (CEC), are briefly discussed.

Determination of clotrimazole in mice plasma by capillary electrophoresis

In addition to its antifungal activity, clotrimazole attracts interest as an anti-inflammatory drug. In order to correlate this effect with plasma concentrations in mice, a capillary electrophoretic method was developed. Sample preparation was carried out by protein precipitation using methanol. Quantification of clotrimazole was achieved by means of capillary electrophoresis using ketoconazole as an internal standard (IS). The background electrolyte (BGE) composed of a Tris buffer solution (100 mM, pH 3.0, adjusted with acetic acid) and methanol (8:2, v/v). Injection was carried out electrokinetically with 10 kV over a time period of 20 s. A special rinsing procedure utilizing a sequence of a SDS/methanol solution, a sodium hydroxide solution, water and BGE, was applied to enhance the reproducibility. With this procedure, an intermediate precision (day-to-day precision) of the area ratios of clotrimazole and IS of 5.0% for 0.5 microg ml(-1) and 2.6% for 10 microg ml(-1) was obtained. In summary, with the described capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method it is possible to handle small sample volumes of 60 microl, to detect clotrimazole concentrations of 0.3 microg ml(-1) (limit of detection), and to quantify clotrimazole down to concentrations of 0.5 microg ml(-1) (limit of quantification).

Simultaneous determination of dexamethasone and trimethoprim by liquid chromatography

A reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method to determine dexamethasone phosphate and trimethoprim is described in this paper. The separation was made in a LichrCART(R) C18 column using an acetonitrile-NaH(2)PO(4) (10 mM) (70:30, v/v) (pH 3) buffer solution as mobile phase. The mobile-phase flow rate and the sample volume injected were 1 ml/min and 20 microliter, respectively. The limits of quantification were about 0.25 mg/l for each compound. The method was applied in synthetic mixtures and in pharmaceutical formulations. Analyses were made by preparing test (from the stock solution) method whose results were compared with those obtained by means of the standard addition method. Both methods showed similar results, and then it was proved that some pharmaceuticals claimed levels were in agreement with the obtained results by using our analytical method.

Determination of the rate constants and activation energy of acetaminophen hydrolysis by capillary electrophoresis

A method based on capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection (CE-ED) was developed for the simultaneous determination of p-aminophenol and acetaminophen in the hydrolysates of acetaminophen. Effects of several important factors such as the acidity and concentration of running buffer, separation voltage, injection time, and working potential were investigated to acquire the optimum conditions. The detection electrode was a 300 microm carbon disc electrode at a working potential of +0.80 V (versus SCE). The two analytes can be well separated within 6 min in a 50 cm length fused silica capillary at a separation voltage of 18 kV in a 25 mM phosphate buffer (pH 6.5). The rate constants of acetaminophen hydrolysis in 0.5 M HCl at different temperatures were determined by monitoring the concentration changes of acetaminophen. At 70, 80, 90 and 100 degrees C, the measured rate constants of acetaminophen hydrolysis were 5.027 x 10(-3), 8.522 x 10(-3), 18.60 x 10(-3) and 32.76 x 10(-3) min(-1), respectively. The activation energy for acetaminophen hydrolysis was calculated to be 68.13 kJ mol(-1), which is in good agreement with the value in the literature.

Determination of salicylate, gentisic acid and salicyluric acid in human urine by capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection

Acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin) is rapidly metabolized to salicylic acid (salicylate) and other compounds, including gentisic acid and salicyluric acid. Monitoring of salicylate and its metabolites is of toxicological, pharmacological and biomedical interest. Three capillary electrophoresis (CE) methods featuring alkaline aqueous buffers, laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection and no solute extraction or derivatization have been explored. A competitive binding, electrokinetic capillary-based immunoassay is developed that recognizes the presence of salicylate and gentisic acid in urine. Differentiation of the two compounds, however, is problematic. With appropriate ultraviolet excitation, many salicylate-related compounds are fluorescent so that CE with direct urine injection and LIF detection permits the determination of salicylate, gentisic acid and salicyluric acid. Using a HeCd laser with 325 nm produces interference-free monitoring of all three compounds. Using 257 nm excitation from a frequency doubled Ar ion laser, native fluorescence of an endogenous urinary compound that co-migrates with gentisic acid is observed. With wavelength-resolved fluorescence detection, however, the two substances are distinguished. Furthermore, this technique, with comparison to literature data, permits the putative assignment of several peaks to other salicylate metabolites, namely glucuronide conjugates of salicylate and salicyluric acid. All three CE-LIF techniques have been applied to toxicological patient urines and urines collected after ingestion of 500 mg acetylsalicylic acid. CE results compare favorably with those obtained by a commercial fluorescence polarization immunoassay and by a conventional photometric assay.

Comparison of Capillary Electrophoresis with HPLC for Diagnosis of Factitious Hypoglycemia

Background: The diagnosis of “factitious hypoglycemia” is essentially based on the disclosure of hypoglycemic agents in blood or urine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of capillary electrophoresis (CE) as a quantitative method for determination of chlorpropamide, tolbutamide, glipizide, gliclazide, and glibenclamide in serum.

Methods: Serum samples (1 mL), with internal standard added, were purified by solid-phase extraction on OASISTM HLB cartridges (Waters), dried under reduced pressure, and reconstituted with 30–60 μL of acetonitrile:H2O. Analysis was carried out by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography in 5 mmol/L borate, 5 mmol/L phosphate, 75 mmol/L sodium cholate, pH 8.5, containing 25 mL/L methanol. Separation was accomplished in a 20 cm × 50 μm (i.d.) silica capillary at 25 °C and a constant voltage of +10 kV. Pharmacokinetics of gliclazide (80-mg tablet) in a diabetic patient were assayed by both HPLC and CE. Two hypoglycemic patients positive by HPLC analysis for unreported gliclazide and tolbutamide overdose were also screened by CE.

Results: Separation of six drugs (including the internal standard) was accomplished in 5 min plus 5 min rinsing. The between-day CV of the ratio of the areas of the sulfonylurea drugs to internal standard was &lt;1% (n = 10). Linearity (r2 ≥0.998) and recovery (≥80%) were good for all sulfonylurea drugs tested. Pharmacokinetic curves for gliclazide by CE and HPLC were superimposable. CE analysis confirmed the HPLC diagnosis of surreptitious abuse of gliclazide and tolbutamide.

Conclusion: CE is a useful tool in the clinical chemistry and toxicology laboratory for drug monitoring and pharmacokinetic investigations.

Capillary electrophoresis as a versatile tool for the bioanalysis of drugs--a review

This review article presents an overview of current research on the use of capillary electrophoretic techniques for the analysis of drugs in biological matrices. The principles of capillary electrophoresis and its various separation and detection modes are briefly discussed. Sample pretreatment methods which have been used for clean-up and concentration are discussed. Finally, an extensive overview of bioanalytical applications is presented. The bioanalyses of more than 200 drugs have been summarised, including the applied sample pretreatment methods and the achieved detection limits.

Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography as a powerful tool for pharmacological investigations without sample pretreatment: a precise technique providing cost advantages and limits of detection to the low nanomolar range

A number of pharmaceuticals (e.g., acetaminophen, salicylic acid, sulfamethoxazole, theophylline, tolbutamide and trimethoprim) have been determined in human plasma by micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), without sample pretreatment, using underivatized fused-silica capillaries. The total analysis time was only 10 min. A sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-containing borate buffer (60 mM with 200 mM SDS) at pH 10 was used. Between runs, proteins adsorbed to the capillary wall are removed by rinsing with SDS buffer and either acetonitrile (e.g., 50% v/v) or isopropanol (e.g., 10% v/v). Other rinsing procedures are discussed (salts, enzyme-containing solutions, organic solvents, sodium hydroxide, hydrofluoric acid). The separation system is tested in a concentration range between 10 ng/mL and 100 microg/mL; a detection limit of about 20 ng/mL can readily be obtained. The sensitivity was substantially improved using isopropanol as buffer additive. A day-to-day precision for relative peak areas of 1-2% relative standard deviation (RSD, n > 40) was reached in the upper concentration range. Under repeatability conditions, these values could also be obtained for low microg/mL concentrations. Thus, not only drug monitoring but also pharmacokinetic investigations from blood plasma become possible without further sample pretreatment.

Strategies for capillary electrophoresis: method development and validation for pharmaceutical and biological applications

This review is in support of the development of selective, reproducible and validated capillary electrophoretis (CE) methods. Focusing on pharmaceutical and biological applications, the successful use of CE is demonstrated by more than 800 references, mainly from 1994 until 1998. Approximately 80 recent reviews have been catalogued. These articles sum up the existing strategies for method development in CE, especially in the search for generally accepted concepts, but also looking for new, promising reagents and ideas. General strategies for method development were derived not only with regard to selectivity and efficiency, but also with regard to precision, short analysis time, limit of detection, sample pretreatment requirements and validation. Standard buffer recipes, surfactants used in micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC), chiral selectors, useful buffer additives, polymeric separation media, electroosmotic flow (EOF) modifiers, dynamic and permanent coatings, actions to deal with complex matrices and aspects of validation are collected in 20 tables. Detailed schemes for the development of MEKC methods and chiral separations, for optimizing separation efficiency, means of troubleshooting, and other important information for key decisions during method development are given in 19 diagrams. Method development for peptide and protein separations, possibilities to influence the EOF and how to stabilize it, as well as indirect detection are considered in special sections.