Method development and validation of montelukast in human plasma by HPLC coupled with ESI-MS/MS: application to a bioequivalence study

Improved Bioavailability of Montelukast through a Novel Oral Mucoadhesive Film in Humans and Mice

The leukotriene receptor antagonist Montelukast (MTK) is an approved medication for the treatment of asthma and allergic rhinitis. The existing marketed tablet forms of MTK exhibit inconsistent uptake and bioavailability, which partially explains the presence of a significant proportion of MTK low- and non-responders in the population. Besides that, tablets are suboptimal formulations for patients suffering from dysphagia, for example, seen in patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, a disease with increasing interest in repurposing of MTK. This, and the need for an improved bioavailability, triggered us to reformulate MTK. Our aim was to develop a mucoadhesive MTK film with good safety and improved pharmacological features, i.e., an improved bioavailability profile in humans as well as in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. We tested dissolution of the MTK mucoadhesive film and assessed pharmacoexposure and kinetics after acute and chronic oral application in mice. Furthermore, we performed a Phase I analysis in humans, which included a comparison with the marketed tablet form as well as a quantitative analysis of the MTK levels in the cerebrospinal fluid. The novel MTK film demonstrated significantly improved bioavailability compared to the marketed tablet in the clinical Phase 1a study. Furthermore, there were measurable amounts of MTK present in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). In mice, MTK was detected in serum and CSF after acute and chronic exposure in a dose-dependent manner. The mucoadhesive film of MTK represents a promising alternative for the tablet delivery. The oral film might lower the non-responder rate in patients with asthma and might be an interesting product for repurposing of MTK in other diseases. As we demonstrate Blood-Brain-Barrier (BBB) penetrance in a preclinical model, as well as in a clinical study, the oral film of MTK might find its use as a therapeutic for acute and chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as dementias and stroke.

Development of LC-MS/MS method and application to bioequivalence study of a light sensitive drug montelukast

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to develop a simple, highthroughput and sensitive LC-MS/MS method and apply to a bioequivalence study of montelukast, a light sensitive drug.

METHOD

The effects of organic modifiers in mobile phase, protein precipitation agent to plasma sample ratio, and light on montelukast stability in unprocessed and processed human plasma, were evaluated. Validation was conducted in accordance with European Medicines Agency Guideline on bioanalytical method validation.

RESULTS

No interference peak was observed when acetonitrile was used as an organic modifier. Acetonitrile to plasma ratio of 4:1 produced clean plasma sample. Approximately 3 % of cis isomer was detected in unprocessed plasma samples while 21 % of cis isomer was detected in processed plasma samples after exposing to fluorescent light for 24h. The standard calibration curve was linear over 3.00-1200.00 ng/mL. All method validation parameters were within the acceptance criteria.

CONCLUSION

The validated method was successfully applied to a bioequivalence study of two montelukast formulations involving 24 healthy Malaysian volunteers. The light stability of a light sensitive drug in unprocessed and processed human plasma samples should be studied prior to pharmacokinetic/bioequivalence studies. Measures could then be taken to protect the analyte in human plasma from light degradation.

A Review of Different Analytical Techniques for Fexofenadine Hydrochloride and Montelukast Sodium in Different Matrices

Fexofenadine hydrochloride is an antihistamine agent used for the treatment of allergic disorders like rhinitis. It is a second generation antihistamine. Montelukast sodium is an anti-asthmatic agent and leukotriene receptor antagonist used in the treatment of respiratory disorders. This article exemplifies the reported analytical methods like electrometric methods, ultraviolet spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy, thin layer chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography, high performance thin layer chromatography and tandem spectroscopy for determination of fexofenadine HCl and montelukast sodium in dosage form and in biological matrices. This review covers almost all the analytical methods for fexofenadine hydrochloride and montelukast sodium form 1968-2018 years. Complete analytical validation parameters reported are discussed in this review for both analytes. Among various analytical methods, HPLC and UV-visible spectrophotometry were found to be the most extensively used methods by the researchers.

Quality by Design Based Method Development for Simultaneous Estimation of Montelukast Sodium and Theophylline in Tablet Dosage Form

Background:

Analytical Quality by design (AQbD) is one of the upcoming regulatory requirements in the field of pharmaceutical analysis for the development of reliable and robust analytical methods. Montelukast sodium and theophylline available in tablet dosage forms are used widely for the treatment of airway disorders. Liquid chromatographic methods for estimation of the drugs are reported but those chromatographic methods developed by the AQbD approach are not available.

Methods:

A systematic design of experiments has been employed to develop a liquid chromatographic method for simultaneous estimation of montelukast sodium and theophylline. Critical process parameters are defined and optimization of methanol content in mobile phase, the concentration of trifluoroacetic acid and flow rate was employed within the framework of the full factorial design. The statistical analysis of the experimental data for critical quality attributes namely tailing factor of both the drugs and resolution was performed.

Results:

A multi-dimensional design space for the critical process parameters was obtained. The optimal chromatographic separation of the two API was achieved using C18 (250mm×4.6mm, 5µm) column as stationary phase and mobile phase composed of acetonitrile, trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) (0.2%v/v in water) and methanol in the ratio of 25:15:60 (v/v/v) at flow rate of 1.0 ml min-1. The influence of the CPP was evaluated by various data tables for example, analysis of variance and lack of fit. Interpretation of various plots obtained from the experimental data such as predicted vs. actual, predicted vs. run, pareto chart, perturbation plot and contour plot provided the information on the manner in which each factor affects the critical quality attributes.

Conclusion:

A design space generated by design of experiments is an evidence for the robustness of the method. The assay results show the applicability of the method for analysis of commercially available tablets.

Transfer of Montelukast into Human Milk During Lactation

AIM

The aim of this study was to determine levels of montelukast in human milk and to develop a simple, sensitive analytical method using mass spectrometry.

METHODS

Milk samples were collected from seven breastfeeding mothers, age 26-35 years, at 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 hours after oral ingestion of 10 mg montelukast. The samples were analyzed using a new Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry method. Area under the milk concentration time curve from zero to the time of the last sample (12 hours) was estimated by the linear trapezoidal rule.

RESULTS

Average montelukast levels (C_avg) in milk were 5.3 ng/mL, and the relative infant dose was 0.68% of the maternal dose. The maximum concentration (C_max) observed at 4 hours (Tmax) was 9.7 ng/mL.

CONCLUSION

The exposure to the infant seems to be very low, far below therapeutic ranges in an infant. Our data suggest that montelukast is probably safe to use in a breastfeeding mother.

Development of an enantioselective capillary electrophoretic method for the simultaneous determination of montelukast enantiomeric and diastereoisomeric forms and its main degradation product

A stereoselective CD-MEKC system has been developed for the quality control of Montelukast (MK), commercialized as a pure enantiomer. The proposed method is the first one that allows the simultaneous determination of MK, its enantiomeric form, diasteroisomers and its main degradation compound (MK sulphoxide). CD-MEKC system is composed of 10 mM SDS, 10 mM sulfobutylether-β-CD, 10 mM TM-β-CD, and 20 mM borate buffer at pH 9.0. Combination of these two CDs allows high baseline enantioresolution between MK and its enantiomeric impurity, but also, between the diasteroisomeric forms. Moreover, a multivariate design was applied to optimize operational parameters. The method was designed to meet with requirements of the official pharmacopoeias and fully validated according to international guidelines. Linearity of MK was demonstrated in the range from 10.0 to 100.0 μg/mL (r(2) = 0.9908) with a LOD and LOQ of 0.30 and 0.90 μg/mL, respectively. Intra and interday precision were evaluated and RSD values were below 2%, and also, accuracy expressed as percentage of recovery was in a range from 99.0 to 101.9 for the three assayed levels. The method allows determining 0.02% w/w of the enantiomeric and diasteroisomeric impurities, and 0.01% w/w of MK sulphoxide. Robustness was evaluated by a Plackett and Burman design. Finally, the CD-MEKC system was successfully applied to the determination of related substances in MK bulk drug and its quantification in two pediatric pharmaceutical dosage forms.

Development and validation of LC/MS/MS method for the simultaneous determination of montelukast, gliclazide, and nifedipine and its application to a pharmacokinetic study

Background

Montelukast is a leukotriene receptor antagonist for treatment of asthma, gliclazide is an oral hypoglycemic antidiabetic agent, and nifedipine is a calcium channel blocker used for treatment of angina pectoris and hypertension. These drugs may be prescribed to patients suffering from these chronic diseases. A survey of the literature reveals that there is no reported method for the simultaneous determination of montelukast, gliclazide, and nifedipine in pharmaceutical preparations or biological fluids.

Results

A simple, sensitive, and rapid method for the simultaneous quantification of montelukast, gliclazide, and nifedipine in human plasma was developed and validated. Montelukast, gliclazide, and nifedipine were resolved using rapid resolution LC/MS/MS Agilent system and SB-C₁₈ (50 × 4.6 mm) 1.8 μm particle size column. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile: 0.1% formic acid (84:16). The three drugs were simultaneously extracted from plasma by protein precipitation with acetonitrile using zaferolukast as an internal standard. The method was validated according to FDA guidelines with good reproducibility and linearity of 0.999 and the limits of quantification were 0.11, 0.04, and 0.07 ng/mL for montelukast, gliclazide, and nifedipine, respectively. The accuracies of the three QCs for the three drugs were 99.48% (montelukast), 106.53% (gliclazide), and 108.03% (nifedipine) in human plasma. The validated method was applied to a pharmacokinetic study in human volunteers after oral administration of the three drugs. The applied LC/MS/MS method was shown to be sufficiently sensitive and suitable for pharmacokinetic studies.

Conclusion

The LC/MS/MS method was validated and successfully applied for the determination of montelukast, gliclazide, and nifedipine concentrations in human plasma.

Development and validation of RP-HPLC method with ultraviolet detection for estimation of montelukast in rabbit plasma: Application to preclinical pharmacokinetics

OBJECTIVE

To develop a liquid-liquid extraction based reverse phase liquid chromatography method for estimation of montelukast in rabbit plasma.

METHODS

Chromatographic separation was carried out using Phenomenex Luna C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm × 5 μm) with mobile phase composed of ammonium acetate buffer (20 Mm), pH 5.5 and acetonitrile in 20:80, v/v ratio. The analyte was monitored with UV detector at 345 nm. The developed method was validated with respect to linearity, accuracy, precision, specificity and stability.

RESULTS

The peak area ratio of montelukast (MKS) to that of internal standard was used for the quantification of samples. Calibration curves were linear in the concentration range of 20-2000 ng mL(-1). The LOD and LLOQ of present method were found out to be 10 ng mL(-1) and 20 ng mL(-1) respectively. The intra-day and inter-day %CV values for MKS were below 6.06% and 8.43%. Intra-day and inter-day accuracies were within 95.81% and 110.90%, respectively. Extraction recoveries of drug from rabbit plasma were >66.47%.

CONCLUSION

A simple, alternative, reproducible and sensitive HPLC-UV method was developed for MKS that can be used in preclinical pharmacokinetics.

Sensitive LC-MS/MS-ESI method for simultaneous determination of montelukast and fexofenadine in human plasma: application to a bioequivalence study

A rapid, simple, sensitive and selective LC-MS/MS method was developed and validated for simultaneous quantification of montelukast (MT) and fexofenadine (FF) in human plasma (200 μL) using montelukast-d6 (MT-d6 ) and fexofenadine-d10 (FF-d10 ), respectively as an internal standard (IS) as per the US Food and Drug Administration guidelines. The chromatographic resolution was achieved on a Chromolith RP18e column using an isocratic mobile phase consisting of 20 mm ammonium formate-acetonitrile (20:80, v/v) at flow rate of 1.2 mL/min. The LC-MS/MS was operated under the multiple-reaction monitoring mode using electrospray ionization. The total run time of analysis was 4 min and elution of MT, FF, MT-d6 and FF-d10 occurred at 2.5, 1.2, 2.4 and 1.2 min, respectively. The standard curve found to be linear in the range 2.00-1000 ng/mL with a coefficient of correlation of ≥0.99 for both the drugs. The intra- and inter-day accuracy and precision values for MT and FF met the acceptance as per FDA guidelines. MT and FF were found to be stable in a battery of stability studies viz., bench-top, auto-sampler and repeated freeze-thaw cycles. The validated assay was applied to an oral bioequivalence study in humans.

Stability-indicating HPLC Method for Simultaneous Determination of Montelukast and Fexofenadine Hydrochloride

A simple, specific, accurate, and stability-indicating reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the simultaneous determination of montelukast and fexofenadine hydrochloride, using a Lichrospher^® 100, RP-18e column and a mobile phase composed of methanol:0.1% o-phosphoric acid (90:10 v/v), pH 6.8. The retention times of montelukast and fexofenadine hydrochloride were found to be 10.16 and 12.03 min, respectively. Linearity was established for montelukast and fexofenadine hydrochloride in the range of 2-10 μg/ml and 24-120 μg/ml, respectively. The percentage recoveries of montelukast and fexofenadine hydrochloride were found to be in the range of 99.09 and 99.81%, respectively. Both the drugs were subjected to acid and base hydrolysis, oxidation, photolytic, and thermal degradation conditions. The degradation products of montelukast and fexofenadine hydrochloride were well resolved from the pure drug with significant differences in their retention time values. This method can be successfully employed for simultaneous quantitative analysis of montelukast and fexofenadine hydrochloride in bulk drugs and formulations.

High performance liquid chromatographic method development for simultaneous analysis of doxofylline and montelukast sodium in a combined form

AIM

Some literatures revealed that the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for single component or multicomponent analysis of montelukast sodium with other drugs. However, these methods deals with time consuming, so it is necessary to develop a cost-effective and less time consuming method for the estimation of doxofylline and montelukast sodium in combined pharmaceutical formulation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The separation was performed on an inertsil C8 (5 μm, 4.6 × 250 mm) column in isocratic mode with the mobile phase consisting a mixture of methanol and sodium phosphate buffer (75:25 v/v, pH 6.5 adjusted with orthophosphoric acid). The mobile phase was pumped at a flow rate of 1 mL min(-1) and eluents were monitored at 230 nm.

RESULTS

The selected chromatographic conditions were found to separate doxofylline (retention time = 3.4 min) and montelukast sodium (retention time = 5.5 min) with a resolution of 5.47. The proposed HPLC method was validated with respect to linearity, accuracy, repeatability, specificity, robustness, and ruggedness as per International Conference on Harmonisation guidelines Q2(R1), November 2005 (Validation of Analytical Procedures: Text and Methodology). The percentage recoveries for doxofylline and montelukast sodium ranged from 98.1% to 101.7% and 98.2 to 101.9%, respectively, which indicated that the above method was enough accurate and precise.

CONCLUSIONS

Hence, it was concluded that the developed method is suitable for routine analysis of these combination due to its less analysis time.

Development and Validation of a Rapid RP-UPLC Method for the Simultaneous Estimation of Bambuterol Hydrochloride and Montelukast Sodium from Tablets

A rapid, simple, sensitive and selective analytical method was developed by using reverse phase ultra performance liquid chromatographic technique for the simultaneous estimation of bambuterol hydrochloride and montelukast sodium in combined tablet dosage form. The developed method is superior in technology to conventional high performance liquid chromatography with respect to speed, resolution, solvent consumption, time, and cost of analysis. Elution time for the separation was 6 min and ultra violet detection was carried out at 210 nm. Efficient separation was achieved on BEH C18 sub-2-μm Acquity UPLC column using 0.025% (v/v) trifluoro acetic acid in water and acetonitrile as organic solvent in a linear gradient program. Resolutions between bambuterol hydrochloride and montelukast sodium were found to be more than 31. The active pharmaceutical ingredient was extracted from tablet dosage from using a mixture of methanol, acetonitrile and water as diluent. The calibration graphs were linear for bambuterol hydrochloride and montelukast sodium in the range of 6.25-37.5 μg/ml. The percentage recoveries for bambuterol hydrochloride and montelukast sodium were found to be in the range of 99.1-100.0% and 98.0-101.6%, respectively. The test solution was found to be stable for 7 days when stored in the refrigerator between 2-8°. Developed UPLC method was validated as per International Conference on Harmonization specifications for method validation. This method can be successfully employed for simultaneous estimation of bambuterol hydrochloride and montelukast sodium in bulk drugs and formulations.

Novel LC Method Development and Validation for Simultaneous Determination of Montelukast and Doxofylline in Bulk and Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms

A novel rapid HPLC method was developed for simultaneous determination of montelukast and doxofylline in bulk and pharmaceutical dosage forms. Development of an analytical method for simultaneous estimation of drugs requires a lot of efforts and of course it is a challenging task. The method was developed by using C18 (150 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) column; mobile phase consisting of methanol and phosphate buffer at pH 4.5; the flow rate of 1.0 mL/min and ultraviolet detection at 280 nm. Both drugs were sufficiently resolved having retention time of 4.7 min and 1.9 min for montelukast and doxofylline, respectively. The method was validated as per ICH Guidelines for various parameters like precision, linearity, accuracy, ruggedness, and robustness. The validated method was applied to the commercially available pharmaceutical dosage form and obtained the desired result.

Simultaneous determination of montelukast as sparing therapy with some inhaled corticosteroids in plasma of asthmatic patients

Montelukast (MKST) is a leukotriene receptor antagonist that has been concomitantly used with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) for its steroid-sparing effect in the long-term management of asthma. However, the simultaneous determination of MKST, when used as ICS tapering therapy, with ICS in human plasma has not yet been reported. A fast and efficient reversed phase monolith HPLC method was developed for simultaneous determination of MKST with some ICS in plasma of asthmatic patients. The separation was achieved on monolith reversed phase column by isocratic mode at a flow rate of 1.0 ml min(-1) using a mobile phase consisted of a mixture of acetonitrile and 10mM phosphate buffer adjusted to pH 3.5 (40:60, v/v) and detected at 240 nm. Betamethasone dipropionate (BDP) was used as the internal standard. All the studied ICS and MKST were efficiently separated within less than 6 min. The obtained linearity range for the developed HPLC method was 0.03-10 μg ml(-1) with correlation coefficients>0.9995 and the detection limits were 0.009-0.016 μg ml(-1) in plasma for all the studied drugs. The method was validated in agreement with the requirements of US-FDA guideline and was recommended for the target applications. The method is valuable for investigations concerned with the effective tapering of ICS therapy with MKST in patients with chronic asthma in clinical practice without loss of asthma control.

Combining the isoabsorptive point in the ratio spectrum and the smart ratio difference methods for a single step determination of compounds with overlapped spectra

A new method significantly advantageous over the conventional spectrophotometric methods regarding simplicity, minimal data processing and applicability was developed. The new method is based on the fact that isoabsorptive points whenever present in an absorption spectrum will be retained even after division by a one component as a divisor in the ratio spectrum, in addition to a smart modification of the conventional ratio derivative and ratio subtraction methods. This modified method though simpler, enabled wider range of applications. The proposed method was applied for the analysis of brimonidine and timolol in laboratory prepared mixtures with mean percentage recoveries 100.64 ± 1.10 and 100.96 ± 1.16, respectively, and in their pharmaceutical formulation with mean percentage recoveries 100.88 ± 0.34 and 100.84 ± 0.72, respectively. The suggested method was validated according to USP guidelines and can be applied for routine analysis in quality control laboratories.

A smart simple spectrophotometric method for simultaneous determination of binary mixtures

A new simple spectrophotometric method was developed for the simultaneous determination of drugs with interfering spectra in binary mixtures without previous separation. The new method is based on a simple modification for the ratio subtraction method. This modification enabled wider range of application. The proposed ratio difference method was applied for the determination of brimonidine and timolol in laboratory prepared mixtures with mean percentage recoveries 100.40±2.29 and 101.23±1.30 respectively, and in their pharmaceutical formulation with mean percentage recoveries 101.08±0.44 and 100.66±0.52 respectively. The suggested ratio difference method was validated according to USP guidelines and can be applied for routine quality control testing.

Simultaneous determination of retinoic acid and hydroquinone in skin ointment using spectrophotometric technique (ratio difference method)

An innovative spectrophotometric method was developed for simultaneous determination of compounds with interfering spectra in binary mixtures without previous separation, showing significant advantages over the conventional methods regarding minimal data manipulation and applicability. The proposed method was applied for the determination of retinoic acid and hydroquinone in laboratory-prepared mixtures with mean percentage recoveries 100.13 ± 0.31 and 99.99 ± 0.04, respectively, and in their pharmaceutical formulation with mean percentage recoveries 100.13 ± 0.86 and 100.07 ± 0.58, respectively. The method was validated according to USP guidelines and can be applied for routine quality control testing.