Stereospecific determination of mefloquine in biological fluids by high-performance liquid chromatography

Liquid-phase microextraction combined with high-performance liquid chromatography for the enantioselective analysis of mefloquine in plasma samples

A simple and rapid method, which involves liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) followed by HPLC analysis using Chiralpak AD column and UV detection, was developed for the enantioselective determination of mefloquine in plasma samples. Several factors that influence the efficiency of three-phase LPME were investigated and optimized. Under the optimal extraction conditions, the mean recoveries were 33.2 and 35.0% for (-)-(SR-)-mefloquine and (+)-(RS)-mefloquine, respectively. The method was linear over 50-1500 ng/ml range. Within-day and between-day assay precision and accuracy were below 15% for both enantiomers at concentrations of 150, 600 and 1200 ng/ml. Furthermore, no racemization or degradation were seen with the method described.

An analytical method with a single extraction procedure and two separate high performance liquid chromatographic systems for the determination of artesunate, dihydroartemisinin and mefloquine in human plasma for application in clinical pharmacological studies of the drug combination

The combination of two sensitive, selective and reproducible reversed phase liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) methods was developed for the determination of artesunate (AS), its active metabolite dihydroartemisinin (DHA) and mefloquine (MQ) in human plasma. Solid phase extraction (SPE) of the plasma samples was carried out on Supelclean LC-18 extraction cartridges. Chromatographic separation of AS, DHA and the internal standard, artemisinin (QHS) was obtained on a Hypersil C4 column with mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-0.05 M acetic acid adjusted to pH 5.2 with 1.0M NaOH (42:58, v/v) at the flow rate of 1.50 ml/min. The analytes were detected using an electrochemical detector operating in the reductive mode. Chromatography of MQ and the internal standard, chlorpromazine hydrochloride (CPM) was carried out on an Inertsil C8-3 column using methanol-acetonitrile-0.05 M potassium dihydrogen phosphate adjusted to pH 3.9 with 0.5% orthophosphoric acid (50:8:42, v/v/v) at a flow rate of 1.00 ml/min with ultraviolet detection at 284 nm. The mean recoveries of AS and DHA over a concentration range of 30-750 ng/0.5 ml plasma and MQ over a concentration of 75-1500 ng/0.5 ml plasma were above 80% and the accuracy ranged from 91.1 to 103.5%. The within-day coefficients of variation were 1.0-1.4% for AS, 0.4-3.4% for DHA and 0.7-1.5% for MQ. The day-to-day coefficients of variation were 1.3-7.6%, 1.8-7.8% and 2.0-3.4%, respectively. Both the lower limit of quantifications for AS and DHA were at 10 ng/0.5 ml and the lower limit of quantification for MQ was at 25 ng/0.5 ml. The limit of detections were 4 ng/0.5 ml for AS and DHA and 15 ng/0.5 ml for MQ. The method was found to be suitable for use in clinical pharmacological studies.

Stereoselectivity in the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of the chiral antimalarial drugs

Several of the antimalarial drugs are chiral and administered as the racemate. These drugs include chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, quinacrine, primaquine, mefloquine, halofantrine, lumefantrine and tafenoquine. Quinine and quinidine are also stereoisomers, although they are given separately rather than in combination. From the perspective of antimalarial activity, most of these agents demonstrate little stereoselectivity in their effects in vitro. Mefloquine, on the other hand, displays in vitro stereoselectivity against some strains of P. falciparum, with a eudismic ratio of almost 2 : 1 in favour of the (+)-enantiomer. Additionally, for some of these agents (e.g. halofantrine, primaquine, chloroquine), stereoselectivity has been noted in the ability of the enantiomers to cause certain adverse effects. In recent years, stereospecific analytical methods capable of measuring the individual enantiomers after the administration of racemic drugs have been reported for a number of chiral antimalarial drugs. These assays have revealed that almost all the studied antimalarial drugs display stereoselectivity in their pharmacokinetics, leading to enantioselectivity in their plasma concentrations. Whereas the oral absorption of these agents appears to be non-stereoselective, stereoselectivity is often seen in their volume of distribution and/or clearance. With regard to distribution, plasma protein binding of some chiral antimalarial drugs exhibits a significant degree of stereoselectivity, leading to stereoselective distribution to blood cells and other tissues. Because of their low hepatic extraction ratios, stereoselective plasma protein binding also contributes to the stereoselectivity in the metabolism of these drugs. Chiral metabolites are formed from some parent antimalarial drugs, although stereoselective aspects of the pharmacokinetics of the metabolites are not well understood. It is concluded that knowledge of the stereoselective aspects of these agents may be helpful in better understanding their mechanisms of action and possibly optimising their clinical safety and/or effectiveness.

Resolution of chiral drugs by liquid chromatography based upon diastereomer formation with chiral derivatization reagents

Chiral derivatization reagents for resolution of biologically important compounds, such as chiral drugs by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), based upon pre-column derivatization and diastereomer formation, are reviewed. The derivatization reagents for various functional groups, i.e., amine, carboxyl, carbonyl, hydroxyl and thiol, are evaluated in terms of reactivity, stability, wavelength, handling, versatility, sensitivity, and selectivity. The applicability of the reagents to the analyses of drugs and bioactive compounds are included in the text.

Pharmaceutical and biomedical applications of enantioseparations using liquid chromatographic techniques

The chiral separation methods using liquid chromatographic techniques can be divided into two categories: one is a direct method, which is based on a diastereomer formation on stationary phase or in mobile phase. The other is an indirect method, which is based on a diasteromer formation by reaction with a homochiral reagent. The enantiomer separation on a chiral stationary phases followed by derivatization with an achiral reagent is also dealt with this review article as the indirect method. The pharmaceutical and biomedical applications of enantioseparations using the direct and indirect methods have been considered in this review.

Enantioselective high-performance liquid chromatography of therapeutically relevant aminoalcohols as their fluorescent 1-naphthyl isocyanate derivatives

A method for determining the enantiomers of 10 therapeutically relevant aminoalcohols using HPLC and precolumn derivatization was developed. Naphthyl isocyanate reacted with racemic aminoalcohols to form urea derivatives which were separated isocratically on a cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) coated silica gel column, and detected fluorometrically in the lower ng mL(-1) range. The effluents can also be monitored at lower sensitivity, using an ultraviolet detector operated at 220 nm.