Development and validation of a dried blood spots assay for metabolic profiling of ginsenosides using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer., a famous and valuable traditional Chinese medicine with thousand years of history for its healthcare and therapeutic effects. It is necessary and meaningful to study the pharmacokinetic behavior of ginsenosides in vivo as they are the most active components. Dried blood spots (DBS) are a mature and advanced blood collection method with meet the needs for the measurement of numerous analytes.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This study aimed to explore the feasibility on DBS in the metabolic profile analysis of complex herbal products.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the determination of ginsenosides. The preparation of DBS samples was conducted by spiking the whole blood with analytes to obtain 20 μL of blood spots on Whatman 903 collection card. A punched dish of 10 mm in diameter was extracted with 70 % methanol aqueous solution, digoxin was used as an internal standard. Target compounds were separated on a Waters T3 column (2.1 × 100 mm, 1.8 μm) with acetonitrile and water (0.1 % formic acid) at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min.

RESULTS

The various ginsenosides showed good linearity in the range of 1-2000 ng/mL. The extraction recoveries and matrix effects of the target analytes were above 82.2%. The intra- and inter-batch accuracy and precision were within the limits of ≤15% for all tested concentrations. Moreover, the collected dried blood spot samples could be stably stored at room temperature for 14 days and 4 °C for 1 month without being affected. And it is delightful that the DBS-based analysis is compatible or even superior to the conventional protein precipitation in terms of sensitivity, linearity, and stability. In particular, the target analytes are stable in the DBS sampling under normal storing condition and the sensitivity for some trace metabolites of ginsenosides, such as 20(S)-Rg3, 20(R)-Rg3, F1, Rk1, Rg5, etc. increases 3-4 folds as evaluated by LLOQ.

CONCLUSIONS

The established method was successfully applied to pharmacokinetic studies of ginseng extract in mice, this suggests a more feasible strategy for pharmacokinetic study of traditional and natural medicines both in animal tests and clinical trials.

An Update on Current Trend in Sample Preparation Automation in Bioanalysis: strategies, Challenges and Future Direction

Automation in sample preparation improves accuracy, productivity, and precision in bioanalysis. Moreover, it reduces resource consumption for repetitive procedures. Automated sample analysis allows uninterrupted handling of large volumes of biological samples originating from preclinical and clinical studies. Automation significantly helps in management of complex testing methods where generation of large volumes of data is required for process monitoring. Compared to traditional sample preparation processes, automated procedures reduce associated expenses and manual error, facilitate laboratory transfers, enhance data quality, and better protect the health of analysts. Automated sample preparation techniques based on robotics potentially increase the throughput of bioanalytical laboratories. Robotic liquid handler, an automated sample preparation system built on a robotic technique ensures optimal laboratory output while saving expensive solvents, manpower, and time. Nowadays, most of the traditional extraction processes are being automated using several formats of online techniques. This review covered most of the automated sample preparation techniques reported till date, which accelerated and simplified the sample preparation procedure for bioanalytical sample analysis. This article critically analyzed different developmental aspects of automated sample preparation techniques based on robotics as well as conventional sample preparation methods that are accelerated using automated technologies.

Fluispotter, a novel automated and wearable device for accurate volume serial dried blood spot sampling

Aim: A novel automated serial dried blood spot (DBS) sampler, 'Fluispotter', was tested for its sampling performance. Materials & methods: An LC-MS/MS method was developed for the analysis of cortisol in DBS samples serially spotted by Fluispotter. The cortisol concentrations in 148 paired DBS and plasma samples were compared across a hematocrit (HCT) range of 22-55%. Results: The interassay accuracy and precision were <10%. Overall assay bias was negligible across the HCTs tested when analyzing the whole-spot DBS samples. The accuracy and precision of the blood volume in 10 μl DBS samples spotted by Fluispotters and micropipettes were within 3%. Deming regression and Bland-Altman analysis showed a good agreement of DBS-predicted and measured plasma cortisol. Conclusion: The Fluispotter performed serial sampling with high accuracy and precision of the sample blood volume.

The use of mass spectrometry to analyze dried blood spots

Dried blood spots (DBS) typically consist in the deposition of small volumes of capillary blood onto dedicated paper cards. Comparatively to whole blood or plasma samples, their benefits rely in the fact that sample collection is easier and that logistic aspects related to sample storage and shipment can be relatively limited, respectively, without the need of a refrigerator or dry ice. Originally, this approach has been developed in the sixties to support the analysis of phenylalanine for the detection of phenylketonuria in newborns using bacterial inhibition test. In the nineties tandem mass spectrometry was established as the detection technique for phenylalanine and tyrosine. DBS became rapidly recognized for their clinical value: they were widely implemented in pediatric settings with mass spectrometric detection, and were closely associated to the debut of newborn screening (NBS) programs, as a part of public health policies. Since then, sample collection on paper cards has been explored with various analytical techniques in other areas more or less successfully regarding large-scale applications. Moreover, in the last 5 years a regain of interest for DBS was observed and originated from the bioanalytical community to support drug development (e.g., PK studies) or therapeutic drug monitoring mainly. Those recent applications were essentially driven by improved sensitivity of triple quadrupole mass spectrometers. This review presents an overall view of all instrumental and methodological developments for DBS analysis with mass spectrometric detection, with and without separation techniques. A general introduction to DBS will describe their advantages and historical aspects of their emergence. A second section will focus on blood collection, with a strong emphasis on specific parameters that can impact quantitative analysis, including chromatographic effects, hematocrit effects, blood effects, and analyte stability. A third part of the review is dedicated to sample preparation and will consider off-line and on-line extractions; in particular, instrumental designs that have been developed so far for DBS extraction will be detailed. Flow injection analysis and applications will be discussed in section IV. The application of surface analysis mass spectrometry (DESI, paper spray, DART, APTDCI, MALDI, LDTD-APCI, and ICP) to DBS is described in section V, while applications based on separation techniques (e.g., liquid or gas chromatography) are presented in section VI. To conclude this review, the current status of DBS analysis is summarized, and future perspectives are provided.

Comparison of blood microsampling with DBS and conventional blood collection techniques used in a midazolam biostudy

Background: Quantitative DBS LC–MS/MS assay for midazolam was used to compare two sample collection techniques (venipuncture and finger prick) and the midazolam concentrations measured in plasma samples, DBS and dried plasma spots. Methodology: Midazolam was extracted from DBS cards and compared with whole blood collected from usual venipuncture. Dried plasma spots were also compared with plasma. The blood volume used as well as the temperature impact during the blood and plasma deposits was evaluated. Midazolam was administrated to six healthy subjects during a clinical trial to obtained blood and plasma samples for the statistical comparison. Conclusion: The method for midazolam using DBS was validated and showed an excellent performance. Excellent correlations were observed when the same collection procedures were used.

Dried blood spot analysis without dilution: Application to the LC-MS/MS determination of BMS-986001 in rat dried blood spot

Sample dilution is one major challenge in dried blood spot (DBS) bioanalysis. To resolve this issue, we applied a no-dilution strategy for DBS analysis by using a calibration curve with very wide linear range. We developed an LC-MS/MS DBS assay with a linear range of 5 orders of magnitude (50-5000,000ng/mL) for BMS-986001, an HIV drug under development, by simultaneously monitoring two selective reaction monitoring transitions of different intensity. The assay was validated and successfully applied to the analysis of DBS samples collected in a toxicology study in rats dosed with BMS-986001. All samples were analyzed without any dilution. We also compared the concentration data generated from the DBS method and a validated plasma assay for the same study. The two sets of data agreed well with each other, demonstrating the validity of this strategy for DBS analysis. This approach provides an effective and convenient way to eliminate complicated dilution for DBS and other sample collection techniques.

Development of LC-MS/MS method for the determination of dapiprazole on dried blood spots and urine: application to pharmacokinetics

A rapid and highly sensitive liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method for determination of dapiprazole on rat dried blood spots and urine was developed and validated. The chromatographic separation was achieved on a reverse-phase C18 column (250 × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 µm), using 20 mm ammonium acetate (pH adjusted to 4.0 with acetic acid) and acetonitrile (80:20, v/v) as a mobile phase at 25 °C. LC-MS detection was performed with selective ion monitoring using target ions at m/z 326 and m/z 306 for dapiprazole and mepiprazole used as internal standard, respectively. The calibration curve showed a good linearity in the concentration range of 1–3000 ng/mL. The effect of hematocrit on extraction of dapiprazole from DBS was evaluated. The mean recoveries of dapiprazole from DBS and urine were 93.88 and 90.29% respectively. The intra- and inter-day precisions were <4.19% in DBS as well as urine. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.30 and 1.10 ng/mL in DBS and 0.45 and 1.50 ng/mL in urine samples, respectively. The method was validated as per US Food and Drug Administration guidelines and successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of dapiprazole in rats.

Evaluation of matrix microsampling methods for therapeutic drug candidate quantification in discovery-stage rodent pharmacokinetic studies

Background: AMG 517 or 1-aminobenzotriazole were quantified by LC–MS/MS from low blood/plasma volumes for rat pharmacokinetic (PK) characterization in order to qualify manual/automated dried blood spot (DBS) sampling and plasma separation capillary sampling. In addition, mouse serial automated blood sampling was compared with standard composite sampling. Materials & methods: AMG 517 or 1-aminobenzotriazole was administered to rats or mice and multiple microsampling techniques were used to obtain blood or plasma. Results: PK parameters derived from DBS and whole blood-obtained drug concentrations were within 7% for manual DBS and 20% for automated DBS. Plasma PK parameters derived from capillary or standard plasma-obtained drug concentrations differed by 6%. Plasma PK parameters obtained from serial automated blood sampling or manual composite sampling were within 20%. Conclusion: Collectively, these results suggest that the microsampling applications that were investigated are attractive approaches for quantifying drug candidates in low matrix volumes that can be successfully employed within discovery-stage rodent PK studies.

Evaluation of dried blood spots for the quantification of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies and detection of anti-drug antibodies

BACKGROUND

Recently, the potential of dried blood spots (DBS) for small-molecule bioanalysis by LC-MS has been explored. The goal of this investigation was to evaluate the use of DBS for the quantification of biologics, where bioanalysis is with immunoassay.

RESULTS

Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies were successfully eluted from DBS and detected by immunoassays, and the procedure could be validated in alignment with current guidelines. Accuracy, precision, selectivity and dilution linearity were all within the acceptance criteria currently used for the validation of binding assays with serum samples. Serum and DBS samples obtained in parallel during a PK research study in rats were analyzed for drug and anti-drug antibodies using AlphaLISA(®) technology. Drug concentrations in both sample types showed a strong correlation, and there was very good alignment in detection of immunogenicity positive animals.

CONCLUSION

Using two examples, we have demonstrated that therapeutic monoclonal antibodies can be accurately quantified in DBS, and since anti-drug antibodies could also be successfully detected, there is scope for application of DBS to preclinical and clinical bioanalysis of monoclonal antibody drugs and anti-drug antibodies.

Capillary microsampling in the regulatory environment: validation and use of bioanalytical capillary microsampling methods

Capillary microsampling (CMS) has recently been introduced as a response to the demands for more ethical use of laboratory animals according to the 3R principles. In CMS, an exact volume of the blood, plasma or other biofluid is collected in a capillary from which it is washed out, resulting in a diluted sample that can be handled using the existing equipment in the bioanalytical laboratory. CMS differs from traditional large volume sampling as the microsample is diluted before further handling and analysis, and reanalysis is performed using the diluted sample. This has some implications for the validation and this report is an attempt to clarify how to validate and use CMS methods in a regulatory environment. CMS also shows some distinct new opportunities: labile analytes can be immediately stabilized at sample collection and the addition of the internal standard to the whole sample can improve analytical performance. The experiences from 5 years use of CMS of plasma and blood for determination of drug exposure in animal studies are reviewed.

Preclinical bridging studies: understanding dried blood spot and plasma exposure profiles

Background: Understanding the distribution of the analyte between the cellular and noncellular (plasma) components of the blood is important, especially in situations where dried blood spot (DBS) data need to be compared with plasma data, or vice versa. Results: Pearson’s coefficient, Lin’s coefficient and the Bland–Altman analysis are appropriate to evaluate the concordance between DBS and plasma data from bridging studies. Percent recovery plots generated using the ex vivo blood:plasma ratio and the regression equations demonstrate the best approach for predicting plasma concentrations from DBS. Conclusion: Statistical analysis of bridging study data is needed to characterize the relationship or concordance between blood (DBS) and plasma. The outcomes also provide guidance on selecting the most appropriate approach to transform DBS data to plasma, or vice versa. However, the biological and statistical evidence must be weighed together when deciding if DBS is suitable for preclinical and/or clinical development.

Automated dried blood spots standard and QC sample preparation using a robotic liquid handler

Background: A dried blood spot (DBS) bioanalysis assay involves many steps, such as the preparation of standard (STD) and QC samples in blood, the spotting onto DBS cards, and the cutting-out of the spots. These steps are labor intensive and time consuming if done manually, which, therefore, makes automation very desirable in DBS bioanalysis. Results: A robotic liquid handler was successfully applied to the preparation of STD and QC samples in blood and to spot the blood samples onto DBS cards using buspirone as the model compound. This automated preparation was demonstrated to be accurate and consistent. However the accuracy and precision of automated preparation were similar to those from manual preparation. The effect of spotting volume on accuracy was evaluated and a trend of increasing concentrations of buspirone with increasing spotting volumes was observed. Conclusion: The automated STD and QC sample preparation process significantly improved the efficiency, robustness and safety of DBS bioanalysis.

Design and operation of an automated high-throughput monoclonal antibody facility

Monoclonal antibodies now form a key part of the biochemist's toolbox, and are important reagents for therapeutic applications. This has resulted in a need for high-throughput production to satisfy the demand from the global community. Manual production involves overwhelming amounts of tissue culture and associated liquid handling steps to achieve high-throughput operation. By contrast, automated systems can readily cope with the numbers required. In this review, we address the development of automated systems, and discuss the pros and cons of their operation.

Application of DBS sampling in combination with LC–MS/MS for pharmacokinetic evaluation of a compound with species-specific blood-to-plasma partitioning

Background: Dried blood spot (DBS) sampling in combination with LC–MS/MS has been used increasingly in drug discovery for quantitative analysis to support pharmacokinetic (PK) studies. In this study, we assessed the effect of blood-to-plasma (B:P) partitioning on the bioanalytical performance and PK data acquired by DBS for a compound AMG-1 with species and concentration-dependent B:P ratio. Results: B:P partitioning did not adversely affect bioanalytical performance of DBS for AMG-1. For rat, (B:P ratio of 0.63), PK profiles from DBS and plasma methods were comparable. For dog, concentration-dependence of B:P ratio was observed both in vivo and in vitro. Additional studies demonstrated concentration-dependence of the compound’s unbound fraction in plasma, which may contribute to the concentration-dependence of the B:P ratio. Conclusion: DBS is a promising sampling technique for preclinical pharmacokinetic studies. For compounds with high B:P ratio, caution needs to be applied for data comparison and interpretation between matrices.