Quantitative analysis of nifedipine in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography

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.

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.

Sensitive and simple liquid chromatographic method with ultraviolet detection for the determination of nifedipine in canine plasma

An isocratic high-performance liquid chromatographic method with detection at 240 nm was developed, optimized and validated for the determination of nifedipine in canine plasma. Liquid-liquid extraction was used as the sample preparation technique. Carbamazepine was used as internal standard. A Hypersil BDS RP-C18 column (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 microm) was equilibrated with a mobile phase composed of water and methanol, 45:55 (v/v). Its flow rate was 1 ml min(-1). The elution time for nifedipine and carbamazepine was approximately 12 and 8 min, respectively. Calibration curves of nifedipine in plasma were linear in the concentration range of 1-200 ng ml(-1). Limits of detection and quantification in plasma were 0.5 and 1.5 ng ml(-1), respectively. Recovery was greater than 98%. Intra- and inter-day relative standard deviation for nifedipine in plasma was less than 8.5 and 10%, respectively. This method was applied to the determination of nifedipine plasma levels after administration of commercially available soft gelatine capsules to dogs.

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.

Determination of nifedipine in human plasma by solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography: validation and application to pharmacokinetic studies

Nifedipine, a dihydropyridine calcium channel antagonist, is widely used in the treatment of hypertension and other cardiovascular disorders. A simple, rapid, sensitive, precise and accurate HPLC method, using solid-phase extraction, for the quantitation of nifedipine in human plasma was developed and validated. The calibration graphs were linear in the 5-400 ng/ml concentration range (r>0.999). Recovery for nifedipine was greater than 93.9% and for internal standard nitrendipine was 96.1%. Intra-day and inter-day precision ranged from 1.4 to 4.2 and 3.9 to 5.6%, respectively. Intra-day and inter-day accuracy was ranged from 94.5 to 98.0 and 93.1 to 98.0%, respectively. The method was not interfered with by other plasma components and was applied for the determination of nifedipine in pharmacokinetic study after single oral administration of 10 mg nifedipine to 18 healthy male subjects.

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.

Dissolution tests for self-setting calcium phosphate cement-containing nifedipine

Nifedipine-containing calcium phosphate cement (CPC) was prepared, and nifedipine (NF) release from this preparation was evaluated by the shaking method (SK), Japanese Pharmacopoeia XIV (JPXIV) paddle method (PD), and JPXIV flow-through cell method (FT). The release of NF from the CPC preparation continued for 7 d or longer by all these methods. This suggests that the release of NF can be controlled by preparing NF-containing CPC. The release pattern of NF from CPC in these tests was found to follow the Higuchi equation. However, the Higuchi constant differed among the three dissolution tests, probably because the apparent tortuosity of capillary system (tau) varied.

Liquid chromatographic assay of nifedipine in human plasma and its application to pharmacokinetic studies

A highly sensitive, selective and reproducible reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of nifedipine in human plasma with minimum sample preparation. The method is sensitive to 3 ng/ml in plasma, with acceptable within- and between-day reproducibilities and linearity (r2 > 0.99) over a concentration range from 10-200 ng/ml. Acidified plasma samples were extracted using diethyether containing diazepam as internal standard and chromatographic separation was accomplished on C18 column using a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile, methanol and water (35:17:48, v/v). The within-day precision ranged from 2.22 to 4.64% and accuracy ranged from 102.4-106.4%. The day-to-day precision ranged from 2.34-7.07% and accuracy from 95.1-100.1%. The relative recoveries of nifedipine from plasma ranged from 91.0-107.3% whereas extraction recoveries were 88.6-93.3%. Following eight 6-week freeze-thaw cycles, nifedipine in plasma samples proved to be stable with accuracy ranging from 0.64 to 3.0% and precision ranging from 3.6 to 4.15%. Nifedipine was also found to be photostable for at least 120 min in plasma, 30 min in blood and for 60 min in aqueous solutions after exposure to light. The method is sensitive and reliable for pharmacokinetic studies and therapeutic drug monitoring of nifedipine in humans after the oral administration of immediate-release capsules and sustained-release tablets to five healthy subjects.

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.

Electroanalytical study of nifedipine using activated glassy carbon electrode

The electrochemical properties of nifedipine have been investigated in aqueous solution by linear sweep and cyclic voltammetry. The method is based both on the reduction and on the oxidation of the drug at a glassy carbon electrode activated by applying a new pre-treatment. The voltammograms of nifedipine on pH, concentration and scan rate have been carefully examined. Both the electroreduction and electrooxidation of nifedipine allow its determination at pH 1.5 in the concentration range of 2 x 10(-5)-6 x 10(-4) M and 8 x 10(-5)-1 x 10(-3) M, respectively. The method has been applied to commercial samples (tablets and capsules).

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.