Separation of enantiomeric iodinated thyronines by liquid chromatography of diastereomers

Enantioselective resolution of thyroxine hormone by high-performance liquid chromatography utilizing a highly fluorescent chiral tagging reagent

A highly fluorescent chiral tagging reagent, 4-(3-isothiocyanatopyrrolidin-1-yl)-7-(N,N-dimethylaminosulfonyl-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole, [R(-)-DBD-PyNCS], was employed to develop an indirect resolution method for efficient separation of thyroxine enantiomers,D-T(4) and L-T(4). The reaction of R(-)-DBD-PyNCS with the thyroxine enantiomers proceeds effectively at 40 degrees C for 20 min in the presence of basic medium to produce the corresponding pair of diastereomers. No racemization occurs during the tagging reaction under the optimized conditions. Various experimental parameters for derivatization reaction including the species of catalyst, the concentration of tagging reagent and reaction temperatures, have been examined to get a highest yield for T(4) derivatives. The structure of T(4) derivatives was identified based on ESI-MS/MS measurements in negative mode. The efficient separation of D-, L-T(4) derivatives was achieved by isocratic elution with water-acetonitrile mobile phase containing 1% AcOH on a reversed phase column utilizing a conventional fluorescence detector. The resolution (Rs) value of the diastereomers derived from thyroxine was 5.1. The calibration curves of both the D-T(4) and L-T(4) were linear over the concentration range of 0.1-20 microg/ml. The limits of detection (S/N = 3) for both D-T(4) and L-T(4) were 0.2 ng per injection. The proposed method was applied to the determination of D-T(4) and L-T(4) in pharmaceutical formulations and human serum samples.

Chiral separation of T3 enantiomers using stereoselective antibodies as a selector in micro-HPLC

This work deals with the application of stereoselective antibodies against L-T3 as a tailor-made chiral selector in micro-HPLC. The separations were performed in microbore columns using commercially available anti-L-T3 antibodies chemically bonded to 5 microm silica gel. The enantiomers of T3 were baseline separated under mild continuous isocratic elution conditions using 10 mM phosphate buffer, pH 7.4. The D-enantiomer eluted with the void volume, while the L-enantiomer was retained by the antibody phase and eluted second. An indirect competitive and non-competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used for testing the stereoselectivity of anti-L-T3 antibodies.

Simultaneous determination of endogenous and 13C-labelled thyroid hormones in plasma by stable isotope dilution mass spectrometry

This study describes a capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for the simultaneous determination of endogenous thyroid hormone (thyroxine, T4) and its 13C-labelled analogue (13C6-thyroxine) in plasma. 13C9-thyroxine was used as analytical internal standard. A double derivatization (CH3OH/HCl and HFBA) inducing good GC mobility was used for the GC-MS analysis of the thyroid hormones. Quantification was carried out by selected ion monitoring (SIM) of specific ions of the fragment ions (m/z 970/976/979). The detection limit of the present GC-MS-SIM method was found to be 100 pg per injection for thyroxine (S/N=3.0). A first implementation in in vivo tests of 13C6-T4 like metabolic tracer was carried out under veterinary control on one cat and one rabbit. The thyroxine follow-up was done by GC-MS and based on double isotopic dilution with two different regio-selective 13C-labelled molecules of the same hormone. The present paper discusses the possibilities and limitations of this methodology. The in vivo experiment demonstrated that the use of stable isotopes and mass spectrometry provide a reliable methodology for hormonal monitoring.

Direct separation and quantitative analysis of thyroxine and triiodothyronine enantiomers in pharmaceuticals by high-performance liquid chromatography

A rapid reversed-phase type HPLC method for the simultaneous separation and analysis of D- and L-thyroxine (D- and L-T(4)) and triiodothyronine (T(3)) was developed using a quinine-derived chiral stationary phase and applied for a quantitative assay of the enantiomeric impurity of the drugs in pharmaceutical formulations of levothyroxine. The influence of operating parameters has been studied for the optimization of the separation and also in order to gain an insight into the retention mechanism. Validation of the method included linearity, precision and accuracy which revealed R.S.D. values of <3.3% for intra-assay precision and percent error ranging from -6 to +2.1% for various defined validation samples, proving satisfactory accuracy. Quantitation was performed over the range of 0.5-500 microg ml(-1) with limits of detection and quantitation lower than 0.1 and 0.5 microg ml(-1), respectively, for both analytes. Further, the determination of 0.1% impurity, of D-T(4) as well as L- and D-T(3) in levothyroxine sodium tablets proved to be feasible.

Determination of L-thyroxine in reference serum preparations as the o-phthalaldehyde-N-acetylcysteine derivative by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection

A simple procedure for the assay of L-thyroxine in serum preparations with D-thyroxine as internal standard is described. The L-thyroxine is extracted with acetonitrile, fractionated on a reversed-phase silica cartridge and analysed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography of the o-phthalaldehyde-N-acetyl-L-cysteine derivative. This derivative is not fluorescent, but may be detected with suitable sensitivity and selectivity with an electrochemical detector.

Resolution and binding site determination of D,L-thyronine by high-performance liquid chromatography using immobilized albumin as chiral stationary phase. Determination of the optical purity of thyroxine in tablets

Human and bovine serum albumin bound to silica or aminopropyl silica were used as chiral stationary phases (CSPs). D,L-Thyronine, D,L-tryptophan, N-benzoyl-D,L-phenylalanine, D,L-warfarin and D,L-benzoin could be resolved on these CSPs using a mobile phase of 0.05 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.0. The capacity factor of D-thyronine was higher than that of L-thyronine. The resolution of D,L-thyronine was completely lost by the presence of bilirubin in the mobile phase, but only little affected by caprylate. By contrast, the resolution of D,L-tryptophan was not affected by bilirubin, but lost by the presence of caprylate. These results are consistent with binding of D-thyronine to the bilirubin binding site and L-tryptophan to the caprylate binding site in albumin, respectively, and suggests that such "displacement chromatography" can be used for the determination of binding sites. The optical purity of D-thyroxine in tablets was determined indirectly after de-iodination by catalytic hydrogenation.

Determination of sodium levothyroxine in bulk, tablet, and injection formulations by high-performance liquid chromatography

Sodium levothyroxine was determined in bulk drugs, tablets, and injections by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Levothyroxine was separated from excipients and impurities on a 10-microns cyanoalkyl column using an acetonitrile-water-phosphoric acid mobile phase. The HPLC method is shown to be linear, accurate, and precise, and the results obtained by the HPLC and USP XX methods are compared.

High-performance liquid chromatographic separation of iodoamino acids for tracer turnover studies of thyroid hormones in vivo

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic technique was developed to separate radioiodinated thyroxine (T4), 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3), 3,3',5'-triiodothyronine (rT3) and two diiodothyronines (3,3'-T2 and 3',5'-T2), in extracts from either serum or urine. Chromatography was performed with 10-micron C18 silica gel, packed in a glass column (3 X 300 mm); the mobile phase was methanol-water (55:45) adjusted to pH 3 with H3PO4, at a flow-rate of 1.2 ml/min and a pressure of 2800 p.s.i. The results demonstrate the ability of the system to yield a clear-cut separation of the iodothyronines involved in in vivo turnover studies, i.e., T4, T3, rT3, and the two T2 compounds together.

Simultaneous determination of D- and L-thyroxine in human serum by liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection

A method for the determination of D- and L-thyroxine in human serum is described. The method involves extraction of thyroxine from serum and the separation of thyroxine enantiomers on a reversed-phase, high-performance liquid chromatographic column by use of a chiral eluent containing L-proline and cupric sulfate. Satisfactory resolution of the enantiomers of thyroxine, triiodothyronine, and reverse triiodothyronine can be achieved in 12 min and, employing amperometric detection to monitor the separation, the detection limit for serum thyroxine is in the range of 1--3 ng per injected sample.

Stereospecific determination of D-thyroxin and L-thyroxin in serum

A new method for separate determination of D-thyroxin and L-thyroxin in the serum was applied to study the response of serum levels of these isomers and of radioimmunologically determined total T3, total T4, free T4 and TSH upon administration of 2, 4 and 6 mg of a highly purified D-thyroxin preparation in six male patients with diffuse nontoxic goiter. D- and L-thyroxin are determined separately following extraction of the hormone from the serum and formation of diastereomeric dipeptides. The separation and final determination are accomplished by means of ion-pair chromatography on reversed-phase columns using an iodine-selective catalytic detector. A significant decrease in TSH takes place during the 3-days observation period. The values of D-T4, total T3 and free T4 are highest 4 hours after administration of the tablets and get to be to initial values after 24 hours. L-T4 shows no significant change. A direct suppressive effect of D-T4 on the pituitary gland may therefore be assumed as the cause of the suppression of TSH secretion.