A validated UPLC-MS/MS method to determine free and total irinotecan and its two metabolites in human plasma after intravenous administration of irinotecan hydrochloride liposome injection

Development and validation of an UPLC-MS/MS method for the determination of irinotecan (CPT-11), SN-38 and SN-38 glucuronide in human plasma and peritoneal tumor tissue from patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis

Irinotecan (CPT-11), an antineoplastic drug, is used for the treatment of colorectal and pancreatic cancer due to its topoisomerase I inhibitory activity. CPT-11 is a prodrug which is converted to its active metabolite SN-38 by carboxylesterases. SN-38 is further metabolized to its inactive metabolite SN-38 glucuronide. When evaluating the pharmacokinetic properties of CPT-11 and its metabolites, it is important to accurately assess the concentrations in both plasma as well as tumor tissues. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to develop and validate a robust and sensitive ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method to quantify the concentration of CPT-11 and its metabolites (SN-38 and SN-38 glucuronide) in human plasma and peritoneal tumor tissue. The sample preparation of plasma and tumor tissue consisted of protein precipitation and enzymatic digestion/liquid-liquid extraction, respectively. Chromatographic separation was achieved with an Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column combined with a VanGuard pre-column. The mobile phases consisted of water +0.1 % formic acid (mobile phase A) and acetonitrile +0.1 % formic acid (mobile phase B). Mass analysis was performed using a Xevo TQS tandem mass spectrometer in the positive electrospray ionization mode. Method validation was successfully performed by assessing linearity, precision and accuracy, lower limit of quantification, carry over, selectivity, matrix effect and stability according to the following guidelines: "Committee for Medicinal Products for Human use, Guideline on Bioanalytical Method Validation". A cross-validation of the developed method was performed in a pilot pharmacokinetic study, demonstrating the usefulness of the current method to quantify CPT-11 and its metabolites in the different matrices.

Lanthanide (Eu3+/Tb3+)-Loaded γ-Cyclodextrin Nano-Aggregates for Smart Sensing of the Anticancer Drug Irinotecan

The clinical use of anticancer drugs necessitates new technologies for their safe, sensitive, and selective detection. In this article, lanthanide (Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺)-loaded γ-cyclodextrin nano-aggregates (ECA and TCA) are reported, which sensitively detects the anticancer drug irinotecan by fluorescence intensity changes. Fluorescent lanthanide (Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺) complexes exhibit high fluorescence intensity, narrow and distinct emission bands, long fluorescence lifetime, and insensitivity to photobleaching. However, these lanthanide (Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺) complexes are essentially hydrophobic, toxic, and non-biocompatible. Lanthanide (Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺) complexes were loaded into naturally hydrophilic γ-cyclodextrin to form fluorescent nano-aggregates. The biological nontoxicity and cytocompatibility of ECA and TCA fluorescent nanoparticles were demonstrated by cytotoxicity experiments. The ECA and TCA fluorescence nanosensors can detect irinotecan selectively and sensitively through the change of fluorescence intensity, with detection limits of 6.80 μM and 2.89 μM, respectively. ECA can safely detect irinotecan in the cellular environment, while TCA can detect irinotecan intracellularly and is suitable for cell labeling.

Regulated bioanalysis of liposomal amphotericin B to support pharmacokinetic studies of liposomal drugs

Background: Because of the delicate nature of liposomes, bioanalysis of free and liposomal-encapsulated drugs is among the most challenging assays to perform. Current regulatory guidance for bioanalysis is not sufficient to address the complexity of this particular formulation. Method & results: Three individual LC-MS/MS methods to quantify free amphotericin B (10-3000 ng/ml) and encapsulated amphotericin B (100-50,000 ng/ml) in pretreated human plasma and total amphotericin B (100-50,000 ng/ml) in human plasma were fully validated and applied to a bioequivalence study. The acceptance criteria and experimental design of additional validation tests using cross quality control were carefully deliberated a priori and included in the sample analysis as well. Discussion: Additional validation tests are necessary to demonstrate that the measured concentration of the intended component is accurate and free of interference from other coexisting components in the sample. These practices can be used as guidance for future liposomal drug method validation.

Essential oil from the raw and vinegar-processed Rhizoma Curcumae ameliorate CCl4-induced liver fibrosis: integrating network pharmacology and molecular mechanism evaluation

Liver fibrosis, caused by multiple chronic liver injuries, is a known contributor to cirrhosis and even liver cancer. As a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Rhizoma curcumae has been extensively used in the treatment of liver fibrosis with satisfying therapeutic effects; however, its mechanism is unclear. The essential oil is the main bioactive component. The purpose of this study was to investigate the chemical profile and the pharmacological mechanisms of the essential oil of Rhizoma curcumae (EORC) against liver fibrosis by combining network pharmacology and transcriptomic technologies. A total of 37 active compounds were identified using the GC/MS system and literature mining, and the corresponding putative targets were predicted. Then, network pharmacology method was applied to identify the 168 candidate targets of EORC-alleviated liver fibrosis. String database and Cytoscape software were used to build the herb-compound-target network and protein-protein interactions (PPIs) network. Functional and pathway enrichment analysis indicated that EORC significantly influenced TGF-β1/Smads and PI3K/AKT pathways. Experimentally, we verified that EORC attenuated the severity and pathological changes during liver fibrosis progression based on the CCl4-induced liver fibrosis rat model. Transcriptomic technologies demonstrated that EORC ameliorated liver fibrosis partially by regulating the TGF-β1/Smads and PI3K/AKT pathways. In addition, the effect of vinegar-processed EORC was more significant than that of the raw one. Therefore, EORC can alleviate the severity of liver fibrosis through mechanisms predicted by network pharmacology and provide a basis for the further understanding of the application of EORC in the treatment of liver fibrosis.

Pharmacovigilance of herb-drug interactions: A pharmacokinetic study on the combination administration of herbal Kang'ai injection and chemotherapy irinotecan hydrochloride injection by LC-MS/MS

Chinese herbal drugs are often combined with chemotherapy drugs for the treatment of cancers. However, the combination administrations often do not have scientifically sound bases established on full preclinical and clinical investigations. A commonly used anti-colon-cancer herb-drug pair, irinotecan (CPT-11) hydrochloride injection and Kang'ai (KA) injection was taken as an example to investigate the possible pharmacokinetic interactions between Chinese herbal drugs and chemotherapy injections to determine the potential adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Rats were randomly divided into three groups and received 20 mg/kg CPT-11 injection 15 min after administration of 4 mL/kg saline for the CPT-11 single administration group and 4 mL/kg KA injection for the separated co-administration group, respectively. In the pre-mixed co-administration group, rats received a mixture of 20 mg/kg CPT-11 injection and 4 mL/kg KA injection. Blood samples were collected at 10 pre-determined time points between 0 and 24 h. The tissue samples were collected at 5 and 8 min after the injections, respectively. A reliable LC-MS/MS method was established for the simultaneous determination of CPT-11 and its metabolites, SN-38, SN-38 G and APC in the rat plasma and tissue samples, after full confirmation of two injections chemical and stability compatibilities. Compared to the C₀ (5129 ± 757 ng/mL) and AUC_0-t (7858 ± 1307 ng h/mL) of CPT-11 in the CPT-11 single administration group, the C₀ (4574 ± 371 ng/mL) and AUC_0-t (8779 ± 601 ng h/mL) after the separated co-administration remained unchanged, but the pre-mixed co-administration resulted with a significant increased C₀ (29,454 ± 12,080 ng/mL) and AUC_0-t (15,539 ± 5165 ng h/mL) (p < 0.05). Since the exposures of CPT-11 in most tissues in the pre-mixed co-administration group were dramatically lower than the separated co-administration group, the increased CPT-11 plasma concentration may be produced by the delayed tissue distribution because of the encapsulation by the components contained in KA injection, such as polysaccharides. Similar differences were also found in its metabolite, SN-38 G. There are obvious herb-drug interactions between CPT-11 injection and KA injection after the pre-mixed co-administration. The resulting excessive CPT-11 in the plasma may lead to many serious ADRs. Therefore, the full evaluation of herb-drug interactions is necessary and inappropriate combinations should be avoided.

A Rapid and Sensitive HPLC Method for Simultaneous Determination of Irinotecan Hydrochloride and Curcumin in Co-delivered Polymeric Nanoparticles

In recent years, a great deal of attention has been paid to the combined use of multiple antitumor drugs for better cancer treatment. The aims of the study are to construct a nanoparticle drug delivery system for the co-delivery of irinotecan hydrochloride and curcumin and to develop an analytical method for simultaneously quantifying these molecules, which is essential for further studies of the co-delivered nano system. The irinotecan hydrochloride and curcumin co-delivered nanoparticle (ICN) were prepared by combinatorially entrapping them into polyethylene glycol-poly lactic acid-co-glycolic acid (PEG-PLGA) polymeric nanoparticles. A simple, sensitive and rapid high-performance liquid chromatography method was developed and validated to simultaneously quantify the compounds in the co-delivered nanoparticle system. Acetonitrile and ultrapure water containing sodium dodecyl sulfate (0.08 mol/L), disodium phosphate (Na2HPO4, 0.002 mol/L) and acetic acid (4%, v/v) were used as the mobile phase and their ratio was set at 50:50. The flow rate was set to 1.0 mL/min, and the temperature in the column oven was maintained at 40°C. The analysis was carried out at 256 and 424 nm to assess irinotecan hydrochloride and curcumin, respectively. Detectors with only one channel can also visualize both analytes in one chromatogram at 379 nm and still demonstrate acceptable sensitivity. The retention times for irinotecan hydrochloride and curium were 3.317 and 5.560 min, respectively. The method developed was confirmed to be sensitive, accurate (recovery, 100 ± 2%), precise (relative standard deviation, RSD ≤ 1%), robust and linear (R2 ≥ 0.9996) in the range from 2.05 to 1050 μg/mL. The presented method has been used to quantify irinotecan hydrochloride and curcumin in the co-delivered ICN nano system to assess the drug delivery quality of the nanoparticles and can also be used for routine analysis because of its simplicity and accuracy.

Solubility and Bioavailability Enhancement of Oridonin: A Review

Oridonin (ORI), an ent-kaurene tetracyclic diterpenoid compound, is isolated from Chinese herb Rabdosia rubescens with various biological and pharmacological activities including anti-tumor, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the clinical application of ORI is limited due to its low solubility and poor bioavailability. In order to overcome these shortcomings, many strategies have been explored such as structural modification, new dosage form, etc. This review provides a detailed discussion on the research progress to increase the solubility and bioavailability of ORI.

Stable Isotope Dilution LC-HRMS Assay To Determine Free SN-38, Total SN-38, and SN-38G in a Tumor Xenograft Model after Intravenous Administration of Antibody-Drug Conjugate (Sacituzumab Govitecan)

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have gained significant interest over the past few years due to their targeted delivery, higher efficacy, decreased toxicity and improved therapeutic index over conventional anticancer therapies. Sacituzumab govitecan (SG) is an ADC composed of a Trop-2-targeted antibody conjugated to the cytotoxic payload SN-38. SG is currently being evaluated in clinical trials of several solid cancers. In this nonclinical study, we have developed a highly sensitive and selective approach to measure free and total SN-38 and its glucuronidation metabolite (SN-38G) using stable isotope dilution (SID) ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS). An efficient and fast hydrolysis procedure (2 h at 100 °C) was established to release SN-38, conjugated to the antibody by carbonate linkage. The assay involves the extraction of free SN-38, SN-38G by protein precipitation, and subsequent acid hydrolysis of the protein layer to release antibody-bound SN-38. The developed UHPLC-HRMS method resulted in good linearity (r² ≥ 0.997), accuracy (RE ≤ ± 9.1%), precision (CVs ≤ 7.7%), and extraction recoveries (85.6-109.3%). The validated method was applied in the plasma and tumor of mice bearing human brain (U251) and breast (MDA-MB-468) tumor xenografts treated with a single dose (0.5 mg) of SG for 6 h. Results revealed the presence of trace level of SN-38G and free SN-38 in plasma, which suggests an improved therapeutic index of SG. The established method makes a significant contribution to the assessment of SG in different cancers.