Practice of solid-phase extraction and protein precipitation in the 96-well format combined with high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection for the analysis of drugs in plasma and brain

Stable Luminescent Poly(Allylaminehydrochloride)-Templated Copper Nanoclusters for Selectively Turn-Off Sensing of Deferasirox in β-Thalassemia Plasma

Highly stable and facile one-pot copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs) coated with poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) have been synthesized for selectively sensing deferasirox (DFX) in β-thalassemia plasma. DFX is an important drug used for treating iron overloading in β-thalassemia, but needs to be monitored due to certain toxicity. In this study, the PAH-Cu NCs showed highly stable fluorescence with emission wavelengths at 450 nm. The DFX specifically interacted with the copper nanocluster to turn off the fluorescence of the PAH-Cu NCs, and could be selectively quantified through the fluorescence quenching effect. The linear range of DFX in plasma analyzed by PAH-Cu NCs was 1.0-100.0 µg/mL (r = 0.985). The relative standard deviation (RSD) and relative error (RE) were lower than 6.51% and 7.57%, respectively, showing excellent reproducibility of PAH-Cu NCs for sensing DFX in plasma. This method was also successfully applied for an analysis of three clinical plasma samples from β-thalassemia patients taking DFX. The data presented high similarity with that obtained through a capillary electrophoresis method. According to the results, the PAH-Cu NCs could be used as a tool for clinically sensing DFX in human plasma for clinical surveys.

An improved sample extraction method reveals that plasma receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) modulates circulating free oxytocin in mice

The receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) binds oxytocin (OT) and transports it from the blood to the brain. As RAGE's OT-binding capacity was lost in RAGE knockout (KO) mice, we predicted that circulating concentrations of unbound (free) OT should be elevated compared to wild-type (WT) mice. However, this hypothesis has not yet been investigated. Unfortunately, the evaluation of the dynamics of circulating free and bound plasma OT is unclear in immunoassays, in part because of interference from plasma proteins. A radioimmunoassay (RIA) is considered the gold standard method for overcoming this issue, but is more challenging to implement; thus, commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) are more commonly used. Here, we developed a pre-treatment method to remove the interference-causing components from plasma before performing ELISA. The acetonitrile protein precipitation (PPT) approach was reliable, with fewer steps needed to measure free OT concentrations than by solid-phase extraction of plasma samples. PPT-extracted plasma samples yielded higher concentrations of OT in RAGE KO mice than in WT mice using ELISA. After peripheral OT injection, free OT plasma levels spiked immediately then rapidly declined in WT mice, but remained high in KO mice. These results suggest that plasma samples with PPT pre-treatment appear to be superior and that circulating soluble RAGE can most likely serve as a buffer for plasma OT, which indicates a novel physiological function of RAGE.

Liquid chromatographic methods for determination of the new antiepileptic drugs stiripentol, retigabine, rufinamide and perampanel: A comprehensive and critical review

The new antiepileptic drugs perampanel, retigabine, rufinamide and stiripentol have been recently approved for different epilepsy types. Being them an innovation in the antiepileptics armamentarium, a lot of investigations regarding their pharmacological properties are yet to be performed. Besides, considering their broad anticonvulsant activities, an extension of their therapeutic indications may be worthy of investigation, especially regarding other seizure types as well as other central nervous system disorders. Although different liquid chromatographic (LC) methods coupled with ultraviolet, fluorescence, mass or tandem-mass spectrometry detection have already been developed for the determination of perampanel, retigabine, rufinamide and stiripentol, new and more cost-effective methods are yet required. Therefore, this review summarizes the main analytical aspects regarding the liquid chromatographic methods developed for the analysis of perampanel, retigabine (and its main active metabolite), rufinamide and stiripentol in biological samples and pharmaceutical dosage forms. Furthermore, the physicochemical and stability properties of the target compounds will also be addressed. Thus, this review gathers, for the first time, important background information on LC methods that have been developed and applied for the determination of perampanel, retigabine, rufinamide and stiripentol, which should be considered as a starting point if new (bio)analytical techniques are aimed to be implemented for these drugs.

Development and Bio-Analytical Validation of Chromatographic Determination Method of Rufinamide in Presence of its Metabolite in Human Plasma

Rufinamide (RF), antiepileptic drug, is biotransformed to inactive metabolite. Frequent plasma monitoring is required for dose adjustment. This work is concerned with the development and validation of a sensitive and selective RP-HPLC method for the quantitative determination of RF in spiked human plasma in the presence of its main metabolite. Lacosamide was selected as internal standard. Preparation of plasma samples involved precipitation of plasma proteins using methanol. Isocratic elution mode was applied and the chromatographic separation was performed on Prontosil CN column (5 μm, 250 × 4.6 mm). Good resolution was achieved using acetonitrile: water (10:90, v/v, adjusted with 0.01 N aqueous solution of o-phosphoric acid to pH = 3) as a mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 mL/min, and UV detection was carried out at 210 nm. Linearity was observed over the concentration range of 0.5-50 μg/mL of RF in plasma. Bio-analytical validation of the developed method was carried out in accordance to the European Medicines Agency guidelines. The accuracy ranged from 95.97 to 114.13%, and the coefficient of variation of the assay intra-day and inter-day precision did not exceed 10%. The samples were stable under the employed experimental conditions. In conclusion, the findings of the present study revealed its usefulness for therapeutic drug monitoring, assessment of drug pharmacokinetics and application for bioequivalence study.

Determination of Rufinamide in the Presence of 1-[(2,6-Difluorophenyl)Methyl]-1H-1,2,3-Triazole-4 Carboxylic Acid Using RP-HPLC and Derivative Ratio Methods as Stability Indicating Assays to Be Applied on Dosage Form

Background

Rufinamide is a triazole derivative that is structurally dissimilar to other marketed antiepileptic drugs, has been assumed a marketing authorization, by the European Union and FDA, for use as a complementary therapy for seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

Objective

This work is concerned with development of two methods for determination of rufinamide (RUF) in presence of 1-[(2,6-difluorophenyl)methyl]-1H-1,2,3-triazole-4 carboxylic acid as its alkaline degradation product in dosage form.

Methods

The first method was capable of determing RUF in the presence of its alkaline degradation product and in dosage form. Kromasil C8 column and mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile–water (50:50, v/v) were used and UV detection at 210 nm. In the second method, first derivative ratio spectrophotometry, RUF was determined by measuring peak amplitude at 269.5 nm over 5–30 μg/mL.

Results

The linearity range of RUF was 10–90 μg/mL for HPLC method covering its therapeutic range with r2 = 0.9999. Forced degradation under alkaline conditions was carried out, the degradation product was isolated and its structure was confirmed. Both methods were validated in accordance to ICH guidelines. Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference between obtained results and reported ones.

Conclusion

The present study is useful for therapeutic drug monitoring and routine analysis of RUF in quality control laboratories.

Highlights

Kinetics of the alkaline degradation of RUF was studied by following the concentration of the remaining drug until complete degradation was achieved.

Development and validation of a stability indicating RP-HPLC method for the determination of Rufinamide

A stability-indicating RP-HPLC method was developed and validated for the determination of Rufinamide in tablet dosage forms using C 18 column (250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) with mobile phase consisting of water–acetonitrile (40:60, v/v) with a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min (UV detection 215 nm). Linearity was observed over the concentration range 1.0–200 μg/mL (R²=0.9997) with regression equation y=113190 x+63053. Rufinamide was subjected to stress conditions including acidic, alkaline, oxidation, photolysis and thermal degradation. Rufinamide is more sensitive towards acidic degradation. The method was validated as per ICH guidelines.

A 96-well single-pot protein precipitation, liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method for the determination of muraglitazar, a novel diabetes drug, in human plasma

A 96-well single-pot protein precipitation, liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method has been developed and validated for the determination of muraglitazar, a PPAR alpha/gamma dual agonist, in human plasma. The internal standard, a chemical analogue, was dissolved in acetonitrile containing 0.1% formic acid. The solvent system was also served as a protein precipitation reagent. Human plasma samples (0.1 mL) and the internal standard solution (0.3 mL) were added to a 96-well plate. The plate was vortexed for 1 min and centrifuged for 5 min. Then the supernatant layers were directly injected into the LC/MS/MS system. The chromatographic separation was achieved isocratically on a Phenomenox C18(2) Luna column (2 mm x 50 mm, 5 microm). The mobile phase contained 20/80 (v/v) of water and acetonitrile containing 0.1% formic acid. Detection was by positive ion electrospray tandem mass spectrometry on a Sciex API 3000. The standard curve, which ranged from 1 to 1000 ng/mL, was fitted to a 1/x weighted quadratic regression model. This single-pot approach effectively eliminated three time consuming sample preparation steps: sample transfer, dry-down, and reconstitution before the injection, while it preserved all the benefits of the traditional protein precipitation. By properly adjusting the autosampler needle offset level, only the supernatant was injected, without disturbing the precipitated proteins in the bottom. As a result, the quality of chromatography and column life were not compromised. After more than 600 injections, there was only slightly increase of column back-pressure. The validation results demonstrated that this method was rugged and provide satisfactory precision and accuracy. The method has been successfully applied to analyze human plasma samples in support of a first-in-man study. This method has also been validated in monkey and mouse plasma for the determination of muraglitazar.

Protein precipitation for the analysis of a drug cocktail in plasma by LC–ESI–MS

Three protein precipitation (PP) procedures with acetonitrile (ACN), perchloric acid (PA) and trichloroacetic acid (TCA) were investigated for the analysis of a drug cocktail from human plasma samples containing three pharmaceutical compounds and their primary metabolites. For this purpose, a capillary liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) method was developed for the simultaneous analysis of the six tested compounds in less than 6 min. Matrix effect was tested for each PP procedure by means of a post-column infusion system. The three PP techniques were found effective in removing proteins from human plasma and were fully compatible with capillary LC-ESI-MS analysis. However, with acid precipitations, low analyte recovery and a high variability, probably due to analyte coprecipitation, were obtained. Finally, ACN was found to be the most effective PP technique with a recovery higher than 80% and CV inferior to 6%.