Quantification of the Triazole Antifungal Compounds Voriconazole and Posaconazole in Human Serum or Plasma Using Liquid Chromatography Electrospray Tandem Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS)

Advancing posaconazole quantification analysis with a new reverse-phase HPLC method in its bulk and marketed dosage form

Introduction: Posaconazole is a widely used antifungal drug, and its accurate quantification is essential for quality control and assessment of its pharmaceutical products. This study aimed to develop and validate a reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analytical method for quantifying Posaconazole in bulk and dosage form. Methods: The HPLC method was developed and validated based on International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) guidelines. The developed method was then applied to quantify Posaconazole in a marketed tablet formulation. The method's specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, robustness, and stability were evaluated. Results: The developed HPLC method showed good linearity over a 2-20 μg/mL concentration range. The percentage recovery of Posaconazole from the bulk and marketed formulations was found to be 99.01% and 99.05%, respectively. The intra-day and inter-day precisions were less than 1%, and the method was stable under different conditions. The HPLC method was successfully applied to quantify Posaconazole in the marketed formulation. Conclusion: The developed and validated HPLC method is reliable and efficient for analyzing Posaconazole in bulk and dosage forms. The method's accuracy, precision, specificity, linearity, robustness, and stability demonstrate its effectiveness. The method can be used for the quality control and assessment of Posaconazole-containing pharmaceutical products.

Determination of voriconazole in human plasma by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and its application in therapeutic drug monitoring in Chinese patients

OBJECTIVE

To develop a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the quantification of voriconazole in human plasma, and to evaluate its application in clinical therapeutic drug monitoring.

METHOD

Plasma samples were obtained from Chinese patients receiving voriconazole, precipitated with methanol (using fluconazole as an internal standard), and then subjected to LC-MS/MS using an SB C18 column with a methanol and water mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/minute. Quantification was performed by multiple-reaction monitoring using the precursor and product ion pair m/z 350-280.9 for voriconazole and m/z 307-219.9 for fluconazole.

RESULTS

The calibration curve was linear over a range of 0.1-10.0 µg/mL (R2 = 0.9995). The inter-day and intra-day relative standard deviations were <7.68% and <8.97%, respectively. Extraction recovery, matrix effect, and stability were also validated. Sixty-eight plasma samples from 42 patients were analyzed, and the voriconazole concentrations in 25 samples (36.8%) were outside the optimal range of 1.5-4.5 µg/mL.

CONCLUSIONS

We developed a simple and accurate method of drug monitoring, which could improve the efficacy and prevent adverse reactions of voriconazole.

Development and validation of a volumetric absorptive microsampling assay for analysis of voriconazole and voriconazole N-oxide in human whole blood

Voriconazole is a broad-spectrum antifungal triazole drug for the treatment of invasive fungal infections. It is extensively metabolized by hepatic drug metabolizing enzymes cytochrome (CYP) 2C19 and CYP3A4. Selective inhibition of intestinal CYP3A4 by grapefruit juice may increase the oral bioavailability of voriconazole in children. To test this hypothesis it is necessary to develop a sensitive assay for measuring voriconazole and its major metabolites in a small volume of blood. Mitra® devices from Neoteryx were employed to develop and validate the assay for the quantitation of voriconazole and voriconazole N-oxide. Mitra® devices utilize volumetric absorptive microsampling (VAMS™) technology that enables accurate and precise collection of a fixed volume (10 μL of blood), reducing or eliminating the volumetric blood hematocrit assay-bias associated with the dried blood spotting technique. We developed an ultra-performance liquid chromatographic method with tandem mass spectrometry detection for quantification of voriconazole and voriconazole N-oxide. Sample extraction of Mitra® devices, followed by reversed-phase chromatographic separation and selective detection using tandem mass spectrometry with a 4.00 minute runtime per sample was employed. Standard curves were linear between 10.0 to 10,000 ng/mL for both voriconazole and voriconazole N-oxide. Intra- and inter-day accuracy were within 87-102% and precision (CV) was <12% based on a 3-day validation study. Recoveries were ≥94 % for voriconazole and ≥87 % for voriconazole N-oxide. Voriconazole and voriconazole N-oxide were stable in human whole blood under assay conditions (19 h at room temperature and 24 h in autosampler). Voriconazole was stable for 1-month in dried microsamples under different conditions (4, -20 and -78 °C). This assay provides an efficient quantitation of voriconazole and voriconazole N-oxide and is ready to be implemented for the analysis of whole blood microsamples in a pediatric clinical trial investigating the impact of intestinal inhibition of CYP3A4 on voriconazole pharmacokinetics.

Validation of a Reversed-Phase Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatographic Method With Photodiode Array Detection for the Determination of Voriconazole in Human Serum and Its Application to Therapeutic Drug Monitoring

BACKGROUND

Voriconazole is a broad-spectrum triazole antifungal agent. It is widely used in the treatment of invasive fungal infections in immunocompromised patients. Because the pharmacokinetics of voriconazole demonstrates considerable variability, monitoring its serum levels plays an important role in optimizing therapies against many clinically relevant fungal pathogens. The aim of this study was to validate a simple and rapid U-HPLC-PDA method with minimal sample preparation for routine therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of voriconazole.

METHODS

After protein precipitation with the internal standard solution (posaconazole 5.0 mg/L in acetonitrile), chromatographic separation was performed in 4 minutes using water and acetonitrile as mobile phases and an Acquity UPLC BEH HSS C18 column (2.1 × 100 mm, 1.7 µm). The temperature was set at 45°C and the flow rate was 0.4 mL/min. Photodiode array detection at 256 nm was used as detection system. The method was validated according international guidelines for linearity, accuracy, precision, selectivity, lower limit of quantitation, carry over, and stability under different conditions.

RESULTS

All performance parameters were within acceptance criteria, demonstrating that the validated method is fit for purpose. After assay validation, 115 serum samples collected from 41 patients were analyzed to report the experience of the laboratory in TDM of voriconazole. Results showed a large variability in voriconazole trough levels, suggesting that this drug should be frequently measured in patients under treatment to enhance therapies efficacy and improve safety.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, a reproducible U-HPLC-PDA assay with a short analysis time, requiring only a small amount of serum, good accuracy and reproducibility was validated, which is suitable for routine TDM of voriconazole in serum.