Determination of mepirodipine in plasma by capillary column gas chromatography-negative-ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry

Sensitive and specific liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric assay for barnidipine in human plasma

A sensitive and specific LC-MS-MS assay has been developed and validated for barnidipine (1-benzyl-3-pyrrolidinyl)methyl-2,6-dimethyl-4(m-nitrophenyl)-1,4-dihydr opyridine-3,5-dicarboxylate). The assay involves a simple and rapid solid-phase extraction procedure. Sample analysis was on a Spherisorb S3ODS2 100 mmX2 mm I.D. column, with a Finnigan TSQ 7000 mass spectrometer, using an electrospray interface and selective reaction monitoring (SRM). The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy, determined as the coefficient of variation and relative error, respectively, were 11.8% or less. The limit of quantitation was 0.03 ng/ml, and the calibration was linear between 0.03 and 3.0 ng/ml. The method has been used successfully for the measurement of over two thousand human plasma samples from pharmacokinetic clinical trials.

Metabolism and pharmacokinetics of barnidipine hydrochloride, a calcium channel blocker, in man following oral administration of its sustained release formulation

1. The metabolism and pharmacokinetics of barnidipine hydrochloride, a 1, 4-dihydropyridine calcium antagonist were evaluated following single oral administration of a sustained release formulation (SR) capsule comprising of quick and slow release pellets to healthy male volunteers. 2. Various metabolites were identified and quantitated by newly established GC-MS analytical methods. Major metabolites were the hydrolyzed product of the benzyl-pyrrolidinyl ester (M-3) in plasma and its oxidized pyridine product (M-4) in plasma and urine. The pyridine form of unchanged barnidipine and the N-debenzylated product were observed as minor metabolites. Therefore, the primary metabolic pathways in man are (a) hydrolysis of the benzylpyrrolidine ester, (b) N-debenzylation, and (c) oxidation of the dihydropyridine ring. 3. When the SR and normal capsules were administered at a dose of 10 mg to six subjects in a crossover design, AUC 0-infinity of unchanged drug, M-3 and 4 in each subject receiving the SR were 97 +/- 15, 85 +/- 31 and 76 +/- 21% respectively of those subjects receiving the normal formulation. The sum of the excretion of urinary metabolites for the SR formulation was 65 +/- 6% of that for the normal formulation. These data suggest that the absorption of the SR formulation is slightly reduced but that its bioavailability is comparable to that of the normal formulation.

Pharmacokinetics of barnidipine hydrochloride, a new dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker, in the rat, dog and human

1. The pharmacokinetics of a new calcium antagonist barnidipine hydrochloride, a stereochemically pure enantiomer, was studied after intravenous and oral dosing to the rat and dog, and oral to man. 2. After intravenous dosing, plasma concentrations of barnidipine hydrochloride declined bi-exponentially with the terminal half-lives of 0.6 h in the rat and 4.1 h in the dog. The blood clearance was 5.2 l/h/kg in the rat and 3.3 l/h/kg in the dog, and was comparable with hepatic blood flow in both species. 3. After oral dosing, plasma concentrations of barnidipine hydrochloride peaked rapidly (0.3-0.4 h in the rat and dog, 1.0-1.6 h in man). Cmax and AUC rose non-linearly with increasing doses in all three species. 4. The absolute bioavailability was low (11-18% in the rat and 6-9% in the dog), suggesting a marked first-pass metabolism.