Evaluation of chromatographic methods for the determination of nifedipine in human serum

An intestinal epithelium-specific cytochrome P450 (P450) reductase-knockout mouse model: direct evidence for a role of intestinal p450s in first-pass clearance of oral nifedipine

To determine the in vivo function of intestinal cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes, we have generated an intestinal epithelium (IE)-specific P450 reductase gene (Cpr) knockout mouse model (designated IE-Cpr-null). In the IE-Cpr-null mouse, CPR expression was abolished in IE cells; however, CPR expression was not altered in other tissues examined. The loss of CPR expression in the small intestine (SI) led to increased expression of several P450 proteins examined, including CYP1A1, CYP2B, CYP2C, and CYP3A. It is interesting to note that the expression of CYP1A1 was also increased in the liver, kidney, and lung of the IE-Cpr-null mice compared with wild-type (WT) littermates, a result strongly supporting the notion that SI metabolism of putative dietary CYP1A1 inducers can influence the systemic bioavailability of these inducers. The rates of SI microsomal metabolism of nifedipine (NFP) in the IE-Cpr-null mice were approximately 10% of the rates in WT littermates, despite the compensatory expression of multiple P450 enzymes in the SI. Furthermore, the area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) values for blood NFP (dosed at 10 mg/kg) levels were 1.6-fold higher in IE-Cpr-null mice than in WT littermates when NFP was given orally; in contrast, the AUC values were comparable for the two strains when NFP was given intravenously. This result directly showed that P450-catalyzed NFP metabolism in the SI plays an important role in the first-pass clearance of oral NFP. Our findings indicate that the IE-Cpr-null mouse model can be used to study the in vivo function of intestinal P450 enzymes in the clearance of oral drugs and other xenobiotics.

Role of Small Intestinal Cytochromes P450 in the Bioavailability of Oral Nifedipine

To determine the effect of intestinal cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes on the bioavailability of oral drugs, we have examined the metabolism of nifedipine, an antihypertensive drug and a model substrate of CYP3A4, in mouse models having deficient expression of the NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase. Initial studies were performed on Cpr-low (CL) mice, which have substantial decreases in Cpr expression in all tissues examined, including the small intestine. In CL mice, area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) values for blood nifedipine after intraperitoneal and oral dosing were 1.8- and 4.0-fold, respectively, higher than in wild-type mice, despite increased expression of multiple P450 enzymes in both liver and intestine. The greater extent of the increase in the AUC value for oral than for intraperitoneal nifedipine suggested that intestinal P450s influence the bioavailability of oral nifedipine, a notion supported by results from further studies on LCN and CL-LCN mice. The LCN mice, which have liver-specific Cpr deletion, had 6.9-fold higher AUC values and 2.2-fold higher C(max) values for blood nifedipine than did wild-type mice after oral nifedipine, consistent with the critical role of hepatic P450s in systemic nifedipine clearance. However, in the CL-LCN mice, which have global decreases in Cpr expression in all tissues examined and Cpr deletion in the liver, AUC and C(max) values for oral nifedipine were, respectively, 2.2- and 1.8-fold higher than in LCN mice, confirming the fact that P450-catalyzed metabolism in the small intestine, the portal-of-entry organ for oral drugs, plays an important role in the first-pass clearance of oral nifedipine.

Rapid and simultaneous determination of nifedipine and dehydronifedipine in human plasma by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry: Application to a clinical herb-drug interaction study

Nifedipine (NIF), a calcium channel antagonist, is metabolized primarily by cytochrome P450 (CYP3A4) to dehydronifedipine (DNIF). As such, NIF is often used as a probe drug for determining CYP3A4 activity in human studies. A rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method was developed and validated to simultaneously determine NIF and DNIF in human plasma using nitrendipine as the internal standard (IS). After extraction of the plasma samples by ether-n-hexane (3:1, v/v), NIF, DNIF and the IS were subjected to LC/MS/MS analysis using electro-spray ionization (ESI). Chromatographic separation was performed on a Hypersil BDS C(18) column (50 mm x 2.1 mm, i.d., 3 microm). The method had a chromatographic running time of approximately 2.5 min and linear calibration curves over the concentrations of 0.5-100 ng/mL for NIF and DNIF. The recoveries of the one-step liquid extraction method were 81.3-89.1% for NIF and 71.6-80.4% for DNIF. The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of the analytical method was 0.5 ng/mL for both analytes. The intra- and inter-day precision was less than 15% for all quality control samples at concentrations of 2, 10, and 50 ng/mL. The validated LC/MS/MS method has been successfully used to study pharmacokinetic interactions of NIF with the herbal antidepressant St. John's wort in healthy volunteers. These results indicated that the developed LC/MS/MS method was efficient with a significantly shorter running time (2.5 min) for NIF and DNIF compared to those methods previously reported in the literature. The presented LC/MS/MS method had acceptable accuracy, precision and sensitivity and was used in a clinical pharmacokinetic interaction study of NIF with St. John's wort, a known herbal inducer of CYP3A4. St. John's wort was shown to induce NIF metabolism with increased plasma concentrations of DNIF.

Pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution and bioavailability of nitrendipine solid lipid nanoparticles after intravenous and intraduodenal administration

PURPOSE

The aim of this research was to study whether the bioavailability of nitrendipine (NDP) could be improved by administering nitrendipine solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) duodenally to rats.

METHODS

Nitrendipine was incorporated into SLN prepared by hot homogenization followed by ultrasonication method. SLN were produced using various triglycerides (trimyristin, tripalmitin and tristearin), soy phosphatidylcholine 95%, poloxamer 188 and charge modifiers (dicetyl phosphate, DCP and stearylamine, SA). Particle size and charge measurements were made with a Malvern Zetasizer. Pharmacokinetics of nitrendipine SLNs (NDP-SLNs) after intravenous (i.v.) and intraduodenal (i.d.) administration to conscious male Wistar rats were studied. Tissue distribution studies of NDP-SLNs were carried out in Swiss albino mice after i.v. administration and compared to nitrendipine suspension (NDP-Susp).

RESULTS

Average size and zeta potential of SLNs of different lipids, with and without charge modifiers ranged from 101.9 +/- 3.0 to 123.5 +/- 3.0 nm and - 35.1 +/- 0.5 to +34.6 +/- 2.3 mV, respectively. AUC(0-infinity) was increased (up to 4.51-folds) and clearance was decreased (up to 4.54-folds) after i.v. administration of NDP-SLNs with and without charge modifiers compared to NDP-Susp. Effective bioavailability of NDP-SLNs were 2.81-5.35-folds greater after i.d. administration in comparison with that of NDP-Susp. In tested organs, the AUC and MRT of NDP-SLNs were higher than those of NDP-Susp especially in brain, heart and reticuloendothelial cells containing organs.

CONCLUSIONS

SLN are suitable drug delivery systems for the improvement of bioavailability of nitrendipine. Negatively and positively charged SLN were better taken up by the liver and brain, respectively.

Development of an HPLC method for the determination of nifedipine in human plasma by solid-phase extraction

Nifedipine, a dihydropyridine calcium channel antagonist, is widely used in the treatment of hypertension and other cardiovascular disorders. A selective, sensitive and accurate high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed, validated and applied for determination of nifedipine in human plasma samples. A series of studies were conducted in order to investigate the effects of mobile phase composition, buffer concentration, mobile phase pH and concentration of organic modifiers, and to develop a convenient and easy-to-use method for quantitative analysis of nifedipine. The method involves solid-phase extraction on C18 cartridges. The chromatographic separation was accomplished on a Lichrocart Lichrospher 60 RP selectB column with a mobile phase composed of 0.020 mol/L KH2PO4 (pH 4.8) and acetonitrile (42:58, v/v). UV detection was set at 240 nm. The calibration curve was linear in the concentration range of 5.0-200.0 ng/mL for nifedipine in plasma and the limit of quantification was 5.0 ng/mL.

Photostability studies for micellar liquid chromatographic determination of nifedipine in serum and urine samples

Nifedipine is a photosensitive compound that is converted into its 4-(2-nitrophenyl) pyridine and 4-(2-nitrosophenyl) pyridine homologue. In order to obtain the most adequate conditions for handling nifedipine solutions in the analytical laboratory, a number of studies on the decomposition of this compound were performed. A simple micellar liquid chromatographic procedure was described to determine nifedipine in different biological matrices such as serum and urine, and to control its decomposition. To perform the analysis, nifedipine was dissolved in 0.1 m SDS at pH 3 and chromatographed using a mobile phase containing 0.125 m SDS-3% pentanol, pH 3 on a C18 column and UV detection at 235 nm. The chromatographic analysis time was 8 min. The response of the drug for both biological matrices was linear in the 1-100 microg/mL range, with r2>0.997 at all times. Repeatability, intermediate precision (CV, %) and limits of quantification and detection (ng/mL) were 0.19, 4.3, 104 and 31 in serum and 0.81, 2.1, 136 and 41 in urine. The method developed here does not show interferences or matrix effects produced by endogenous compounds. Micellar media and mobile phases have the advantage of stabilising the compounds, thus preventing photodegradation and allowing the direct injection of biological samples.

Extractive spectrophotometric methods for the determination of nifedipine in pharmaceutical formulations using bromocresol green, bromophenol blue, bromothymol blue and eriochrome black T

Four simple, sensitive and accurate spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the determination of nifedipine in pharmaceutical formulations. These methods are based on the formation of ion-pair complexes of amino derivative of the nifedipine with bromocresol green (BCG), bromophenol blue (BPB), bromothymol blue (BTB) and eriochrome black T (EBT) in acidic medium. The coloured products are extracted with chloroform and measured spectrophotometrically at 415 nm (BCG, BPB and BTB) and 520 nm (EBT). Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration range of 5.0-32.5, 4.0-37.5, 6.5-33.0 and 4.5-22.5 microg ml(-1) with molar absorptivity of 6.41 x 10(3), 4.85 x 10(3), 5.26 x 10(3) and 7.69 x 10(3) l mol(-1) cm(-1) and relative standard deviation of 0.82%, 0.72%, 0.66% and 0.68% for BCG, BPB, BTB and EBT methods, respectively. These methods have been successfully applied for the assay of drug in pharmaceutical formulations. No interference was observed from common pharmaceutical adjuvants. Statistical comparison of the results with the reference method shows excellent agreement and indicates no significant difference in accuracy and precision.

Cathodic adsorptive stripping square-wave voltammetric determination of nifedipine drug in bulk, pharmaceutical formulation and human serum

Nifedipine is a calcium-channel antagonist drug used in the management of angina pectoris and hypertension through inhibition of calcium influx. A fully validated sensitive cathodic adsorptive stripping square-wave voltammetry procedure was optimized for the determination of the drug at trace levels. The procedure was based on the reduction of the nitrophenyl group after the interfacial accumulation of the drug onto a hanging mercury drop electrode in Britton-Robinson buffer of pH 11.0. The optimal conditions of the procedure were found to be: accumulation potential=-0.9 V vs. Ag/AgCl/KCl(s)), accumulation time=30 s, scan increment=10 mV, pulse amplitude=50 mV and frequency=120 Hz. Under these conditions, a well-defined peak was obtained; its peak current showed a linear dependence on drug concentration in the range of 2x10(-9)-2x10(-7) mol L(-1) bulk nifedipine. The mean recoveries based on eight replicate measurements for 1x10(-8) and 5x10(-8) mol L(-1) bulk nifedipine solutions were 98.46+/-0.86% and 98.23+/-0.92%, respectively. A detection limit of 3.42x10(-10) mol L(-1) bulk nifedipine was achieved. The procedure was successfully applied for assay of the drug in tablets and spiked human serum with mean recoveries of 101.95+/-1.42% and 98.70+/-0.63%, respectively. The limit of detection of the drug in spiked human serum was found to be 3.90x10(-10) mol L(-1).

Determination of nifedipine in human plasma by square wave adsorptive stripping voltammetry

A simple, sensitive and selective square-wave adsorptive stripping voltammetric method has been developed and validated for the determination of nifedipine (NIF) in plasma. The assay was performed after single extraction of NIF from alkalinised plasma into organic phase. The adsorption behaviour of NIF on a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) was explored by square-wave and cyclic voltammetry. The drug was accumulated at HMDE and a well-defined peak was obtained at -730 mV versus Ag/AgCl in borate buffer of pH 9.0 including 0.01 M KCl. The linear concentration range was 2.89 x 10(-9) M-3.61 x 10(-7) M (1.00-125.01 ng ml(-1)) when using 30 s accumulation time at -300 mV. Limit of detection and limit of quantification were 1.21 x 10(-9) M (0.42 ng ml(-1)) and 2.89 x 10(-9) M (1.00 ng ml(-1)) respectively. The intra-day relative standard deviation (RSD) ranged from 1.93 to 4.12% at three concentrations and the inter-day RSDs varied from 2.53 to 6.68%. The method was applied, to the plasma of pregnant women suffering from pregnancy induced hypertension, for the determination of NIF. The percentage recoveries varied from 96.26 to 99.49%. It has been shown that NIF could be determined in the presence of its main metabolite (dehydronifedipine) by the developed method.

Spectrophotometric method for the determination of nifedipine with 4-(methylamino)phenol and potassium dichromate

A new simple, sensitive and reproducible spectrophotometric method for the determination of nifedipine in pure and dosage forms has been proposed. It is based on the reduction of nifedipine with Zn/NNH4Cl, followed by coupling with N-methyl-1,4-benzoquinoneimine--the oxidation product of 4-(methylamino)phenol, to give a chromophore which absorbed maximally at 525 nm. The experimental conditions were optimised and Beer's law was obeyed over the concentration range of 5-175 microg ml(-1). The molar absorptivity, detection limit, recovery and RSD were found to be 1.9 x 10(3) l mol(-1) cm(-1), 1.1 microg ml(-1), 99.7-100.5% and 0.3-0.8%, respectively. The proposed method was compared favourably with the official B.P. method.

First-derivative spectrophotometric and LC determination of nifedipine in Brij 96 based oil/water/oil multiple microemulsions on stability studies

A first-derivative spectrophotometric (1D(387)) method was developed for the determination of nifedipine in oil/water/oil (O/W/O) multiple microemulsions during stability studies. The UV first-derivative spectra were recorded over the wavelength range 200-600 nm (Delta lambda=16). The derivative procedure was based on the linear relationship between nifedipine concentration and the first-derivative amplitude at 387 nm. This method was validated and compared with a liquid chromatography (LC) procedure used for the quantitative analysis of the drug. Both methods showed excellent precision and accuracy with values of 2.09 and 1.82%, respectively, for the LC method and of 1.53 and 1.64%, respectively, for the 1D(387) method. The established linearity range was 5-30 microg ml(-1) with r(2) values of 0.9980 and 0.9988 for LC and first-derivative procedures, respectively. Nifedipine recoveries from spiked placebos were >95% for both methods over the linear range analysed. These methods have been successfully used for determining of nifedipine content of multiple microemulsions during stability studies, since there was no interference with its decomposition products.

Sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of nifedipine in cat plasma following improved sample treatment

A simple, easy and accurate reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method is described for the determination of nifedipine in cat plasma. The procedure involves extraction of nifedipine from plasma using a Sep-Pak C18 cartridge and ultraviolet detection at 350 nm. The present method provides the required reproducibility and sensitivity for the determination of low concentrations of nifedipine without interference from plasma components or photodegradation products. The method was validated over the range 1-50 ng/ml nifedipine. Accuracy and precision were, respectively, 97% or more and 5% or less over the concentration range examined. The minimum quantifiable concentration of nifedipine was found to be 1 ng/ml.

Simultaneous determination of nifedipine and dehydronifedipine in human plasma by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Quantitative analysis of therapeutic compounds and their metabolites in biological matrix (such as plasma, serum or urine) nowadays requires sensitive and selective methods to allow the determination of concentrations in the ng/ml range. A new on-line LC-MS-MS method using atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation (APCI) as interface for the simultaneous determination of nifedipine (NIF) and its metabolite in human plasma, dehydronifedipine (DNIF) has been developed. The compounds were extracted from plasma using solid-phase extraction (SPE) on disposable extraction cartridges (DECs). The SPE operations were performed automatically by means of a sample processor equipped with a robotic arm (ASPEC system). The DEC filled with phenyl modified silica was first conditioned with methanol and water. The washing step was performed with water. Finally, the analytes were successively eluted with methanol and water. The liquid chromatographic (LC) separation of NIF and DNIF was achieved on a RP-18 stationary phase (4 microm). The mobile phase consisted of methanol-50 mM ammonium acetate solution (50:50, v/v). The LC was then coupled to tandem mass spectrometry with an APCI interface in the positive ion mode. The method developed was validated. The absolute recoveries evaluated over the whole concentration range were 95+/-2% and 95+/-4% for NIF and DNIF, respectively. The method was found to be linear in the 0.5-100 ng/ml concentration range for the two analytes (r2 = 0.999 for both NIF and DNIF). The mean R.S.D. values for repeatability and intermediate precision were 2.9 and 3.0% for NIF and 2.2-4.7% for the metabolite. The method developed was successfully used to investigate the plasma concentration of NIF and DNIF in the pharmacokinetic studies.

Sensitive and specific liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric assay for barnidipine in human plasma

A sensitive and specific LC-MS-MS assay has been developed and validated for barnidipine (1-benzyl-3-pyrrolidinyl)methyl-2,6-dimethyl-4(m-nitrophenyl)-1,4-dihydr opyridine-3,5-dicarboxylate). The assay involves a simple and rapid solid-phase extraction procedure. Sample analysis was on a Spherisorb S3ODS2 100 mmX2 mm I.D. column, with a Finnigan TSQ 7000 mass spectrometer, using an electrospray interface and selective reaction monitoring (SRM). The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy, determined as the coefficient of variation and relative error, respectively, were 11.8% or less. The limit of quantitation was 0.03 ng/ml, and the calibration was linear between 0.03 and 3.0 ng/ml. The method has been used successfully for the measurement of over two thousand human plasma samples from pharmacokinetic clinical trials.

Sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of nifedipine in dog plasma using an automated sample preparation system with laboratory robot

Nifedipine, a calcium-channel blocking drug was analysed in dog plasma after oral dosing with two different formulations. Sample preparation was automated with a laboratory robot. Quantitative determination of the drug was performed on a reversed-phase HPLC system with electrochemical detection (ED) using an internal standard. Validation of the analytical method showed that the system is well suited for pharmacokinetic studies on dogs. The assay was linear in the range 1-50 ng/ml. Inter-day and intra-day variability were between 6.43-18.15% C.V. and 1.57-5.53% C.V., respectively.