Isocratic high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of plasma adenosine

Summary Due to manifold physiological and cardioprotective actions of adenosine, the demand for a simple but accurate method to determine its concentration in plasma is increasing. The aim of this study was firstly to develop a simple isocratic method instead of the gradient elution or peak-shifting techniques used earlier and secondly to check conflicting data on the composition of stop-solution, added to the sample in order to prevent changes in adenosine concentration. Isocratic elution improved signal to noise ratio and concentrations of 100 mol L^–1 dipyridamole and 2.5 mol L^–1 erythro-9(2-hydroxy-3-nonyl)adenine in the blood sample effectively prevented both adenosine formation and degradation, even without the use of a 5-ecto-nucleotidase inhibitor. Lowering the concentration of dipyridamole to 25 mol L^–1 caused more than a tenfold increase of adenosine concentration in two out of five cases and even 100 mol L^–1 dipyridamole alone is not sufficient to inhibit adenosine deaminase in blood samples.     

Automated off-line optimisation of programmed elutions in reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography using ternary solvent mixtures

A new system for the unattended optimisation of gradient elutions in reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography has been developed. The system is based on the simulation of retention times under conditions of ternary solvent mixtures and ternary gradient programmes. This model is constructed departing from a few experimental data obtained in isocratic elutions and validated against experimental gradient elutions. Once validated, this retention model can be used for the unattended search of an optimum separation. The optimisation process is driven by an evolutionary algorithm (EA), specially developed to map the ternary gradient elutions problem. The development and characteristics of the retention modelling as well as those of the EA and its particularities are discussed and some real world examples of separation presented.     

New approach to linear gradient elution used for optimisation in reversed-phase liquid chromatography

A new mathematical treatment concerning the gradient elution in reversed-phase liquid chromatography when the volume fraction psi of an organic modifier in the water-organic mobile phase varies linearly with time is presented. The experimental ln k versus psi curve, where k is the retention factor under isocratic conditions in a binary mobile phase, is subdivided into a finite number of linear portions and the solute gradient retention time tR is calculated by means of an analytical expression arising from the fundamental equation of gradient elution. The validity of the proposed analytical expression and the methodology followed for the calculation of tR was tested using eight catechol-related solutes with mobile phases modified by methanol or acetonitrile. It was found that in all cases the accuracy of the predicted gradient retention times is very satisfactory because it is the same with the accuracy of the retention times predicted under isocratic conditions. Finally, the above method for estimating gradient retention times was used in an optimisation algorithm, which determines the best variation pattern of psi that leads to the optimum separation of a mixture of solutes at different values of the total elution time.     

A fast isocratic liquid chromatography method for the quantification of xanthophylls and their stereoisomers

A fast isocratic liquid chromatography method was developed for the simultaneous quantification of eight xanthophylls (13‐Z‐lutein, 13’‐Z‐lutein, 13‐Z‐zeaxanthin, all‐E‐lutein, all‐E‐zeaxanthin, all‐E‐canthaxanthin, all‐E‐β‐apo‐8’‐carotenoic acid ethyl ester and all‐E‐β‐apo‐8’‐carotenal) within 12 min, compared to 90 min by the conventional high‐performance liquid chromatography method. The separation was achieved on a YMC C₃₀ reversed‐phase column (100 mm x 2.0 mm; 3 μm) operated at 20°C using a methanol/tert‐butyl methyl ether/water solvent system at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min. The method was successfully applied to quantify lutein and zeaxanthin stereoisomers in egg yolk, raw and cooked spinach, and a dietary supplement. The method can be used for the rapid analysis of xanthophyll isomers in different food products and for quality control purposes.     

Retention prediction and computer-assisted optimization for the separation of PTH-amino acids in isocratic reversed-phase liquid chromatography

Summary Retention prediction of phenythiohydantoin amino acid derivatives in isocratic reversed-phase liquid chromatography was investigated. The predicted retention data of all derivatives were evaluated by comparing them with actually measured retention data. Excellent agreements between these data were found. The optimized conditions to separate overlapping components can also be predicted using the developed computer-assisted optimization system with the concept of retention prediction.     

Rapid determination of beta-aminoisobutyric acid by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

For the determination of beta-aminoisobutyric acid (BAIBA) in urine samples in which the beta-alanine concentrations are higher than those of BAIBA, the resolution between these two amino acids, separated by reversed-phase liquid chromatography on an octadecylsilane column, was optimized. The chromatographic analysis included precolumn derivatization of amino acids with o-phthalaldehyde, followed by a 15-min isocratic elution and detection at 340 nm. Because of its simplicity, this method should be useful for monitoring urinary excretion of BAIBA.     

Preconcentration of methylxanthines on hyper-cross-linked polystyrene followed by their determination by high-performance liquid chromatography

We studied the possibility of hyper-cross-linked polystyrene application to the dynamic sorption preconcentration (solid-phase extraction) of methylxanthines (caffeine, theophylline, theobromine, diprophylline, and pentoxifylline) from aqueous solutions. The conditions of preconcentration were optimized as follows: solution volume of 25 mL (pH ～ 6), solution flow rate 0.7 mL/min, microcolumn size 25 × 2.7 mm, adsorbent weight 0.055 g. The compounds were desorbed into a 0.5-mL portion of methanol and determined in the eluate by reversed-phase HPLC with spectrophotometric detection at 280 nm. Sorption preconcentration provided more than 30-fold reduction of methylxanthine detection limits. The detection limits for methylxanthines are 1 (theophylline, theobromine), 2 (caffeine, diprophylline) and 4 (pentoxifylline) ng/mL. The procedure was applied to the analysis of urine-based model mixtures.     

Spherical coordinate representations of solvent composition for liquid chromatography method development using experimental design

One of the major techniques used for the method development of ternary and quaternary high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) systems has been to use mixture designs, often referred to as "Glajch's Triangle". This technique does not allow for the systematic and simultaneous optimization of other factors such as gradient time, pH and temperature that affect the quality of separations. An alternative approach is to use experimental designs. The condition, however, that the composition of all components of the mobile phase must total 100% presents a problem when trying to mathematically represent ranges of each mobile phase constituent of a ternary or quaternary system. A method is described here, based on spherical coordinate representations, that adheres to the constraints of the mobile phase composition and allows experimental designs, such as central composite and factorial designs, to be applied to the simultaneous optimization of the mobile phase composition. Other factors, in particular temperature and gradient time, can then be included in the design. As a result of applying these designs to the HPLC separation of phenols and corticosteroids, it was found necessary to include three-way interactions between experimental factors in the model. The significance of these interactions shows that they need to be considered in HPLC method development.     

Simultaneous determination of 11 drugs belonging to four different groups in human urine samples by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method

A new, accurate, sensitive and fast reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) as an analytical method for the quantitative determination of 11 drugs in human urine was worked out, optimized and validated. The objects of analysis were imipenem (IMP), paracetamol (PAR), dipyrone (DPR), vancomycin (VCM), amikacin (AMK), fluconazole (FZ), cefazolin (CFZ), prednisolone (PRE), dexamethasone (DEX), furosemide (FUR) and ketoprofen (KET) belonging to four different groups (antibiotics, analgesic, demulcent and diuretic). For HPLC analysis, diode array (DAD) and fluorescence (FL) detectors were used. The separation of analyzed compounds was conducted by means of a LiChroCART^® Purospher^® C₁₈e (125 mm × 3 mm, particle size 5 μm) analytical column with LiChroCART^® LiChrospher^® C₁₈ (4 mm × 4 mm, particle size 5 μm) pre-column with gradient elution. Analyzed drugs were determined within 20 min. The mobile phase was comprised of various proportions of methanol, acetonitrile and 0.05% trifluoroacetic acid in water. AMK was separated and determined from human urine using ortho-phthaldialdehyde-3-mercaptopropionic acid (OPA-3-MPA) as a fluorescent reagent by RP-HPLC-FL. The following retention times for drugs IMP, PAR, DPR, VCM, AMK, FZ, CFZ, PRE, DEX, FUR and KET in human urine were found: 4.01 min, 4.86 min, 6.71 min, 8.14 min, 9.46 min, 10.01 min, 10.90 min, 13.34 min, 14.06 min, 16.03 min and 18.98 min, respectively. Excellent linearity was obtained for compounds in the range of concentration: 0.35-42 μg ml⁻¹, 0.5-45 μg ml⁻¹, 4.5-38 μg ml⁻¹, 0.25-25 μg ml⁻¹, 0.5-35 μg ml⁻¹, 0.25-22 μg ml⁻¹, 0.03-52 μg ml⁻¹, 0.15-25 μg ml⁻¹, 0.25-28 μg ml⁻¹, 0.05-18 μg ml⁻¹ and 0.15-35 μg ml⁻¹ for IMP, PAR, DPR, VCM, AMK, FZ, CFZ, PRE, DEX, FUR and KET, respectively. The limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ) for analyzed drugs were calculated in all cases and recovery studies were also performed. Ten human urine samples obtained from patients treated in hospital have been tested. In analyzed samples, one or more drugs from the 11 examined drugs were detected. The concentrations of examined drugs in urine samples ranged between: 1.5-12 μg ml⁻¹ of PAR, 5.2-11.5 μg ml⁻¹ of DPR, 0.13-9.5 μg ml⁻¹ of CFZ and 0.1-8 μg ml⁻¹ of FUR. This method can be successfully applied to routine determination of all these drugs in human urine samples.     

Lipophilicity measurements of protonated basic compounds by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography : II. Procedure for the determination of a lipophilic index measured by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

The retention behaviour of protonated basic compounds in reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, using methanol-water mixtures as the eluent, is reported. A minimum is found in the relationship between the logarithm of the capacity factor (log k) and the percentage of methanol (x) in the eluent. The deviation from linearity is postulated to be caused by a dual retention mechanism, namely polar interactions between the solute and eluent molecules in water-poor eluents, and hydrophobic expulsion in water-rich ones. The influence of the pH, pK_a and lipophilicity on retention behaviour is also investigated.     

Sensitive determination of melatonin by precolumn derivatization and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

A sensitive determination method for melatonin was developed. Melatonin was derivatized under alkaline conditions in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. The resultant fluorophore was excited at 247 nm and the emission wavelength was 384 nm. The Stokes shift was 137 nm, which was longer than that of melatonin itself (lambda ex 280 nm, lambda em 330 nm). The melatonin derivative was separated by reversed-phase HPLC in about 15 min and the calibration curve was linear from 500 amol to 5 pmol (r > 0.999) with the detection limit of 500 amol (S/N = 5). The sensitivity of this method was about ten times higher than that of previous methods. Both the day-to-day precision and within-day precision were about 5%, and the derivative of melatonin in the aqueous solution was stable for more than 10 days. This method was successfully applied to the determination of melatonin in rat pineal gland.     

Isolation of experimental anti-AIDS glycerophospholipids by micro-preparative reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.

The experimental anti-AIDS glycerophosphatidic acid: nucleoside (sn-1/sn-2 diacylglycerol:dideoxynucleotide) drugs 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine monophosphate diglyceride (AZT-MP-DG) and 2',3'-dideoxycytidine monophosphate diglyceride (ddC-MP-DG) were isolated and purified by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The chromatographic separation was based on the glycerophospholipid moiety of the drugs and detection of the nucleoside component. The separations were optimized on method development columns packed with the stationary phase to be used in the micro-preparative column and monitored by a UV detector. Fractions were collected and analyzed for purity by analytical-scale HPLC and by thin-layer chromatography (TLC). The purity of the recovered drugs based on UV and light-scattering detection and on TLC was greater than 99%. The purified compounds were isolated for studies on structure confirmation, physical, biophysical and formulation properties and anti-HIV efficacy in culture.     

反相高效液相色谱法同时测定化妆品中7种萘二酚类物质

建立了反相高效液相色谱((RP-HPLC))同时测定化妆品中7种萘二酚类物质的分析方法。膏霜类、乳液类和水类样品用95%(v/v)乙醇提取,粉类样品用95%乙醇-0.1%乙酸(3:2, v/v)溶液提取,经离心、过滤后,用C18柱,以甲醇-0.1%乙酸溶液为流动相梯度洗脱分离,使用二极管阵列检测器检测,以保留时间定性,并以紫外吸收光谱图辅助定性,外标法定量。结果表明,萘二酚类物质在线性范围内线性关系良好,相关系数均不低于0.999 0,方法的定量限(以信噪比为10计)为0.5～1.2 mg/kg,添加水平为5.0～50 mg/kg时回收率为84.0%～102%,相对标准偏差(n=6)为1.3%～5.7%。该法前处理简单、回收率高、精密度好,适用于非蜡基类化妆品中萘二酚类物质的测定。     

Analysis of flavonol aglycones in wine extracts by high performance liquid chromatography

Summary An HPLC isocratic elution procedure which allows the separation of flavonol aglycones in wine without interference from other phenolics of low molecular weight is described. The method has been applied to the separation, identification and quantitative estimation of flavonol aglycones in ether extracts of different Spanish wines (red and white table wines and Sherry finos). The results suggest that these determinations, associated with other analyses, would permit the chemical characterization of wines.