Bioequivalence assessment of two formulations of ibuprofen

Evaluation of Pharmacokinetics and Safety with Bioequivalence of Ibuprofen Sustained-Release Capsules of Two Formulations, in Chinese Healthy Volunteers: Bioequivalence Study

Purpose

Ibuprofen is the first of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) to be used in the clinic. Our aim was to explore the pharmacokinetics (PK), bioequivalence, food effect, and safety of oral ibuprofen sustained-release capsules by two sponsors in healthy volunteers (HVs).

Methods

Two separate randomized, open-label, single-dose, crossover-design studies were conducted: a fasting study (n = 24) and a fed study (n = 24). In each study, HVs were 1:1 divided into two groups (T-R and R-T) and received 0.3-g/capsule ibuprofen with a 3-day washout. The plasma was collected for up to 24 hours at the time point after dosing on Day 1/Day 4. The plasma concentrations of ibuprofen were measured using an HPLC-MS/MS method, and PK parameters were determined by noncompartmental methods.

Results

Forty-eight healthy volunteers were enrolled. In fasting subjects, the maximum plasma concentration (C_max, mean ± SD) was 14.86±3.19 μg/mL at 5.0 (4.0, 7.0) hours (median [min, max]) for sponsor T, and 13.88±2.60 μg/mL at 4.5 (3.0, 8.0) hours for sponsor R. In fed subjects, C_max was 21.31±4.08 μg/mL at 5.6 (4.3, 10.0) hours for sponsor T, and 19.77±3.36 μg/mL at 6.0 (2.0, 8.0) hours for sponsor R. All 90% confidence intervals (CIs) for C_max, AUC_0-t, and AUC_0-∞ were within the bioequivalence bounds (80-125%) both fasting and fed studies.

Conclusion

Ibuprofen is well tolerated and has a favorable safety profile. In both fasting and fed study, there were no serious AEs, or AEs leading to withdrawal. Bioequivalence is achieved under fasting and fed conditions, supporting the demonstration of biosimilarity.

Application of vibrational spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance methods for drugs pharmacokinetics research

OBJECTIVES

The development of new methods for determining the concentration of drugs is an actual topic today. The article contains a detailed review on vibrational spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance methods using for pharmacokinetic research. This study is devoted to the possibility of using vibrational spectroscopy and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to determine the concentration of drugs and the use of these groups of techniques for therapeutic drug monitoring.

CONTENT

The study was conducted by using scientific libraries (Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, Medline, GoogleScholar, eLIBRARY, PubMed) and reference literature. A search was conducted for the period from 2011 to 2021 in Russian and English, by combinations of words: 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR), vibrational spectroscopy, Surface-Enhanced Raman spectroscopy, drug concentration, therapeutic drug monitoring. These methods have a number of advantages and are devoid of some of the disadvantages of classical therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) methods - high performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. This review considers the possibility of using the methods of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and ¹H NMR-spectroscopy to assess the concentration of drugs in various biological media (blood, urine), as well as to study intracellular metabolism and the metabolism of ophthalmic drugs. ¹Н NMR-spectroscopy can be chosen as a TDM method, since it allows analyzing the structure and identifying metabolites of various drugs. ¹Н NMR-based metabolomics can provide information on the side effects of drugs, predict response to treatment, and provide key information on the mechanisms of action of known and new drug compounds.

SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK

SERS and ¹Н NMR-spectroscopy have great potential for further study and the possibility of introducing them into clinical practice, including for evaluating the efficacy and safety of drugs.

You Are What You Eat: Application of Metabolomics Approaches to Advance Nutrition Research

A healthy condition is defined by complex human metabolic pathways that only function properly when fully satisfied by nutritional inputs. Poor nutritional intakes are associated with a number of metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, obesity, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and osteoporosis. In recent years, nutrition science has undergone an extraordinary transformation driven by the development of innovative software and analytical platforms. However, the complexity and variety of the chemical components present in different food types, and the diversity of interactions in the biochemical networks and biological systems, makes nutrition research a complicated field. Metabolomics science is an "-omic", joining proteomics, transcriptomics, and genomics in affording a global understanding of biological systems. In this review, we present the main metabolomics approaches, and highlight the applications and the potential for metabolomics approaches in advancing nutritional food research.

NMR as a "Gold Standard" Method in Drug Design and Discovery

Studying disease models at the molecular level is vital for drug development in order to improve treatment and prevent a wide range of human pathologies. Microbial infections are still a major challenge because pathogens rapidly and continually evolve developing drug resistance. Cancer cells also change genetically, and current therapeutic techniques may be (or may become) ineffective in many cases. The pathology of many neurological diseases remains an enigma, and the exact etiology and underlying mechanisms are still largely unknown. Viral infections spread and develop much more quickly than does the corresponding research needed to prevent and combat these infections; the present and most relevant outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, which originated in Wuhan, China, illustrates the critical and immediate need to improve drug design and development techniques. Modern day drug discovery is a time-consuming, expensive process. Each new drug takes in excess of 10 years to develop and costs on average more than a billion US dollars. This demonstrates the need of a complete redesign or novel strategies. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) has played a critical role in drug discovery ever since its introduction several decades ago. In just three decades, NMR has become a "gold standard" platform technology in medical and pharmacology studies. In this review, we present the major applications of NMR spectroscopy in medical drug discovery and development. The basic concepts, theories, and applications of the most commonly used NMR techniques are presented. We also summarize the advantages and limitations of the primary NMR methods in drug development.

NMR Spectroscopy for Metabolomics Research

Over the past two decades, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has emerged as one of the three principal analytical techniques used in metabolomics (the other two being gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography coupled with single-stage mass spectrometry (LC-MS)). The relative ease of sample preparation, the ability to quantify metabolite levels, the high level of experimental reproducibility, and the inherently nondestructive nature of NMR spectroscopy have made it the preferred platform for long-term or large-scale clinical metabolomic studies. These advantages, however, are often outweighed by the fact that most other analytical techniques, including both LC-MS and GC-MS, are inherently more sensitive than NMR, with lower limits of detection typically being 10 to 100 times better. This review is intended to introduce readers to the field of NMR-based metabolomics and to highlight both the advantages and disadvantages of NMR spectroscopy for metabolomic studies. It will also explore some of the unique strengths of NMR-based metabolomics, particularly with regard to isotope selection/detection, mixture deconvolution via 2D spectroscopy, automation, and the ability to noninvasively analyze native tissue specimens. Finally, this review will highlight a number of emerging NMR techniques and technologies that are being used to strengthen its utility and overcome its inherent limitations in metabolomic applications.

Formulation and delivery strategies of ibuprofen: challenges and opportunities

Ibuprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), is mostly administered orally and topically to relieve acute pain and fever. Due to its mode of action this drug may be useful in the treatment regimens of other, more chronic conditions, like cystic fibrosis. This drug is poorly soluble in aqueous media and thus the rate of dissolution from the currently available solid dosage forms is limited. This leads to poor bioavailability at high doses after oral administration, thereby increasing the risk of unwanted adverse effects. The poor solubility is a problem for developing injectable solution dosage forms. Because of its poor skin permeability, it is difficult to obtain an effective therapeutic concentration from topical preparations. This review aims to give a brief insight into the status of ibuprofen dosage forms and their limitations, particle/crystallization technologies for improving formulation strategies as well as suggesting its incorporation into the pulmonary drug delivery systems for achieving better therapeutic action at low dose.

Recommendations and Standardization of Biomarker Quantification Using NMR-Based Metabolomics with Particular Focus on Urinary Analysis

NMR-based metabolomics has shown considerable promise in disease diagnosis and biomarker discovery because it allows one to nondestructively identify and quantify large numbers of novel metabolite biomarkers in both biofluids and tissues. Precise metabolite quantification is a prerequisite to move any chemical biomarker or biomarker panel from the lab to the clinic. Among the biofluids commonly used for disease diagnosis and prognosis, urine has several advantages. It is abundant, sterile, and easily obtained, needs little sample preparation, and does not require invasive medical procedures for collection. Furthermore, urine captures and concentrates many "unwanted" or "undesirable" compounds throughout the body, providing a rich source of potentially useful disease biomarkers; however, incredible variation in urine chemical concentrations makes analysis of urine and identification of useful urinary biomarkers by NMR challenging. We discuss a number of the most significant issues regarding NMR-based urinary metabolomics with specific emphasis on metabolite quantification for disease biomarker applications and propose data collection and instrumental recommendations regarding NMR pulse sequences, acceptable acquisition parameter ranges, relaxation effects on quantitation, proper handling of instrumental differences, sample preparation, and biomarker assessment.

The strengths and weaknesses of NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry with particular focus on metabolomics research

Mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) have evolved as the most common techniques in metabolomics studies, and each brings its own advantages and limitations. Unlike MS spectrometry, NMR spectroscopy is quantitative and does not require extra steps for sample preparation, such as separation or derivatization. Although the sensitivity of NMR spectroscopy has increased enormously and improvements continue to emerge steadily, this remains a weak point for NMR compared with MS. MS-based metabolomics provides an excellent approach that can offer a combined sensitivity and selectivity platform for metabolomics research. Moreover, different MS approaches such as different ionization techniques and mass analyzer technology can be used in order to increase the number of metabolites that can be detected. In this chapter, the advantages, limitations, strengths, and weaknesses of NMR and MS as tools applicable to metabolomics research are highlighted.

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of biofluids and extracts

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) has been widely used in metabonomics analyses of biofluid samples. Biofluids provide a wealth of information about the metabolism of the whole body and from multiple regions of the body that can be used to study general health status and organ function. Blood serum and blood plasma, for example, can provide a comprehensive picture of the whole body, while urine can be used to monitor the function of the kidneys, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) will provide information about the status of the brain and central nervous system (CNS). Different methods have been developed for the extraction of metabolites from biofluids, these ranging from solvent extracts, acids, heat denaturation, and filtration. These methods vary widely in terms of efficiency of protein removal and in the number of metabolites extracted. Consequently, for all biofluid-based metabonomics studies, it is vital to optimize and standardize all steps of sample preparation, including initial extraction of metabolites. In this chapter, recommendations are made of the optimum experimental conditions for biofluid samples for GC-MS, with a particular focus on blood serum and plasma samples.

Standardizing the experimental conditions for using urine in NMR-based metabolomic studies with a particular focus on diagnostic studies: a review

The metabolic composition of human biofluids can provide important diagnostic and prognostic information. Among the biofluids most commonly analyzed in metabolomic studies, urine appears to be particularly useful. It is abundant, readily available, easily stored and can be collected by simple, noninvasive techniques. Moreover, given its chemical complexity, urine is particularly rich in potential disease biomarkers. This makes it an ideal biofluid for detecting or monitoring disease processes. Among the metabolomic tools available for urine analysis, NMR spectroscopy has proven to be particularly well-suited, because the technique is highly reproducible and requires minimal sample handling. As it permits the identification and quantification of a wide range of compounds, independent of their chemical properties, NMR spectroscopy has been frequently used to detect or discover disease fingerprints and biomarkers in urine. Although protocols for NMR data acquisition and processing have been standardized, no consensus on protocols for urine sample selection, collection, storage and preparation in NMR-based metabolomic studies have been developed. This lack of consensus may be leading to spurious biomarkers being reported and may account for a general lack of reproducibility between laboratories. Here, we review a large number of published studies on NMR-based urine metabolic profiling with the aim of identifying key variables that may affect the results of metabolomics studies. From this survey, we identify a number of issues that require either standardization or careful accounting in experimental design and provide some recommendations for urine collection, sample preparation and data acquisition.

Sample collection and preparation of biofluids and extracts for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

To maximize the utility of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in metabonomics research, all stages of the experimental design should be standardized, including sample collection, storage, preparation, and sample separation. Moreover, the prerequisite for any GC-MS analysis is that a compound must be volatile and thermally stable if it is to be analyzed using this technique. Since many metabolites are nonvolatile and polar in nature, they are not readily amenable to analysis by GC-MS and require initial chemical derivatization of the polar functional groups in order to reduce the polarity and to increase the thermal stability and volatility of the analytes. In this chapter, an overview is presented of the optimum approach to sample collection, storage, and preparation for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabonomics with particular focus on urine samples as example of biofluids.