High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of β-lactam antibiotics, using fluorescence detection following post-column derivatization

Rapid determination of amoxicillin in premixes by HPLC

A rapid analytical procedure for routine identification and quantification of amoxicillin in premixes by high performance liquid chromatography was developed and tested. The ground premix samples were extracted for 10 min using 100ml extraction mixture water-methanol (800:200, v/v). The extract was analyzed by reversed-phase on Agilent Zorbax SB-C18 column (4.6 mm x 150 mm, i.d., 5 microm particle size) with water-methanol-phosphoric acid-triethylamine (842:150:4:4) containing 10 mM hexane-1-sulfonic acid sodium salt (pH 3.5) as mobile phase. UV detection was carried out at 230 nm. The method was validated for specificity, linearity, solution stability, accuracy, precision, limit of detection, and limit of determination. The detector response for amoxicillin was linear over the selected concentration range from 2.0 to 40.0 mg ml(-1) with a correlation coefficient 0.9999. The mean accuracy was 100.1% with a standard deviation of 0.6%. The limit of detection and the limit of determination are 0.1 and 0.3 mg ml(-1), respectively, which corresponds to 10 and 30 mg kg(-1), respectively, in real premix sample. The sample and standard solutions were stable for 4 h. The method is selective and can be used in routine analysis.

Pulsed electrochemical detection of sulfur-containing antibiotics following high performance liquid chromatography

Pulsed electrochemical detection (PED) following reversed-phase chromatography has been applied to the direct detection of sulfur-containing antibiotics, specifically, penicillins, cephalosporins, and lincomycin. The compounds are detected sensitively and selectively without the need for derivatization. Integrated pulsed amperometric detection (IPAD) yields limits of detection lower than UV detection for these compounds. Detection limits using an optimized IPAD waveform are typically 10 ppb or less. The high selectivity of PED for thiocompounds reduces sample preparation. This work is applied to the determination of penicillin and related analogues in various pharmaceutical formulations/preparations, including a chicken feed.

Assay for cephapirin and ampicillin in raw milk by high-performance liquid chromatography--integrated pulsed amperometric detection

The FDA has issued guidelines governing the use of antibiotics in cattle and routinely tests for the presence of antibiotics in milk. Unfortunately, these compounds are often difficult to detect by direct methods because they often lack a chromophore or fluorophore. Integrated pulsed amperometric detection (IPAD) following reversed-phase liquid chromatography is well-suited for this analysis because it is selective, sensitive, and direct; i.e., derivatization is not required. This work involves the development of a simple, rapid assay for the determination of beta-lactam antibiotic residues in milk using HPLC-IPAD, specifically, ampicillin and cephapirin. Since the analyst studied here are detectable by UV detection, a comparison between IPAD and UV detection will be made. Sample preparation schemes that involve the extraction of antibiotics of interest from the milk matrix and subsequent cleanup are an important aspect of this project. These procedures will be discussed in detail. In addition, analytical figures of merit and IPAD wave form optimization will be addressed.

Chromatographic methods of analysis for penicillins in food-animal tissues and their significance in regulatory programs for residue reduction and avoidance

Chromatographic methods for penicillin analysis in animal tissues play a significant role in the regulation of the use of these drugs in livestock production. Regulatory agencies rely on data generated from these methods to establish withdrawal times and to determine whether presumptive positive tissue samples from slaughtered animals intended for human consumption contain violative levels of penicillins to necessitate regulatory action. The need to develop sensitive, accurate, and reliable methods to support regulatory programs is examined together with emerging techniques that could be taken advantage of to improve the sensitivity and usefulness of current chromatographic methods for tomorrow's regulatory agency.

A reversed phase liquid chromatographic method for the simultaneous determination of several common penicillins in human serum

A rapid and sensitive high performance liquid chromatographic method is described for the simultaneous determination of benzylpenicillin, ampicillin, phenoxymethylpenicillin, cloxacillin, dicloxacillin and nafcillin in small samples of human serum. The chromatographic system involves the use of a Spherisorb ODS reversed phase column and a gradient elution with 1 mM ammonium acetate buffer/acetonitrile (from 90:10 to 75:25 in 15 min). Detection and quantification are monitored by UV absorption at 208 nm. The compounds are extracted with dichloromethane, using tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate neutralized with sodium hydroxide and buffered with borate as an ion pairing reagent; beta-hydroxyethyltheophylline is added as an internal standard. Our results show that the method is accurate and reproducible, allowing quantification of serum levels of assayed penicillins (0.5-50 micrograms/mL) without interference from other drugs commonly used in therapy. Recoveries were generally greater than 79.4%.

Precolumn derivatization technique for high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of penicillins with fluorescence detection

A precolumn derivatization method was developed for the high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) determination of penicillins using fluorescence detection. Penicillins were derivatized by a two-step reaction, the beta-lactam ring being opened by hydrolysis in aqueous sodium carbonate solution in the first step to give a secondary amine functionality, and the secondary amino group being reacted with 7-fluoro-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole in the second step to give a fluorescent derivative. The resulting reaction mixture was injected directly onto a reversed-phase column and analysed by HPLC. At a penicillin concentration of 10 micrograms/ml, the precision (relative standard deviation) ranged from 1.49 to 2.20%. In the concentration range 0.2-100 micrograms/ml, a linear response was observed. The detection limits of this method were 30-85 ng/ml for five different penicillins at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3:1. The proposed method was applied to the determination of penicillins added to serum following pretreatment by deproteinization and removal of compounds containing amino functionalities with a cation-exchange resin.

Post-column reactors for sensitive and selective detection in high-performance liquid chromatography: categorization and applications

The increasing interest in the rapid trace analysis of large series of biomedical samples using column liquid chromatographic techniques requires the use of well balanced combinations of sample pretreatment, separation and detection techniques. In such work, selectivity, sensitivity and reproducibility are the key parameters. The application of automated or semi-automated on-line pre-column technology and/or post-column reaction detection are excellent ways to meet these requirements. A critical review is presented of the theoretical background of on-line post-column reactors with emphasis on their categorization, viz., open-tubular, packed-bed, segmented-stream and hollow-fibre membrane reactors. The evaluation of these reactor systems is performed by discussing selected applications of, for instance, systems based on electrochemical and redox, hydrolytic, photochemical, ion-pairing, true chemical derivatization, peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence and solid-phase reactions. As automation is becoming even more important, a number of labelling procedures, which can be performed in an on-line pre-column mode, are briefly discussed and a comparison is made between the potential of on-line pre- and post-column procedures.

Residue determination of two co-administered antibacterial agents--cephalexin and colistin--in calf tissues using high-performance liquid chromatography and microbiological methods

Residues of two antibacterial agents, cephalexin and colistin, co-administered by intramuscular injection to calves, were quantified in four different tissues (muscle, fat, liver and kidney) by column switching HPLC and by a microbiological method. For cephalexin assay, tissue samples with cephradin as internal standard were homogenized in a 5% trichloroacetic acid solution and filtrates were injected onto a concentration precolumn filled with LiChroprep RP-18 (25-40 microns). A clean-up step was incorporated by flowing a mobile phase (methanol-0.01 M phosphate buffer (pH 3.0); 15:85, v/v) through the enrichment column before elution on a LiChrospher RP-18e (5 microns) column with a methanol-phosphate buffer (30:70, v/v) at a flow rate of 1 ml min-1. Spectrometric detection was at 260 nm. An additional "off-line" washing step of extracts with methylene chloride was operated to achieve higher selectivity in the case of liver and kidney samples. The limit for quantitative assay was 0.045 micrograms g-1 with relative standard deviations in the range 5-8% and recoveries within 70%. For microbiological assay of colistin, samples were homogenized in 0.1 M hydrochloric acid-acetonitrile mixtures (3:1, v/v, for kidney and liver; 3:2, v/v, for fat and muscle). The supernatants were assayed by the cylinder plate method after evaporation to dryness under vacuum. Bordetella bronchiseptica ATCC 4617 was chosen as test organism. After a 3-h diffusion step at room temperature, the medium was incubated at 37 degrees C for 18 h and then the diameter of the growth inhibition zones was measured. Sensitivity reached 0.10-0.15 micrograms g-1. Results from the analysed samples over a 7-28 day period after drug administration show that no cephalexin was found at concentrations higher than the quantitation limit in the four test tissues and that colistin was found in muscle (injection site only) for 15 days and in kidney for 21 days.

Determination of beta-lactams and their biosynthetic intermediates in fermentation media by pre-column derivatisation followed by fluorescence detection

This paper describes a novel and sensitive pre-column derivatisation method for the detection and quantitation of beta-lactams and their biosynthetic precursors at trace levels in fermentation media. Filtered broths from fermentations of strains of Penicillium chrysogenum and Cephalosporium acremonium, after deproteination and centrifugation, were incubated with 9-fluorenylmethylchloroformate for 5 min at 20 degrees C in 0.2 M borate buffer at pH 7.7. Following two-fold pentane extraction of the reagent hydrolysis product, the aqueous layer was injected directly onto a C18 reversed-phase column, and products were detected spectrofluorimetrically with excitation and emission wavelengths of 260 and 313 nm, respectively. Detection limits of 0.01 and 0.05 micrograms ml-1 were achieved for both 6-aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA) and isopenicillin N in borate buffer and filtered fermentation broths, respectively, using a 10-microliter injection volume. A linear calibration for 6-APA in fermentation broth was obtained for a very wide concentration range (0.05-100 micrograms ml-1). Detection limits for solutions of cephalosporin C, deacetylcephalosporin C and deacetoxycephalosporin C in broth were all 0.25 micrograms ml-1. The detection limit for the beta-lactam precursor delta-(L-aminoadipyl)-L-alpha-cysteinyl-D-valine (ACV) dimer in borate buffer was 0.5 microgram ml-1. The cephalosporins and ACV dimer gave linear plots in the ranges 3-25 and 1-100 micrograms ml-1, respectively. Repeated analysis of 6-APA at a concentration of 10 micrograms ml-1 in filtered broth gave a mean peak area of 2.5.10(6) with a standard deviation of 2.6.10(5) using a 10-microliter injection volume. Ampicillin spiked into deproteinated blood serum gave a linear calibration in the concentration range 2-100 micrograms ml-1.

Liquid chromatographic determination of penicillins by postcolumn alkaline degradation using a hollow-fiber membrane reactor

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method using a hollow-fiber membrane reactor is described for the determination of penicillins. This method involves separation of penicillins on a C18 column, postcolumn reaction with sodium hydroxide and mercury (II) chloride introduced into the main flow stream using sulfonated hollow-fiber membrane reactors immersed in each solution (4 M sodium hydroxide and 3 X 10(-2) M mercury (II) chloride plus 10(-2) M nitric acid), and detection at 290 nm based on the uv absorbance of the degradation products. At penicillin concentrations of 5 micrograms/ml, within- and between-run precisions (relative standard deviation) were 0.24-2.39 and 1.19-4.13%, respectively. The detection limits of the proposed method were 1-5 ng at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. The method was applied to assays of ampicillin and its metabolites in human serum and urine.

Penicillins and cephalosporins. Physicochemical properties and analysis in pharmaceutical and biological matrices

Penicillins and cephalosporins belong to the most prescribed antibiotics. Despite the relatively extended knowledge of these drugs, the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the compounds still gives rise to many problems. These difficulties are due to the chemical instability of the common beta-lactam nucleus, the minor differences in chemical structures between the analogues, and the complex and relatively fast degradation of the compounds in aqueous solutions. In this review a compilation of the physicochemical properties, the degradation routes and methods for analysis of these substances in biological and other matrices is presented.

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of 6-aminopenicillanic acid by postcolumn alkaline degradation

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of 6-aminopenicillanic acid in amino acid mixtures and human serum. The separation of 6-aminopenicillanic acid was carried out on a C18 column using sodium heptylsulfonate or tetrabutylammonium bromide as an ion-pairing agent and methanol as an organic mobile phase modifier. Detection was based on a postcolumn reaction with sodium hydroxide, mercury(II) chloride, and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt followed by measurement of ultraviolet absorbance (at 300 nm) of the reaction product(s). The method is quantitative for 6-aminopenicillanic acid concentrations down to 0.1 microgram/ml in human serum samples with a 20-microliter injection. At a concentration of 2 micrograms/ml, the within- and between-run precisions (relative standard deviation) were 1.29-3.91% and 2.30%, respectively.

Analysis for penicillins and cefoperazone by HPLC—photolysis—electrochemical detection (HPLC—hv—EC)

Continuous, post-column, on-line, real-time photolytic derivatization or degradation can now be used following HPLC separation of various penicillin derivatives prior to conventional thin-layer, amperometric electrochemical detection using oxidative working potentials. Beta-lactam derivatives are separated by conventional reversed-phase HPLC, and each separated penicillin is then photolytically degraded to form, it is presumed, stable anionic species, which are then conveyed to the on-line electrochemical detector for qualitative and quantitative determinations. These methods of trace drug analysis have been applied to four separate penicillins or prodrugs, as well as one typical cephalosporin, viz. cefoperazone. Analytical parameters of the analysis have been determined, including dual electrode response ratios, sensitivity, minimum detection limits, linearity of calibration plots and the range of linear calibration. Finally, the analysis of cefoperazone-spiked saline solutions for i.v. administration has been performed in a single-blind study, as well as the determination of bacampicillin HCl in formulations obtained from a drug manufacturer in the United States. The overall method of analysis for these drugs has been demonstrated as being reproducible, accurate, and precise for at least five beta-lactam analogs. It is suggested that other beta-lactams will be amenable to these newer methods of analysis in a wide variety of sample matrices, including solid or liquid formulations, aqueous infusion solutions, and biological media, such as blood and urine.

Studies on residual antibacterials in foods. IV. Simultaneous determination of penicillin G, penicillin V and ampicillin in milk by high-performance liquid chromatography

A rapid and simple method for the simultaneous determination of penicillin G (PCG), penicillin V (PCV) and ampicillin (ABPC) in milk is described. The retention behaviour of these beta-lactam antibiotics in reversed-phase liquid chromatography with mobile phases containing sodium alkylsulphonate was studied. Good separations were obtained with methanol-water-0.2 M phosphate buffer (pH 4.0) (5:13:2) containing 11 mM sodium 1-heptanesulphonate and a LiChrosorb RP-18 column. The sample was pre-treated with a Sep-Pak C18 cartridge. The peaks corresponding to each beta-lactam antibiotics can be confirmed with the treatment using penicillinase. The recoveries from milk fortified with sodium PCG, potassium PCV and ABCP at levels of 0.5 and 0.1 micrograms/g each were generally better than 87% and the relative standard deviations were 1.17-4.98%. The detection limits corresponded to 0.03 microgram/g of these beta-lactam antibiotics in milk.

High-performance liquid chromatographic identification of beta-lactam antibiotics produced by dermatophytes

Thirteen of 48 dermatophyte isolates were found by bioassay to produce beta-lactam antibiotics and seven produced other antibiotics. Estimation and detection of specific beta-lactams in culture broths by derivatization and HPLC was only possible following concentration and extraction procedures. Analysis of the concentrated broths demonstrated the production of penicillin X and penicillin G by two Trichophyton mentagrophytes strains and by one Microsporum canis strain; one further T. mentagrophytes strain produced only penicillin X. Additions of the beta-lactam side-chain precursors, phenylacetic acid and phenoxyacetic acid, to fermentation media failed to increase the antibiotic titres.

Determination of a new orally active cephalosporin in human plasma and urine by high-performance liquid chromatography using automated column switching

A sensitive method for the determination of a new cephalosporin in human serum and urine is described. The sensitivity of the procedure is derived from a high-performance liquid chromatographic separation which utilizes the different selectivities of two columns. Partial separation of the agent from deproteinized serum or diluted urine is achieved by an anion-exchange column. To concentrate the large volume of the eluent fraction containing the compound from the anion-exchange column, a reversed-phase short column is placed between the anion-exchange column and a reversed-phase analytical column. The separation is completed by switching the eluent fraction containing the compound from the second column to the analytical column. The compound is detected by ultraviolet absorption at 295 nm. Quantitation is possible down to 0.05 microgram/ml using 300 microliter of serum and down to 0.5 microgram/ml using 50 microliter of urine. The coefficients of variation of the method are 6.8% and 0.6% in serum when spiked at the 0.05 microgram/ml and 1.0 microgram/ml level, respectively. One assay can be completed in 16 min. Serum levels and urinary excretion data obtained with this method are given for three healthy volunteers who had received a 100-mg oral dose of the compound.