Simultaneous determination and pharmacokinetic study of metformin and pioglitazone in dog plasma by LC-MS-MS

Thiazolidinediones: Recent Development in Analytical Methodologies

The instrumental analytical methods that have been developed and utilized for the determination of thiazolidinedione in bulk medications, formulations and biological fluids have been reviewed after an in-depth analysis of the literature published in a variety of analytical and pharmaceutical chemistry-related journals. The approaches covered by this research, which covers the years 2001-2022, include complex methods for analysis, chromatographic techniques and spectrometric analytical procedures. The mobile phase, flow rate, sample matrix, wavelength and other factors identified in the literature were just a few of the parameters used to evaluate thiazolidinediones. The present review focuses on the published analytical techniques for thiazolidinedione analysis that have been previously identified in the literature. The specified outcomes followed extensive learning, and the most recent advances in analytical methods for the identification of pioglitazone, pioglitazone HCl, rosiglitazone, rosiglitazone maleate and lobeglitazone were reviewed. Additionally, this article briefly discusses features of analytical discovery on thiazolidinediones, which will enable readers to access all discoveries in one place with precise outcomes.

Deduction of the operable design space of RP-HPLC technique for the simultaneous estimation of metformin, pioglitazone, and glimepiride

A reversed-phase RP-HPLC method was developed for the simultaneous determination of metformin hydrochloride (MET), pioglitazone (PIO), and glimepiride (GLM) in their combined dosage forms and spiked human plasma. Quality risk management principles for determining the critical method parameters (CMPs) and fractional factorial design were made to screen CMPs and subsequently, the Box-Behnken design was employed. The analytical Quality by Design (AQbD) paradigm was used to establish the method operable design region (MODR) for the developed method depended on understanding the quality target product profile (QTPP), analytical target profile (ATP), and risk assessment for different factors that affect the method performance to develop an accurate, precise, cost-effective, and environmentally benign method. The separation was carried out using a mobile phase composed of methanol: 0.05 M potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer pH 3.7 with 0.05% TEA (78:22, v/v). The flow rate was 1.2 mL/min. DAD detector was set at 227 nm. Linagliptin (LIN) was used as an internal standard. The proposed method was validated according to The International Council for Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH). The assay results obtained by using the developed method were statistically compared to those obtained by the reported HPLC method, and a satisfying agreement was observed.

Biguanide Pharmaceutical Formulations and the Applications of Bile Acid-Based Nano Delivery in Chronic Medical Conditions

Biguanides, particularly the widely prescribed drug metformin, have been marketed for many decades and have well-established absorption profiles. They are commonly administered via the oral route and, despite variation in oral uptake, remain commonly prescribed for diabetes mellitus, typically type 2. Studies over the last decade have focused on the design and development of advanced oral delivery dosage forms using bio nano technologies and novel drug carrier systems. Such studies have demonstrated significantly enhanced delivery and safety of biguanides using nanocapsules. Enhanced delivery and safety have widened the potential applications of biguanides not only in diabetes but also in other disorders. Hence, this review aimed to explore biguanides’ pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmaceutical applications in diabetes, as well as in other disorders.

Development and Greenness Assessment of HPLC Method for Studying the Pharmacokinetics of Co-Administered Metformin and Papaya Extract

Foods with medical value have been proven to be beneficial, and they are extensively employed since they integrate two essential elements: food and medication. Accordingly, diabetic patients can benefit from papaya because the fruit is low in sugar and high in antioxidants. An RP-HPLC method was designed for studying the pharmacokinetics of metformin (MET) when concurrently administered with papaya extract. A mobile phase of 0.5 mM of KH2PO4 solution and methanol (65:35, v/v), pH = 5 ± 0.2 using aqueous phosphoric acid and NaOH, and guaifenesin (GUF) were used as an internal standard. To perform non-compartmental pharmacokinetic analysis, the Pharmacokinetic program (PK Solver) was used. The method's greenness was analyzed using two tools: the Analytical GREEnness calculator and the RGB additive color model. Taking papaya with MET improved the rate of absorption substantially (time for reaching maximum concentration (Tmax) significantly decreased by 75% while maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) increased by 7.33%). The extent of absorption reduced by 22.90%. Furthermore, the amount of medication distributed increased (30.83 L for MET concurrently used with papaya extract versus 24.25 L for MET used alone) and the clearance rate rose by roughly 13.50%. The results of the greenness assessment indicated that the method is environmentally friendly. Taking papaya with MET changed the pharmacokinetics of the drug dramatically. Hence, this combination will be particularly effective in maintaining quick blood glucose control.

Electrochemical sensing of pioglitazone hydrochloride on N-doped r-GO modified commercial electrodes

In this paper, we explain the electrochemical sensing of commercially available pioglitazone hydrochloride (PIOZ) tablets on a nitrogen (N) doped r-GO (Nr-GO) modified commercial glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and a commercial screen printed graphite electrode (SPGE). Nr-GO is synthesized by the chemical reduction of graphene oxide (GO) and simultaneous insertion of an N-dopant by hydrazine monohydrate. Pristine GO itself is prepared by chemical exfoliation of bulk graphite. Upon chemical reduction, the exfoliated GO sheets restack together leaving behind the doped N-atom as evidenced by XRD and Raman spectroscopy. The N-atom exists in the pyrrolinic and pyridinic form at the edge of graphitic domains which is confirmed by XPS. The as-synthesized Nr-GO is used for the preparation of electro-active electrodes with the help of the GCE and SPGE. These electrodes have the capability to oxidize PIOZ by a diffusion dominated process as evidenced by the impedance spectroscopic technique. The differential pulse voltammetric responses of different concentrations of PIOZ are assessed over the Nr-GO modified GCE and SPGE, which exhibit better limits of detection (LODs) of 67 nM and 29 nM, respectively, compared to those from earlier reports. These assays exhibit non-interfering capability in the presence of various body interferents at pH = 7.0.

Development and validation of a sensitive LC-MS/MS method for pioglitazone: application towards pharmacokinetic and tissue distribution study in rats

In the present study, a sensitive LC-MS/MS method was developed and validated to measure pioglitazone (PGZ) concentrations in rat plasma and tissues. The chromatographic separation was achieved by using a YMC Pro C₁₈ column (100 mm × 4.6 mm, 3μ) with a mobile phase consisting of formic acid (0.1% v/v) and acetonitrile (5 : 95) at a flow rate of 0.7 mL min⁻¹ and injection volume of 10 μL (IS: rosiglitazone). Mass spectrometric detection was done using triple quadrupole mass spectrometry using the ESI interface operating in a positive ionization mode. The developed method was validated over a linearity range of 1–500 ng mL⁻¹ with detection and a lower quantification limit of 0.5 ng mL⁻¹ and 1 ng mL⁻¹. The method accuracy ranged from 95.89–98.78% (inter-day) & 93.39–97.68% (intra-day) with a precision range of 6.09–8.12% for inter-day & 7.55–9.87% for intra-day, respectively. The PGZ shows the highest C_max of 495.03 ng mL⁻¹ in plasma and the lowest C_max, 24.50 ± 2.71 ng mL⁻¹ in bone. The maximum T_max of 5.00 ± 0.49 h was observed in bone and a minimum of 1.01 ± 0.05 h in plasma. The AUC_{(0–24 h and 0–∞)} values are highest in plasma (1056.58 ± 65.78 & 1069.38 ± 77.50 ng h⁻¹ mL⁻¹) and lowest in brain (166.93 ± 15.70 &167.12 ± 16.77 ng h⁻¹ mL⁻¹), and the T_1/2 was highest in plasma (5.62 ± 0.74 h) and lowest in kidney (2.78 ± 0.19). The developed method was successfully used to measure the PGZ pharmacokinetic and tissue distribution. Further, the developed method could be utilized for validating target organ (adipose tissue) specific delivery of PGZ (nano-formulations) in addition to conventional dosage forms.

The developed method was investigated for target and off-target distribution of pioglitazone and could be applied to validate the site-specific delivery systems.

Ecological HPLC method for analyzing an antidiabetic drug in real rat plasma samples and studying the effects of concurrently administered fenugreek extract on its pharmacokinetics

Currently, the total number of diabetic people worldwide is constantly increasing. Metformin (MET) is known to be a first-line antidiabetic drug with varied, wide-reaching applications. Concurrent administration of phytomedicines such as fenugreek extract with synthetic drugs is very common. It is reported that concomitant administration of fenugreek extract with metformin maintains lower blood glucose levels than metformin alone. In this work, an ecofriendly RP-HPLC method was established to study and compare the pharmacokinetics of metformin with and without the contemporary administration of fenugreek extract using rat as an animal model. In the developed method, a solvent mixture of 0.5 mM KH₂PO₄ solution : methanol (65 : 35, v/v) was used as a mobile phase and guaiphenesin was used as an internal standard. The plasma concentration–time curve was plotted, and non-compartmental pharmacokinetic analysis was performed using PKSolver. The results of the pharmacokinetic study showed that concurrent administration of fenugreek significantly increased the bioavailability of metformin and doubled the time required to reach the peak plasma concentration (T_max). Moreover, the volume of drug distribution decreased by about 70%, while its rate of clearance decreased by about 55.96%. Accordingly, the administration of fenugreek in combination with metformin significantly affected the pharmacokinetics of metformin, and this combination will be very useful in controlling blood glucose levels in diabetic patients. The greenness of the method was assessed using the Analytical Eco-Scale, Analytical Method Volume Intensity (AMVI), and National Environmental Method Index (NEMI), and all results affirmed that the method can be considered to be ecological.

The combination of fenugreek extract and metformin can be considered as an auspicious treatment for satisfactory diabetes control and minimizing the expected long-term complications of metformin.

Metformin: A Prospective Alternative for the Treatment of Chronic Pain

Metformin (biguanide) is a drug widely used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. This drug has been used for 60 years as a highly effective antihyperglycemic agent. The search for the mechanism of action of metformin has produced an enormous amount of research to explain its effects on gluconeogenesis, protein metabolism, fatty acid oxidation, oxidative stress, glucose uptake, autophagy and pain, among others. It was only up the end of the 1990s and beginning of this century that some of its mechanisms were revealed. Metformin induces its beneficial effects in diabetes through the activation of a master switch kinase named AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Two upstream kinases account for the physiological activation of AMPK: liver kinase B1 and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase 2. Once activated, AMPK inhibits the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), which in turn avoids the phosphorylation of p70 ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B signaling pathways and reduces cap-dependent translation initiation. Since metformin is a disease-modifying drug in type 2 diabetes, which reduces the mTORC1 signaling to induce its effects on neuronal plasticity, it was proposed that these mechanisms could also explain the antinociceptive effect of this drug in several models of chronic pain. These studies have highlighted the efficacy of this drug in chronic pain, such as that from neuropathy, insulin resistance, diabetic neuropathy, and fibromyalgia-type pain. Mounting evidence indicates that chronic pain may induce anxiety, depression and cognitive impairment in rodents and humans. Interestingly, metformin is able to reverse some of these consequences of pathological pain in rodents. The purpose of this review was to analyze the current evidence about the effects of metformin in chronic pain and three of its comorbidities (anxiety, depression and cognitive impairment).

Determination of metformin bio-distribution by LC-MS/MS in mice treated with a clinically relevant paradigm

Metformin, an anti-diabetes drug, has been recently emerging as a potential “anti-aging” intervention based on its reported beneficial actions against aging in preclinical studies. Nonetheless, very few metformin studies using mice have determined metformin concentrations and many effects of metformin have been observed in preclinical studies using doses/concentrations that were not relevant to therapeutic levels in human. We developed a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry protocol for metformin measurement in plasma, liver, brain, kidney, and muscle of mice. Young adult male and female C57BL/6 mice were voluntarily treated with metformin of 4 mg/ml in drinking water which translated to the maximum dose of 2.5 g/day in humans. A clinically relevant steady-state plasma metformin concentrations were achieved at 7 and 30 days after treatment in male and female mice. Metformin concentrations were slightly higher in muscle than in plasma, while, ~3 and 6-fold higher in the liver and kidney than in plasma, respectively. Low metformin concentration was found in the brain at ~20% of the plasma level. Furthermore, gender difference in steady-state metformin bio-distribution was observed. Our study established steady-state metformin levels in plasma, liver, muscle, kidney, and brain of normoglycemic mice treated with a clinically relevant dose, providing insight into future metformin preclinical studies for potential clinical translation.

A Facile Colorimetric and Spectrophotometric Method for Sensitive Determination of Metformin in Human Serum Based on Citrate-Capped Gold Nanoparticles: Central Composite Design Optimization

For the determination of Metformin in human serum, a facile colorimetric and spectrophotometric sensor was designed based on citrate-capped gold nanoparticles (citrate-GNPs). In this probe, the addition of Metformin to GNP solution generates a naked-eye color change resulting from the aggregation of GNPs. Study of this color conversion and quantity analysis of analyte is operated by spectrophotometric instruments. The three factors pH, time, and GNP ratio were selected to examine their effects on sensing results and their values optimization. The optimization of parameters was done by means of central composite design and one-at-a-time methods. The sensing results proved the highly selective and sensitive performance of the sensor for Metformin in a linear range of 6.25-133.3 ppm with a detection limit of 1.79 ppm. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the reported method is 2.53%.

Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry for the simultaneous determination of metformin and pioglitazone in rat plasma: Application to pharmacokinetic and drug-drug interaction studies

Failure to attain and sustain long term glycemic control is an ongoing challenge in diabetes therapy. The trend to use a combined therapy and the risk of drug-drug interaction (DDI) are elevated and thus the need for sensitive analytical methods is of great significance. Herein, a simple, robust, and sensitive reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) method for simultaneous determination of metformin (MET) and pioglitazone (PGT) in rat plasma using canagliflozin (CAN) as internal standards (IS) was developed and fully validated. Prior Chromatographic separation on an Agilent Eclipse Plus C18 (4.6 × 100 mm, 3.5 μm) using gradient mobile phase system consisting of ammonium formate pH 4.5 and acetonitrile at a flow rate of 0.5 mL min^-1, within a run time of 14 min, the antidiabetic drugs were extracted from rat plasma using acetonitrile-induced protein precipitation technique. Multiple reaction monitoring in positive ion mode was used for quantitation of precursor to production at m/z 130.1 → 71.0 & 60 for MET, 357.2 → 134.2 for PGT, and 462.16 → 191.1 for CAN. Method linearity was obeyed in the range of 1 to 5000 and 1 to 2500 ng mL^-1 for MET and PGT, respectively. The developed method was validated in terms of accuracy, precision, selectivity, recovery, matrix effects, and stability as per US-FDA bioanalytical guidelines and successfully applied to clinical pharmacokinetic and DDI studies with a single oral administration of target compounds. The peak plasma concentrations (C_max) and area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) of MET was significantly influenced by the concomitant administration of PGT at equal concentration and vice versa. PGT affected the absorption and elimination rate of MET via inhibition of organic cationic transporter (OCT). Molecular modeling study revealed the significant interaction of PGT with OCT. A potential DDI in type 2 diabetic patient receiving chronic treatment with MET and PGT deserves further attention and study to improve drug therapy and prevent adverse effects.

Fast and simple determination of moroxydine residues in pig and chicken samples by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A general solid-phase extraction (SPE) method using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) for the determination of moroxydine residues in pig and chicken samples has been developed. After extraction and purification of real samples, moroxydine residues were detected using a hydrophobic interaction liquid chromatography column with an optimised mobile phase composition. The extraction reagents, the kind of SPE columns and the type of eluents were optimised to achieve the maximum extraction efficiency. The matrix effects from the animal tissue influenced the quality of the quantitative data obtained. Under the optimised conditions, the moroxydine residues in pig and chicken samples spiked at three levels (1.0 μg/kg, 5.0 μg/kg and 10.0 μg/kg) were determined with good recoveries (61.5%-105.4%) and adequate relative standard deviations (3.2%-13.0%). In pig and chicken samples, the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.3 μg/kg, and the limit of quantification (LOQ) was 1.0 μg/kg. A sufficiently linear relationship in the range of 1.0 μg/kg-20.0 μg/kg was achieved with a good correlation coefficient (R² ≥ 0.99).

Enhanced LC-MS/MS analysis of alogliptin and pioglitazone in human plasma: Applied to a preliminary pharmacokinetic study

A new fast LC-MS/MS method was developed for determination of alogliptin and pioglitazone in human plasma. Linearity ranges of 10-400ngmL^-1 for alogliptin and 25-2000ngmL^-1 for pioglitazone, were found to be suitable for their bioanalysis covering the C_min and C_max values of the drugs. Direct precipitation technique was used for simultaneous extraction of the drugs successfully from human plasma samples. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a BEH C₁₈ column (50mm×2.1mm, 1.7μm) with 0.1% aqueous formic acid: acetonitrile (40:60, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.3mLmin^-1. The validated method was applied to a preliminary pharmacokinetic study on human volunteers. Monitoring the transition pairs of m/z 340.18 to 116.08 for alogliptin and m/z 356.99 to 133.92 for pioglitazone, using triple quadrupole mass spectrometer with multiple reaction monitoring, was achieved in the positive mode. The validated method is accurate and suitable for further clinical applications and possible bioequivalence studies.

Analytical tools for determination of new oral antidiabetic drugs, glitazones, gliptins, gliflozins and glinides, in bulk materials, pharmaceuticals and biological samples

The review presents analytical methods for determination of new oral drugs for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), focusing on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma agonists (glitazones), dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors (gliptins) and sodium/glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (gliflozins). Drugs derived from prandial glucose regulators, such as glinides, are considered because they are present in some new therapeutic options. The review presents analytical procedures suitable for determination of the drugs in bulk substances, such as pharmaceuticals and biological samples, including HPLC-UV, HPLC/LC-MS, TLC/HPTLC, CE/CE-MS, spectrophotometric (UV/VIS), spectrofluorimetric and electrochemical methods, taken from the literature over the past ten years (2006-2016). Some new procedures for extraction, separation and detection of the drugs, including solid phase extraction with molecularly imprinted polymers (SPE-MIP), liquid phase microextraction using porous hollow fibers (HP-LPME), HILIC chromatography, micellar mobile phases, ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) and isotopically labeled internal standards, are discussed.