Determination of metoclopramide in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography

Quantitative determination of domperidone in rat plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

A sensitive and selective analytical method for the determination of domperidone in rat plasma is described. The procedure involves liquid-liquid extraction followed by reversed-phase high-performance chromatographic analysis with fluorometric detection at 282 nm for excitation and 328 nm for emission. The detection limit was 1 ng ml(-1) using 1 ml of plasma. This assay procedure should be useful for the pharmacokinetic study of domperidone in small animals such as rats.

Comparison of the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of controlled release and immediate release metoclopramide for the management of chronic nausea in patients with advanced cancer

BACKGROUND

The short elimination half-life of metoclopramide necessitates frequent administration for optimal relief of nausea. This study compares a newly developed controlled release preparation of metoclopramide (CRM) and immediate release metoclopramide (IRM) with respect to efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics in patients with chronic nausea associated with advanced cancer.

METHODS

Thirty-four patients with advanced cancer with nausea lasting more than 1 month and with no evidence of involvement of the gastrointestinal tract, peptic ulcer or gastritis, brain metastases, or metabolic abnormalities were randomized, in a double-blind cross-over study, to receive 40 mg of CRM every 12 hours or 20 mg of IRM every 6 hours for 3 days. Nausea, food intake, and side effects were assessed four times daily. On Day 3, sequential venous samples were taken (12 patients) to determine plasma metoclopramide concentrations.

RESULTS

In 29 evaluable patients, the intensity of nausea on Day 3, measured by a 0-100-mm visual analogue scale and 0-3 categoric scale was 15 +/- 17 and 0.6 +/- 0.6 after IRM, versus 8 +/- 9 (P = 0.033) and 0.4 +/- 0.5 (P = 0.055) after CRM, respectively. Visual analogue scale nausea scores recorded by time of day and by day for the 3 treatment days were significantly lower for patients who received CRM compared with those who received IRM (P = 0.047 and P = 0.043, respectively), but categoric nausea scores were not significantly different between treatments by time of day and by day across the 3 treatment days. No differences were observed in caloric intake or side effects between treatments. In a pharmacokinetic analysis, the CRM/IRM ratio for area under the curve0-12 (microgram x hours x L-1), Cmax (microgram/L), and Tmax (hours) was 100%, 98%, and 2.3 fold, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Controlled release metoclopramide is safe and effective in managing chronic nausea in patients with advanced cancer. Future studies should focus on characterizing this syndrome more clearly and on determining the optimal dose of metoclopramide and the effects of drug combinations that have proven to be useful in managing chemotherapy-induced emesis (i.e., metoclopramide plus corticosteroids).

Determination of metoclopramide and two of its metabolites using a sensitive and selective gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric assay

A modified gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) assay has been developed to quantitate metoclopramide (MCP) and two of its metabolites [monodeethylated-MCP (mdMCP), dideethylated-MCP (ddMCP)] in the plasma, bile and urine of sheep. The heptafluorobutyryl derivatives of the compounds were formed and quantitated using electron-impact ionization in the selected-ion monitoring mode (MCP, m/z 86, 380; mdMCP, m/z 380 and ddMCP, m/z 380). No interference was observed from endogenous compounds following the extraction of various biological fluids obtained from non-pregnant sheep. Sample preparation has been simplified and the method is more selective and sensitive (2 fold) than our previous assay using electron-capture detection. The limit of quantitation for MCP, mdMCP and ddMCP was 1 ng/ml in plasma, urine and bile, requiring 0.5 ml of sample. This represents 2.5 pg of the analytes at the detector. The standard curves were linear over a working range of 1-40 ng/ml. Absolute recoveries in plasma ranged from 76.5-94.7%, 79.2-96.8%, 80.3-102.2% for MCP, mdMCP and ddMCP, respectively. In urine, recoveries ranged from 56.5-87.8%, 61.5-87.5%, 62.6-90.2% for MCP, mdMCP and ddMCP, respectively. Recoveries in bile ranged from 83.5-100.9%, 78.5-90.5%, 66.9-79.2% for MCP, mdMCP and ddMCP, respectively. Overall intra-day precision ranged from 2.9% for MCP in plasma to 12.6% for mdMCP in bile. Overall inter-day precision ranged from 5.9% for MCP in urine to 14.9% for ddMCP in bile. Bias was the greatest at the 1 ng/ml concentration in all biological fluids ranging from a low of 2.4% for mdMCP in plasma to a high of 11.9% for ddMCP in urine. Applicability of the assay for pharmacokinetic studies of MCP, mdMCP and ddMCP in the plasma and urine of a non-pregnant ewe is demonstrated.

Pharmacokinetics of metoclopramide in goats

The pharmacokinetics of a parenteral formulation of metoclopramide (monochloride monohydrate) were determined following single intravenous (i.v.) and intramuscular (i.m.) 0.5-mg/kg doses to two groups of 4 goats in a crossover design. Mean serum concentrations of metoclopramide following i.v. administration of 0.5 mg/kg declined rapidly from a peak of 277.5 ng/ml at 3 min post-dosing to 25 ng/ml at 90 min. Serum concentrations were not detectable by 120 min after drug administration. The curve of serum concentrations vs. time was characteristic of a two-compartment open model. Mean parameters from analysis of the individual i.v. data gave a biological half-life of 0.62 h and a volume of distribution of the central compartment of 1.34 l/kg. Serum concentrations of metoclopramide following i.m. administration of 0.5 mg/kg rose rapidly to a peak of 160.9 ng/ml at 15 min post-dosing and then declined in parallel with the elimination phase of the i.v. study. These data were best described by a two-compartment open model with first-order absorption. The mean biological half-life was 1.04 h. There were no adverse reactions associated with metoclopramide at the 0.5-mg/kg dose administered by either route.

An automated high-performance liquid chromatographic trace enrichment method for the determination of metoclopramide in serum and its application to a bioequivalence human volunteer study

An automated trace enrichment method for metoclopramide is described. Serum was injected on to a short column packed with PLRP-S 100A (a polymeric reversed-phase material). The unwanted components were washed off with borate buffer (pH 9.8) before switching to a Spherisorb ODS column for the separation. The limit of detection in serum samples was 2 ng/ml. The method was used in a pharmacokinetic study to compare the biovailability of two formulations of the drug.

Liquid chromatographic analysis of alizapride and metoclopramide in human plasma and urine using solid-phase extraction

A universal rapid, sensitive and selective high-performance liquid chromatographic method with UV detection at 230 nm has been developed for the determination of benzamide drugs in human plasma and urine. Sample pretreatment is carried out using solid-phase extraction columns, resulting in very high extraction recoveries of the compounds investigated (alizapride, metoclopramide, alpiropride, amisulpride). The detector response is linear from 25 to 10,000 ng/ml, and the detection limit is 3 ng/ml for alizapride and 10 ng/ml for metoclopramide. The proposed method is highly suitable for pharmacokinetic studies and for drug monitoring.

Determination of metoclopramide and its glucuronide and sulphate conjugates in human biological fluids (plasma, urine and bile) by ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography

Metoclopramide was determined in human biological fluids (plasma, urine and bile) by reversed-phase ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography using a newly introduced cyanopropyl column. The method is precise, selective and sensitive: the mean recoveries of metoclopramide from plasma, urine and bile were 74.4, 99.1 and 85.9%, respectively; the mean within- and between-run coefficients of variation were, respectively, 0.8 and 8.5% for plasma and 2.0 and 8.2% for urine at the drug concentration of 100 ng/ml, and 2.3 and 11.2% for bile at the concentration of 20 ng/ml; the lower detection limit was 2 ng/ml for 1 ml of each biological fluid. Enzymic hydrolysis of a urine or bile specimen was used in the identification of metoclopramide, as well as its glucuronide and sulphate conjugates, from the human samples. A preliminary study on metoclopramide determinations from plasma and urine samples of a healthy subject and from bile samples of a patient demonstrated the clinical applicability of the method for therapeutic monitoring and pharmacokinetic studies.

Liquid chromatographic analysis of metoclopramide with fluorescence detection in cirrhotic patients

Metoclopramide extracted from plasma and urine has been analysed using reversed phase HPLC with acetic acid/acetonitrile/triethylamine as eluent and fluorescence detection. This method exploits the natural fluorescence of metoclopramide for its detection in patients on multiple drug therapies.

Drug level monitoring: chromatography of some minor groups of drugs

Some important facts about the chromatographic separation of a number of selected categories of drugs are summarized. The data refer to the chromatographic method of choice, stationary phase, mobile phase (carrier gas), detection procedure and (where available) method sensitivity. Also, fundamental instrumental parameters, namely injector, column and detector temperature, carrier gas and mobile phase flow-rate and gradient set-up are reported here. In all cases also the source material used for analysis is specified. The data are presented in table form, each table dealing with a particular category of drugs. The following categories of drugs are being dealt with: anthelmintics, antiarteriosclerotics, antibacterials, anticholinergics and cholinergics, anticoagulants, antidiabetics, antiemetics, antimycotics, antihistamines, antimalarials, antiparasitics, antiparkinsonics, antitussives, antiulcer drugs, antiviral compounds, appetite depressants and immunosuppressives.

Determination of bromopride in human plasma and urine by high-performance liquid chromatography

Bromopride was measured in plasma and urine using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography employing ultraviolet absorption detection. The limit of detection in plasma was 2 ng/ml, sufficient for pharmacokinetic studies of the drug. Plasma concentrations of bromopride reached mean peak levels (55 ng/ml) at 1 h after single oral doses of 20 mg and declined with a half-life of 4.9 h. Less than a mean of 10% of an oral dose was excreted unchanged in the urine. The assay could also be used to measure metoclopramide in these bio-fluids.

The determination of metoclopramide in plasma by reversed-phase ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography

Methodology based on reversed-phase ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography is described for the determination of metoclopramide in plasma. The chromatography was optimized in terms of the peak shape for the drug and its resolution from endogenous plasma components by investigating the effects of quaternary ammonium (competing) ions and alkylsulphate (pairing) ions in an acidic mobile phase containing acetonitrile (20%) and 20 mM acetic acid. Optimum chromatographic conditions were obtained with an ODS-Hypersil column and a mobile phase containing 20% acetonitrile, 20 mM acetic acid, 0.6 mM sodium octylsulphate and 0.5 mM tetrabutylammonium chloride. A simplified method of sample preparation is described in which only 1 ml of plasma is required. The limit of detection (at 310 nm) was 7 ng/ml and no interference from endogenous plasma components or from any drugs commonly used in the treatment of cancer was observed. Consequently the methodology should be applicable to pharmacokinetic studies on metoclopramide, when used clinically to control the gastro-intestinal side-effects of chemotherapy.