Rapid analysis of ranitidine in biological fluids and determination of its erythrocyte partitioning

Clinical application of microsampling versus conventional sampling techniques in the quantitative bioanalysis of antibiotics: a systematic review

Conventional sampling techniques for clinical pharmacokinetic studies often require the removal of large blood volumes from patients. This can result in a physiological or emotional burden, particularly for neonates or pediatric patients. Antibiotic pharmacokinetic studies are typically performed on healthy adults or general ward patients. These may not account for alterations to a patient’s pathophysiology and can lead to suboptimal treatment. Microsampling offers an important opportunity for clinical pharmacokinetic studies in vulnerable patient populations, where smaller sample volumes can be collected. This systematic review provides a description of currently available microsampling techniques and an overview of studies reporting the quantitation and validation of antibiotics using microsampling. A comparison of microsampling to conventional sampling in clinical studies is included.

A novel liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry based depletion method for measuring red blood cell partitioning of pharmaceutical compounds in drug discovery

A novel liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS)-based depletion method for measuring compound partitioning between human plasma and red blood cells (RBC) in a drug discovery environment is presented. Conventionally, RBC partitioning is determined by separate measurements of drug concentrations in equilibrating plasma and whole blood or RBC using separate standards prepared in their respective matrices, i.e., in plasma and whole blood or RBC lysates. The process is very tedious, labor-intensive, and difficult to automate. In addition, interferences from the heme and other highly abundant cellular composites make the measurement of the drug concentration in whole blood or RBC inevitably variable even with a highly specific LC/MS/MS method. Therefore, there is an imminent need to develop a straightforward and fast method to assess the partitioning of drug-like compounds in RBC. This work describes an LC/MS/MS-based depletion assay that measures the compound concentration in plasma that has been equilibrating with RBC. Compounds were spiked into fresh human whole blood and plasma respectively to a final concentration of 500 nM. Both the spiked whole blood and plasma control were incubated at 37 degrees C for up to 60 min. During the time course, aliquots of plasma and whole blood from both incubation mixtures were sampled at 10 and 60 min. The whole blood samples were centrifuged to yield the plasma. The plasma samples from both incubations were extracted using a protein precipitation method, and analyzed using LC/MS/MS under the multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The RBC partitioning ratio was calculated using the analyte peak area responses of the plasma samples through an equation deduced in this work. The method was first tested using two commercial compounds, phenoprobamate and acetazolamide, to determine the optimal incubation conditions and the concentration dependency of the assay. The assay reproducibility was also assessed by three inter-day assays for phenoprobamate. This method was further evaluated using 20 commercial compounds of different classes with a wide range of RBC partitioning coefficients and the results were compared with those reported in the literature. Excellent correlation (R2=0.9396) was found between the measured and literature values. In addition, several proprietary compounds were assayed using both the new and traditional methods and the measured partitioning ratios from the two methods are equivalent. The experiments in this work demonstrate that the LC/MS/MS-based depletion method can provide direct and accurate measurement of RBC partitioning for compounds in drug discovery.

Rapid determination of ranitidine in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography without solvent extraction

A simple high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure was developed for the determination of ranitidine in human plasma. The method entailed direct injection of the plasma samples after deproteination using perchloric acid. The chromatographic separation was accomplished with an isocratic elution using mobile phase consisting of 21 mM disodium hydrogen phosphate-triethylamine-acetonitrile (1000:60:150, v/v), pH 3.5. Analyses were run at a flow-rate of 1.3 ml/min using a microbondapak C18 column and ultraviolet detection at a wavelength of 320 nm. The method was specific and sensitive, with a quantification limit of approximately 20 ng/ml and a detection limit of 5 ng/ml at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3:1. The mean absolute recovery was about 96%, while the within- and between-day coefficient of variation and percent error values of the assay method were all less than 8%. The linearity was assessed in the range of 20-1000 ng/ml plasma, with a correlation coefficient of greater than 0.999. This method has been used to analyze several hundred human plasma samples for bioavailability studies.

Automated in-tube solid-phase microextraction-liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry for the determination of ranitidine

The technique of automated in-tube solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) was evaluated for the determination of ranitidine. In-tube SPME is an extraction technique for organic compounds in aqueous samples, in which analytes are extracted from the sample directly into an open tubular capillary column by repeated aspirate/dispense steps. In order to optimize the extraction of ranitidine, several in-tube SPME parameters such as capillary column stationary phase, extraction pH and number and volume of aspirate/dispense steps were investigated. The optimum extraction conditions for ranitidine from aqueous samples were 10 aspirate/dispense steps of 30 microliters of sample in 25 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.5) with an Omegawax 250 capillary column (60 cm x 0.25 mm I.D., 0.25 micron film thickness). The ranitidine extracted on the capillary column was easily desorbed with methanol, and then transported to the Supelcosil LC-CN column with the mobile phase methanol-2-propanol-5 M ammonium acetate (50:50:1). The ranitidine eluted from the column was determined by ESI-MS in selected ion monitoring mode. In-tube SPME followed by LC-ESI-MS was performed automatically using the HP 1100 autosampler. Each analysis required 16 min, and carryover of ranitidine in this system was below 1%. The calibration curve of ranitidine in the range of 5-1000 ng/ml was linear with a correlation coefficient of 0.9997 (n = 24), and a detection limit at a signal-to-noise ratio of three was ca. 1.4 ng/ml. The within-day and between-day variations in ranitidine analysis were 2.5 and 6.2% (n = 5), respectively. This method was also applied for the analyses of tablet and urine samples.

Simple high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of ranitidine in human plasma

A simple high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the determination of ranitidine in human plasma. Prior to analysis, ranitidine and the internal standard (metoprolol) were extracted from alkalinized plasma samples using dichloromethane. The mobile phase was 0.05 M potassium dihydrogenphosphate-acetonitrile (88:12, v/v) adjusted to pH 6.5. Analysis was run at a flow-rate of 1.3 ml/min and at a detection wavelength of 229 nm. The method is sensitive with a detection limit of 1 ng/ml at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3:1, while the quantification limit was set at 15 ng/ml. The calibration curve was linear over a concentration range of 15-2000 ng/ml. Mean recovery value of the extraction procedure was about 90%, while the within-day and between-day coefficients of variation and percent error values of the assay method were all less than 15%.

Robotic solid phase extraction and high performance liquid chromatographic analysis of ranitidine in serum or plasma

A fully automated assay for the analysis of ranitidine in serum and plasma, with and without an internal standard, was validated. It utilizes robotic solid phase extraction with on-line high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) analysis. The ruggedness of the assay was demonstrated over a three-year period. A Zymark Py Technology II robotic system was used for serial processing from initial aspiration of samples from original collection containers, to final direct injection onto the on-line HPLC system. Automated serial processing with on-line analysis provided uniform sample history and increased productivity by freeing the chemist to analyse data and perform other tasks. The solid phase extraction efficiency was 94% throughout the assay range of 10-250 ng/mL. The coefficients of variation for within- and between-day quality control samples ranged from 1 to 6% and 1 to 5%, respectively. Mean accuracy for between-day standards and quality control results ranged from 97 to 102% of the respective theoretical concentrations.

Pharmacokinetics of ranitidine after partial gastrectomy in dogs

The effect of gastric surgery on the pharmacokinetics of ranitidine was studied in six dogs, all serving as their own controls. Prior to and after surgery, each dog received a single oral dose (5 mg/kg of body weight) of a ranitidine solution. The surgery consisted of partial gastrectomy (antrectomy) and truncal vagotomy. Ranitidine plasma and urine concentrations were measured by reversed-phase ion-pair liquid chromatography with UV detection. Pharmacokinetic parameters were estimated by noncompartmental data analysis techniques. Gastric surgery tended to slow the absorption of ranitidine as reflected by a slight increase of the time necessary to reach the peak plasma concentration. The maximum observed plasma concentration was slightly lowered. The amount of drug absorbed remained unchanged as reflected by no change in the AUCs. Other parameters such as mean residence time, elimination half-life, apparent oral clearance, and fraction excreted unchanged in the urine remained unchanged. However, due to the small number of animals and the considerable intersubject variability, none of these trends reached statistical significance.

Bioanalysis of anti-ulcer agents

In reviewing the analytical methods for the analysis of anti-ulcer drugs we observed an increase in the utilization of solid-phase extraction techniques, though the traditional liquid-liquid methods are still predominant. Liquid chromatographic techniques are employed more than gas chromatographic methods which reflects the general trend in chromatographic analysis for analytes in the nanogram range. We foresee a continued increase in the use of solid-phase extraction methodology (automated or otherwise) due to the potential for dramatic decreases in extraction times, cost and significant enhancement of extraction efficiency. Because the therapeutic concentrations of these drugs tend to be in the low nanogram range in plasma and the current trend in drug development is toward more potent agents, we anticipate the application of more sensitive liquid chromatographic detection techniques such as electrochemical and chemiluminescence detection to overcome the limitations of currently used technology.

Simultaneous determination of ranitidine and its metabolites in human plasma and urine by high-performance liquid chromatography

A sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the simultaneous determination of ranitidine and its metabolites, ranitidine N-oxide, ranitidine S-oxide and desmethylranitidine, in human plasma and urine. For the plasma analysis, 1-ml plasma samples spiked with phenylpyramidol as the internal standard were extracted at basic pH with acetonitrile-ethyl acetate (3:2, v/v). After evaporation and reconstitution, the samples were chromatographed on a cation-exchange column, with a mobile phase of 0.1 M sodium acetate buffer (pH 5)-acetonitrile-tetrahydrofuran (56.5:36:7.5, v/v) and ultraviolet detection at 320 nm. The extraction recoveries were 99.8, 30.4, 74.2 and 80.2% and the detection limits were 5, 15, 10 and 4 ng/ml for ranitidine, ranitidine N-oxide, ranitidine S-oxide and desmethylranitidine, respectively. For the urine analysis, a simple deproteinization with an equal volume of acetonitrile was satisfactory for sample preparation. The applicability of this method for the pharmacokinetic study of ranitidine following oral administration was demonstrated.

Determination of ranitidine in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of ranitidine in plasma. Ranitidine was extracted with acetonitrile by adding it to the plasma and then salting it out with potassium carbonate. The chromatographic column was 5-microns ODS silica, the mobile phase being acetonitrile-7 mM triethylammonium ion in phosphoric acid (pH 3.00) (30:70, v/v). The ranitidine peak was monitored at a wavelength of 315 nm, the retention time for ranitidine being 4.6 min. A limit of detection of 3 ng ml-1 was obtained for a 100-microliters injection of ranitidine. The method was found to be reproducible with a relative standard deviation (RSD) between 0.8-5.3% (n = 5) over the concentration range 25-80 ng ml-1 in plasma. The ranitidine concentration was determined in 18 different patients' plasmas. Ranitidine and its metabolites ranitidine S-oxide, ranitidine N-oxide and desmethyl-ranitidine, were also studied for chromatographic resolution from each other. It was shown that a group of common drugs did not interfere with ranitidine determination.

Chromatographic methods for determining the identity, strength and purity of ranitidine hydrochloride both in the drug substance and its dosage forms--an exercise in method selection, development, definition and validation

The selection, development, definition and validation of selective stability-indicating procedures for high-performance liquid chromatographic and thin-layer chromatographic analyses of ranitidine hydrochloride are described. The procedures used in conjunction can be applied to the quality assurance and stability assessments of both the drug substance and its dosage forms and serve to establish the identity, strength and purity of this drug used in the treatment of peptic ulcer and related conditions.

Automated solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of ranitidine from urine, plasma and peritoneal dialysate

Ranitidine is an H2-receptor antagonist primarily used to treat peptic ulcer. The present automated solid-phase extraction technique involves sorbent conditioning of a cyano (CN) cartridge with 0.5 ml of methanol and 1.0 ml of extraction buffer (0.005 M phosphate, pH 9). Plasma samples were applied by passing 1.0 ml of plasma through the cartridge and subsequently washing with 2 ml of the extraction buffer. Appropriate larger volumes of dialysate were used to concentrate ranitidine onto the cartridge so that the amount eluted was increased to within detectable limits. Urine samples were deluted with distilled water to decrease the ranitidine concentration to within the range of the standard curve. The high-performance liquid chromatographic method (mobile phase 88-89% of 0.02 M phosphate buffer pH 3 and 11-12% of methanol; Spherisorb phenyl cartridge column, 10 cm X 0.46 cm I.D., 5 micron particle diameter, flow-rate 1.1 ml/min; detection at 228 nm) is sensitive to 2 ng/ml in 1 ml of sample. The internal standard of choice was determined to be n-propionylprocainamide as compared to cimetidine and lidocaine. The method was cost-efficient, rapid and simple due to the automated sample processing. The coefficient of variation on replicate assays was less than 10% over all concentrations studied. Recoveries were between 97 and 110%, and the method was linear over the range 1.90-687.20 with a mean correlation coefficient of 0.999.