Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography of dactinomycin

Validated assay for the simultaneous quantification of total vincristine and actinomycin-D concentrations in human EDTA plasma and of vincristine concentrations in human plasma ultrafiltrate by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry

A sensitive, specific and efficient high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS) assay for the simultaneous determination of total vincristine and actinomycin-D concentrations in human plasma and an assay for the determination of unbound vincristine are presented. Electrospray ionization (ESI), atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and heated electrospray ionization (H-ESI) were tested as ionization interfaces. For reasons of robustness ESI was chosen followed by tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS). For the plasma assay a 30 microL aliquot was protein precipitated with acetonitrile/methanol (50:50, v/v) containing the internal standard vinorelbine and 10 microL volumes were injected onto the HPLC system. To determine unbound vincristine, ultrafiltrate was produced from plasma using 30 kDa centrifugal filter units. The plasma ultrafiltrate was mixed with methanol (50:50, v/v), internal standard vinorelbine was added and 20 microL aliquots were injected onto the HPLC system. Separation was achieved on a 50x2.1 mm i.d. Xbridge C18 column using 1 mM ammonium acetate/acetonitrile (30:70, v/v) adjusted to pH 10.5 with ammonia, run in a gradient with methanol at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. HPLC run time was 6 min. The assay quantifies in plasma vincristine from 0.25 to 100 ng/mL and actinomycin-D from 0.5 to 250 ng/mL using plasma sample volumes of only 30 microL. Vincristine in plasma ultrafiltrate can be quantified from 1 to 100 ng/mL. Validation results demonstrate that vincristine and actinomycin-D can be accurately and precisely quantified in human plasma and plasma ultrafiltrate with the presented methods. The assays are now in use to support clinical pharmacological studies in children treated with vincristine and actinomycin-D.

High-performance liquid chromatographic methods for the determination of topoisomerase II inhibitors

Various methods for separating eleven different types of topoisomerase II (TOPO-2) inhibitors, including epipodophyllotoxins, anthracyclines, anthracenediones, anthrapyrazoles, anthracenebishydrazones, indole derivatives, aminoacridines, benzisoquinolinediones, isoflavones, bisdioxopiperazines and thiobarbituric acids, are summarized. Proper sample preparation and storage is critical to the successful analysis of some TOPO-2 inhibitors due to difficulties associated with adsorption, instability and complex biological components. Solid-phase and liquid-liquid extractions are widely used to separate TOPO-2 inhibitors from biological samples, although simple deproteinization followed by direct analysis of the supernatant is preferable to extraction based on its speed and simplicity. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is the favored method for the bioanalysis of TOPO-2 inhibitors. UV or diode array detection is generally employed for early pharmacokinetic studies, while fluorescence or electrochemical detection is used more frequently for analytes with fluorescent or oxidative-reductive properties. For analyses requiring highly sensitive and/or specific detection, electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI-MS or ESI-MS-MS) provides a suitable alternative. A comprehensive compilation of the HPLC techniques currently used to separate TOPO-2 inhibitors will aid the future development of analytical methods for new TOPO-2 inhibitors.