Measurement of Interferents from Dosages in Metabolite Analyses

Abstract

Polar metabolites of and impurities from dosage solutions may elute similarly by HPLC and thereby yield inaccurate quantitative results. Therefore, impurities collected with eluate fractions containing metabolites from exposed animals may interfere in metabolite analyses. Marine organisms (shrimp) were exposed to ¹⁴C-labeled naphthalene and the resulting metabolites compared to dosage solution impurities using a ³H-labeled naphthalene internal standard obtained from exposed rats. HPLC purification is shown to remove impurities from dosage solutions prior to evaluation of metabolism. Procedures which test both for impurities and for effects of other compounds on metabolite studies are recommended, including criteria for evaluating when metabolism experiments should be conducted with purified solutions to avoid interferences due to impurities.

Determining metabolites of dosage substances is important in toxicity studies¹. For such bioanalytical measurements, trace impurities in exposure solutions may interfere with accurate analyses and lead to erroneous evaluations of metabolism'. If dosage materials are not pure, it is incumbent upon the investigator to devise purification methods appropriate to the task at hand. These needs seem to be well understood in mammalian toxicology¹. However, the special pharmacokinetics shown by aquatic organisms may require special tests for purity and extensive dosage purifications for metabolism studies using aquatic species. Reviewing the aquatic toxicology literature shows that such extensive evaluations and purifications are done only occasionally.

In aquatic organisms moderately polar aromatic metabolites often tend to accumulate while their parent aromatic compounds are eliminated rapidly^2–4. Measurements of metabolic analytes in systems displaying these toxicokinetics are therefore vulnerable to interferences by polar impurities froin dosage compounds. These impurities may mimic analytes, especially if the polar impurities and the metabolites of interest exhibit similar physiochemical properties.

As an example consider a case where 0.5% of a radiolabeled intraperitoneal dosage is polar impurities which are eliminated from an experimental animal with a half-life of 1 week, while the parent compound is eliminated with a half-life of 12 hours. Residual radioactive compounds isolated from an exposed organism after a short depuration, e.g. 60 hours, may have polar physiochemical properties and therefore be measured as metabolites of the dosage parent compound. However, these compounds may include impurities introduced by the dosage solution which were selectively retained because of their polarity. Impurities in this example may comprise only 0.5% of the original radioactivity, but are bioconcentrated to be 10% of the residual radioactivity. Thus, an apparently minor impurity in the dosage may prove to be a significant interferent, and thereby cause errors in analyses.

For toxicologic experiments, reagent evaluation or purification may use a variety of procedures which separate impurities from the radiolabeled compounds to be employed in biological experiments. Often the supplier performs purifications and typically guarantees that reagent purity exceeds 98% or 99%. However, we have found that radiolabeled compounds purchased for aromatic hydrocarbon metabolism studies, even those which contain low concentrations of polar impurities, may not be sufficiently pure for aquatic organism studies⁵. Thus, dosage evaluations must precede toxicologic experiments which are sensitive to small amounts of impurities, e.g., metabolite determinations.

We have observed and measured interferences in chromato-graphic analyses for metabolites⁵ due to small amounts of impurities in experiments, and herein illustrate effective procedures using HPLC which may be used to avoid errors in analyses. Small amounts of dosage solutions may be used for purity assessment. Up to 75 mg of exposure substance may be purified using commercially available analytical HPLC columns. Other advantages of these purifications include: (a) excellent separation of similar compounds due to the high resolution of HPLC, (b) similarity between the purification method used to test and prepare the dosage solution and the HPLC methods used to separate and detect metabolites, and (c) lower cost than performing purifications by other techniques.     

High-resolution LC/MS for analysis of minor components in complex mixtures: negative ion ESI for identification of impurities and degradation products of a novel oligosaccharide antibiotic

High-resolution mass spectrometry has been routinely used for structural confirmation and identification; however, it has mostly been applied to relatively pure samples. Exact mass measurement of minor components such as impurities, degradation products or metabolites in complex mixtures has been difficult without prior separation and isolation. Here we report the utilization of on-line liquid chromatography in combination with high-resolution mass spectrometry for the identification of impurities and base degradation products of Sch 27899, a member of the everninomicin class of antibiotics. Nine Sch 27899-related impurities and degradation products were detected by negative ion electrospray ionization using a magnetic sector mass spectrometer. Exact mass measurements were obtained at a resolution of 5000 using polyethylene glycol (PEG) sulfates as internal standards. Corresponding elemental compositions were determined within a 2 ppm error tolerance and structures were proposed for all components.     

Chemical and analytical characterization of related organic impurities in drugs

A system is proposed for the classification of related organic impurities in drugs and drug products including among others (separated and non-separated) intermediates, various kinds of by-products, among them products of different side reactions, epimeric/diastereomeric, enantiomeric impurities, impurities in natural products, and finally degradation products. Examples are taken mainly from the author's own experience and from among the named impurities in the European Pharmacopoeia with focus on impurities in hydrocortisone, prednisolone, enalapril maleate, lisinopril, ethynodiol diacetate, pipecuronium bromide, cimetidine, and ethynylsteroids. The methodological aspects of impurity profiling from the detection to the identification/structure elucidation and quantitative determination of impurities are briefly summarized.This paper is Part 23 in the series "Estimation of impurity profiles of drugs and related materials". For Part 22 see ref. [1].     

The rapid detection and identification of the impurities of simvastatin using high resolution sub 2 microm particle LC coupled to hybrid quadrupole time of flight MS operating with alternating high-low collision energy

The profiling and identification of impurities in raw pharmaceuticals or finished drug product is an essential part of the pharmaceutical manufacturing process. Critical to this process is the ability to confirm known, expected impurities and identify new impurities. LC coupled to electrospray MS is a powerful tool that has been employed for the identification of impurities, natural products, drug metabolites, and proteins. In this study, we show how sub 2 microm porous particle LC has been coupled to hybrid quadrupole orthogonal TOF mass spectrometer to profile and identify the impurities of the common cholesterol lowering drug simvastatin. The hybrid quadrupole TOF mass spectrometer was operated by alternating the collision cell energies to allow for the rapid, facile conformation of the identity of impurities. Using this process it was possible to identify all of the common impurities of simvastatin in a single 10 min run. During the analysis a new impurity of simvastatin was detected and identified as the saturated ring form of simvastatin.     

Development and optimization of an HPLC analysis of citalopram and its four nonchiral impurities using experimental design methodology

In this study, the RP-HPLC method was investigated for the separation of citalopram and its four impurities by use of statistical experimental design. Initially, the influence of different experimental conditions (buffer pH, flow rate, and column temperature) on the chromatographic behavior of citalopram and its four impurities was investigated by use of partial least squares regression (PLSR) and multilayer perceptron (MLP) artificial neural networks (ANNs) trained by back-propagation. The developed models and the corresponding response surface plots were used to select the optimal HPLC conditions, buffer pH 7.0, flow rate 1.0 mL/ min, and column temperature 25 degrees C, for an efficient separation of citalopram and its four impurities. The elaborated HPLC method was found to be linear, specific, sensitive, precise, accurate, and robust. Retention times of citalopram and its impurities, obtained with the developed HPLC method, and the computed molecular parameters of the examined compounds were used in a quantitative structure retention relationship (QSRR) study. The PLSR and ANN algorithms were applied for the development of the QSRR methods. The MLP-two layers-ANN-QSRR model with root mean square error of prediction 0.105 and r(2) (observed versus predicted) 0.978 was selected. Since many different reaction conditions are applied for the synthesis of citalopram, different impurities and degradation products can be formed. Therefore, the developed QSRR model can be extended to the prediction of the retention times with the other citalopram impurities, degradation products, and metabolites.     

Identification of circulatory and excretory metabolites of meisoindigo in rat plasma,urine and feces by high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with positive electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

Meisoindigo has been a routine therapeutic agent in the clinical treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia in China since the 1980s. However, information relevant to in vivo metabolism of meisoindigo is absent so far. In this study, in vivo circulatory metabolites of meisoindigo in rat plasma, as well as excretory metabolites in rat urine and feces, were identified by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). Integration of multiple reaction monitoring with conventional metabolic profiling methodology was adopted to enable a more sensitive detection of in vivo metabolites. By comparing with the MS/MS spectra and retention times of the in vitro reduced metabolites, the major metabolites in rat plasma were proposed to form from 3,3′ double bond reduction, whereas the minor metabolites were formed from reduction followed by N‐demethylation, and reduction followed by phenyl mono‐oxidation. The major metabolites in the rat urine were proposed to form from reduction followed by phenyl mono‐oxidation, and its glucuronide conjugation and sulfate conjugation, whereas the minor metabolites were formed from 3,3′ double bond reduction, N‐demethylation, reduction followed by N‐demethylation, phenyl di‐oxidation, phenyl mono‐oxidation and its glucuronide conjugation and sulfate conjugation. The major metabolites in the rat feces were proposed to form from reduction followed by phenyl mono‐oxidation, whereas the minor metabolites were formed from reduction followed by N‐demethylation, and reduction followed by phenyl di‐oxidation. The phase I metabolic pathways showed a significant in vitro–in vivo correlation in rat. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

2-乙基己基磷酸单(2-乙基己基)酯萃淋树脂分离-火花源质谱法测定高纯氧化镱中痕量稀土杂质

本文采用萃取色谱法以2-乙基已基膦酸单(2-乙基已基)酯(P_507)萃淋树脂为固定相,以HCI-NH_4CI体系为淋洗液,研究了99.999%~99.9999%的高纯Yb_2O_3中稀土杂质和Yb基体的分离条件,将杂质淋洗液富集于复合螯合剂-活性碳上,经灼烧灰化后制成样品电极,进行质谱测定.测定下限达 0.01~0.05 μg/g,可用于高纯 Yb_2O_3中杂质的测定.回收率在80%以上.     

LC/MS法分析头孢替坦二钠原料中的杂质

本文应用LC/MS技术对头孢替坦二钠原料中的4种杂质进行了快速鉴定.根据头孢菌素的降解反应机制设计加速实验,确定头孢替坦的2个主要杂质为其碱水解产物;以1%冰醋酸溶液-乙腈-甲醇为流动相,经C18柱分离,通过电喷雾串联质谱负离子检测,获得各杂质的相对分子质量信息和碎片信息,并辅助UV特征对杂质结构进行了鉴定.在所建立的LC/MS条件下,头孢替坦及其杂质得到有效的分离,4个杂质经分析分别为5-巯基-1-甲基-四氮唑、头孢替坦内酯、头孢替坦脱羧物和头孢替坦异构体.本研究表明,利用LC/MS技术可推测头孢菌素类抗生素中杂质的结构,且本方法快速、灵敏、专属性高.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Metabolites and Potential Impurities of the Antiulcerative Drug Tenatoprazole

Tenatoprazole (Ulsacare^®) is a recently developed antiulcerative drug used for the treatment of both erosive and nonerosive gastroesophageal reflux disease. During the bulk synthesis of tenatoprazole, we have observed four impurities (tenatoprazole N‐oxide, tenatoprazole sulfone N‐oxide, N‐methyl tenatoprazole, and desmethoxy tenatoprazole) and two metabolites (tenatoprazole sulfide and tenatoprazole sulfone). The present work describes the synthesis and characterization of these impurities.     

Applications of LC/MS in structure identifications of small molecules and proteins in drug discovery

With advancements in ionization methods and instrumentation, liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) has become a powerful technology for the characterization of small molecules and proteins. This article will illustrate the role of LC/MS analysis in drug discovery process. Examples will be given on high-throughput analysis, structural analysis of trace level impurities in drug substances, identification of metabolites, and characterization of therapeutic protein products for process improvement. Some unique MS techniques will also be discussed to demonstrate their effectiveness in facilitating structural identifications.     

高效液相色谱-离子阱/飞行时间质谱鉴定违禁药品邻氯苯基环戊酮中杂质及其标准物质的制备

建立了高效液相色谱-离子阱/飞行时间质谱（HPLC-IT/TOF MS）分析违禁药品邻氯苯基环戊酮样品中杂质成分的方法。对邻氯苯基环戊酮标准品进行多级质谱分析,根据各碎片离子的精确质量数推测邻氯苯基环戊酮的裂解路径,并利用该方法检测出邻氯苯基环戊酮样品中的2种杂质成分：2-氯苯甲酸酸酐和1,2-二邻氯苯甲酰基环戊烯,推断出该违禁药品的合成方法,为追溯其来源提供了重要依据。同时建立了制备邻氯苯基环戊酮标准品的方法,制备高效液相色谱条件是流动相甲醇-水（85∶15,v/v）,流速8 mL/min,进样量1 mL。制备得到的邻氯苯基环戊酮标准物质纯度为99.53%。该方法简单、高效,可拓展应用于其他违禁药物标准物质的制备。     

Development of a novel RP‐HPLC method for the efficient separation of aripiprazole and its nine impurities

The development of an RP‐HPLC method for the separation of aripiprazole and its nine impurities was performed with the use of partial least squares regression, response surface plot methodology, and chromatographic response function. The HPLC retention times and computed molecular parameters of the aripiprazole and its nine impurities were further used for the quantitative structure–retention relationship (QSRR) study. The QSRR model, R²: 0.899, Q²: 0.832, root mean square error of estimation: 4.761, root mean square error of prediction: 6.614, was developed. Very good agreement between the predicted and observed retention times (t_R) for three additional aripiprazole impurities (TC1–TC3) indicated the high prediction potential of the QSRR model for t_R evaluation of other aripiprazole impurities and metabolites. The developed HPLC method is the first reported method for the efficient separation of aripiprazole and its nine impurities, which could be used for the analysis of an additional three aripiprazole impurities (TC1–TC3).     

Simultaneous determination of 11 related impurities in propofol by gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry coupled with pulsed splitless injection technique

A variety of related impurities, including starting materials, process impurities, and degradation products, can be detected in propofol. In this article, a sensitive and selective GC‐MS/MS method using pulsed splitless injection technique for the determination of 11 main related impurities in propofol in one chromatogram is investigated. This method is extensively validated for its linearity, recovery, precision, LOD, and LOQ, and is able to detect trace‐level related impurities (LOD = 0.2–5.6 μg/g) in propofol bulk drug. Stressed tests proposed that oxidative degradation, photolytic degradation, and heat are the main causes for the formation of degradation products in propofol.     

Effective separation of Am(III) and Cm(III) using a DGA resin via the selective oxidation of Am(III) to Am(V)

This paper deals with concept design and assessment of a process for the recovery of isotopically modified molybdenum from irradiated nuclear CerMet fuels containing the transuranium element oxides in a metallic molybdenum matrix. The recovery of isotopically modified Mo should enable re-use of this valuable resource especially in the case of uranium-free fuels/targets for accelerator-driven transmuters. The process concept proposed is a modification of the standard hydrometallurgical way of molybdenum processing. Further, the most significant expected radionuclidic impurities in the molybdate raffinate were predicted. Separation of these impurities from the concentrated molybdate solution will be described in the following parts of this mini-series.

     

Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for the identification of impurities in d-allethrin samples

A previous GC/MS study highlighting the impurity profile of the synthetic pesticide d-allethrin is extended here to validate and confirm the impurities identity through the development of soft ionisation HPLC-MS methods. To accomplish this, we developed a reverse phase LC-MS analysis in gradient elution with two distinct soft ionisation techniques, the atmospheric pressure ionisation with electrospray source (API-ESI) and the chemical ionisation (APCI). A single quadrupole and an ion trap, which allowed the simultaneous determination of the molecular masses and structural information of the impurities by acquisition of collisionally induced (CID) product ions spectrum and in-source fragmentation, were employed as analysers. Single quadrupole and ion trap analysers resulted perfectly matching in the d-allethrin impurity fragmentation patterns. All the main impurities over 0.1% identified by GC/MS were confirmed. Results indicate that the proposed HPLC/MS method was found appropriate to confirm the presence of impurities such as chrysolactone, chloro allethrin derivatives, allethrolone and chrysanthemic acid, excluding their formation under GC/MS strong ionisation condition.     

Mass spectrometric analysis of cyclofenil and its metabolites in human urine

Using gas chromatography/electron impact-mass spectrometry (GC/EI-MS) and high performance liquid chromatography with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/APCI-MS/MS), the structures of cyclofenil metabolites in human urine have been assigned. The hydroxyl metabolites liberated from the glucuronide conjugates after acid hydrolysis were characterized as the trimethylsilyl (O-TMS) derivatives using GC/MS. The conjugate glucuronide forms were detected without hydrolysis by HPLC/MS. Cyclofenil was not observed in urine. Tentative structures for the two metabolites are proposed.     

Mass spectrometric characterization of urinary toremifene metabolites for doping control analyses

Toremifene is a selective estrogen receptor modulator included in the list of prohibited substances in sport by the World Anti-doping Agency. The aim of the present study was to investigate toremifene metabolism in humans in order to elucidate the structures of the most abundant urinary metabolites and to define the best marker to detect toremifene administration through the analysis of urine samples. Toremifene (Fareston) was administered to healthy volunteers and the urine samples were subjected to different preparation methods to detect free metabolites as well as metabolites conjugated with glucuronic acid or sulphate. Urinary extracts were analyzed by LC-MS/MS with triple quadrupole analyzer using selected reaction monitoring mode. Transitions for potential metabolites were selected by using the theoretical [M+H](+) as precursor ion and m/z 72 or m/z 58 as product ions for N,N-dimethyl and N-desmethyl metabolites, respectively. Toremifene and 20 metabolites were detected in excretion study samples, excreted free or conjugated with glucuronic acid or sulphate. Structures for most abundant phase I metabolites were proposed using accurate mass measurements performed by QTOF MS, based on fragmentation pattern observed for those metabolites available as reference standards. Several metabolic pathways including mono- and di-hydroxylation, N-desmethylation, hydroxymethylation, oxidation, dehalogenation and combinations were proposed. All metabolites were detected up to one month after toremifene administration; the most abundant metabolites were detected in the free fraction and they were metabolites resulting from dehalogenation. Several of the metabolites elucidated in this work have not been reported until now in the scientific literature.     

Literature-based generation of hypotheses on chemical composition using database co-occurrence of chemical compounds

Candidates for identification of unknown constituents in a sample to be chemically analyzed are hypothetical. It is proposed to generate these hypotheses according to the co-occurrence of different chemical compounds with a known sample constituent in the chemical literature. The efficiency of the co-occurrence approach for predicting chemical compositions was tested for 67 impurities in 17 chemical/pharmaceutical products. The relative co-occurrence of impurity compounds and these products in the Chemical Abstracts Service database was evaluated and compared with corresponding values for several reference groups of probability sampled compounds from the literature. Almost all impurities (97%) and only < or = 8% randomly sampled compounds co-occurred with these chemical products. Mean and median values of relative co-occurrence for impurities are much higher than those of probability sampled compounds which co-occurred with the products. For the combination of impurities and the probability sample of 396 interfering compounds, the power to predict the chemical composition using the highest co-occurrences is 0.49-0.59. The co-occurrence value can also be considered as an "empiric" indicator of chemical similarity useful to generate new hypotheses on relationships both between compounds and between compounds and their properties.     

X-Ray analysis of aqueous concentrates using organic glassy specimens

A simple and accessible method for the production of glassy specimens from aqueous concentrates based on saccharose is proposed. During the process of such a specimen preparation an additional concentration of impurities takes place. These saccharose specimens were used for the X-ray fluorescence determination of Se in waste water with crystallization preconcentration. Received: 17 July 1997 / Revised: 8 December 1997 / Accepted: 11 December 1997     

Simultaneous determination of rocuronium and its eight impurities in pharmaceutical preparation using high-performance liquid chromatography with amperometric detection

A sensitive and selective HPLC method with amperometric detection (HPLC-ED) for the determination of rocuronium bromide and its eight impurities has been developed. The analysis was performed on Hypersil 100 Silica column 5 microm (250 mm x 4.6 mm; Thermo Electron). The mobile phase consisting of 4.53 g l(-1) solution of tetramethylammonium hydroxide adjusted to pH 7.4 with 85% phosphoric acid:acetonitrile (1:9), was found the best for the separation and determination of the studied compounds. The chromatograms were recorded over 10 min using the amperometric detection at a potential +0.9 V of the glassy carbon electrode versus the reference electrode Ag/AgCl. The limit of quantitation was 45 ng ml(-1) for rocuronium and from 25 to 750 ng ml(-1) for the examined impurities. The proposed HPLC-ED method was successfully applied to the analysis of rocuronium and its impurities in Esmeron solution for injection.