Recent advances in liquid chromatographic methods for the determination of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors

Depression is now the second largest public health burden throughout the world. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) have replaced older antidepressants to become first-line medications to treat this disease with increased remission rates and markedly decreased incidence of severe adverse events. Traditional and modern bioanalytical strategies for SSRI and SNRI determination are being continuously improved. There has also been a recent increase in the use of unconventional sample preparation methods. This review critically evaluates the development of SSRI and SNRI liquid chromatographic analytical methods published between 2014 and mid-2019, with special attention to novel sample preparation methods.     

Enantioselective LC analysis and determination of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

LC separation of biologically and pharmaceutically important enantiomers (from racemic or non-racemic mixtures) remains a subject of importance. The present review article deals with the liquid chromatographic enantioseparation of chiral selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), namely citalopram, paroxetine, sertraline and fluoxetine. It is now known that the enantiomers of numerous psychotropic drugs exhibit distinct pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetic patterns and receptor binding properties, and psychiatric patients are frequently taking more than one medication. Therefore, monitoring of the levels of these analytes in biological fluids is important to determine the levels of enantiomer concentrations; the present paper may be helpful in understanding the present state of available methods (along with a critical discussion of applicability of the methods) and in developing the new ones for this purpose. Different approaches using LC discussed herein may be applied for determining the enantiomeric composition (and enantiomeric purity) of SSRIs and numerous other racemic drugs, of current/future pharmaceutical importance and utility, using simple separation methods, instrumentation, inexpensive reagents and potentially significant analytical approaches. The contents cover the essential data to understand the various separation techniques and associated issues, if any, with documented examples.     

Determination of four selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors by capillary isotachophoresis

We determined an optimal electrolyte system for isotachophoresis (ITP) with conductivity detection of citalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine and sertraline. The analysis conditions were applied to the determination of these selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors in antidepressant drugs. It is shown that capillary ITP with conductivity detection is a simple and quick method for the determination of citalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine and sertraline in drugs.     

Method development and validation for the simultaneous determination of five selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors by capillary zone electrophoresis

Summary A capillary zone electrophoresis method is proposed for the separation of five antidepressants. Optimum conditions for the separation were investigated. A background electrolyte solution consisting of 40 mM phosphate buffer adjusted to pH 2.5, hydrodynamic injection, and a 28 kV separation voltage were used. Relative standard deviations (RSD) were <0.9% and <1.7% for migration time and corrected peak area (n=21), respectively. The detection limits for the five antidepressants ranged from 0.3 to 0.7 mg L⁻¹. The stability of the solutions, linearity, accuracy, and precision were examined during validation of the method. The method is rapid and sensitive, when it was tested for the analysis of pharmaceutical formulations the recoveries obtained were between 98 and 103% of the nominal content.     

Fast separation of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors antidepressants in plasma sample by nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis

A simple, fast, and sensitive liquid–liquid extraction method followed by nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis (LLE/NACE) was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of four antidepressants (fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram and paroxetine) in human plasma. Several experimental separation conditions using aqueous and nonaqueous media separation were tested by varying the electrolyte pH value (for aqueous medium) and the ionic strength concentration considering the similar mobility of the compounds. High-resolution separation was achieved with a mixture of 1.25 mol L⁻¹ of phosphoric acid in acetonitrile. The quantification limits of the LLE/CE method varied between 15 and 30 ng mL⁻¹, with a relative standard deviation (RSD) lower than 10.3%. The method was successfully applied in therapeutic drug monitoring and should be employed in the evaluation of plasma levels in urgent toxicological analysis.     

Solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the analysis of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in environmental water

The continuous contamination of surface waters by pharmaceuticals is of most environmental concern. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are drugs currently prescribed for the treatment of depressions and other psychiatric disorders and then, they are among the pharmaceuticals that can occur in environmental waters. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry has been applied to the extraction of five SSRIs--venlafaxine, fluvoxamine, fluoxetine, citalopram and sertraline--from water samples. Some of the analytes were not efficiently extracted as underivatized compounds and so, an in situ acetylation step was introduced in the sample preparation procedure. Different parameters affecting extraction efficiency such as extraction mode, fiber coating and temperature were studied. A mixed-level fractional factorial design was also performed to simultaneously study the influence of other five experimental factors. Finally, a method based on direct SPME at 100 degrees C using polydimethylsiloxane-divinylbenzene fibers is proposed. The performance of the method was evaluated, showing good linearity and precision. The detection limits were in the sub-ng/mL level. Practical applicability was demonstrated through the analysis of real samples. Recoveries obtained for river water and wastewater samples were satisfactory in all cases. An important aspect of the proposed method is that no matrix effects were observed. Two of the target compounds, venlafaxine and citalopram, were detected and quantified in a sewage water sample.     

Using cation-selective exhaustive injection and sweeping micellar electrokinetic chromatography to determine selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

We have employed a rapid and highly efficient on-line preconcentration method, cation-selective exhaustive injection and sweeping micellar electrokinetic chromatography (CSEI-sweeping-MEKC), for the analysis of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) of antidepressant drugs. We monitored the effects of several of the CSEI-sweeping-MEKC parameters - including the pH, the concentrations of high-conductivity buffer (HCB), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and organic modifier, the injection length of the HCB, and the injection time of the sample - to optimize the separation process. The optimal background electrolyte was 50 mM citric acid/disodium hydrogenphosphate buffer (pH 2.2) containing 100 mM SDS and 22% isopropyl alcohol. The sensitivity enhancements of the SSRIs sertraline, fluoxetine, paroxetine, fluvoxamine, and citalopram ranged from 5.7 x 10(4) to 1.2 x 10(5); the coefficients of determination exceeded 0.9938 and the relative standard deviations of the peak heights were less than 3.2%; the detection limits ranged from 0.056 to 0.22 ng/mL. We employed the optimal conditions to analyze these five SSRIs in a plasma sample prepared using solid-phase extraction (SPE) to minimize the influence of the matrix. Although the limits of detection of the SSRIs in human plasma were higher than those in pure water, this present technique is more sensitive than other, more-conventional methods. The recovery of the SPE extraction efficiency was satisfactory (up to 89%). Our findings suggest that, under the optimal conditions, the CSEI-sweeping-MEKC method can be used successfully to determine these five SSRIs in human plasma.     

Occurrence of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in sewage and receiving waters at Spitsbergen and in Norway

A method for the determination of five selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (citalopram, sertraline, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine and paroxetine) and four of their metabolites (desmethylcitalopram, didesmethylcitalopram, norfluoxetine and desmethylsertraline) in seawater and sewage influents and effluents, has been developed and validated. The method is based on a three-phase hollow-fibre supported liquid phase microextraction of 1.1L samples, followed by high performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization and mass spectrometric detection. The detection limits varied between 17 pg/L (citalopram) and 618 ng/L (desmethylsertraline), and the quantification limits between 57 pg/L (citalopram) and 4.1 ng/L (desmethylsertraline). Sampling was done from February to August in 2007 on three different locations with dissimilarities concerning waste water treatment procedures. No significant difference in SSRI cleansing efficiency between merely sieving (Langnes STP, Troms?) and a more advanced sewage treatment (VEAS STP, Oslo) was seen. All the investigated compounds are present in all waste water samples from these STPs, and a total concentration of SSRIs and metabolites up to 840 ng/L has been found. Untreated sewage samples have been collected in the small town Longyearbyen at Spitsbergen. Despite few inhabitants (2000), it was still possible to find traces of SSRIs in the waste water. In Troms? and Longyearbyen the waste water is discharged into the sea, therefore seawater samples have been collected close to the outlets. The results show higher concentrations of SSRIs outside Longyearbyen than Troms?, possibly due to the stronger tidal currents around Troms?. However, the concentrations are quite low, not exceeding total concentrations of 3 ng/L.     

Sensitive capillary GC-MS-SIM determination of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: reliability evaluation by validation and robustness study

A simple, fast, selective and very sensitive capillary GC-MS method for the simultaneous determination of five antidepressant drugs is described. Fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, citalopram, sertraline and paroxetine belong to the newest and most important drug group termed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Imipramine was used in this method as an internal standard for quantification. Optimum parameters for GC separation were investigated, i.e., flow rate, column head pressure, injector temperature, injection splitless conditions and oven temperature program. MS detection was performed in SIM mode to increase the sensitivity. Stability of the solutions, linear concentration range, accuracy, precision, LOD, LOQ (3.6-41.5 mg/L) and specificity were examined in the presence of excipients for checking the reliability of this method. The robustness was evaluated with a matrix of 15 experiments (seven factors and three levels) using Plackett-Burman fractional factorial experimental design, and Youden and Steiner statistical treatment. The method was applied to the analysis of these antidepressants in nearly all their pharmaceutical formulations, obtaining recoveries between 98.1% and 102.7% with regard to the claimed values.     

Spectrophotometric analysis of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors based on formation of charge-transfer complexes with tetracyanoquinodimethane and chloranilic acid

A simple, accurate, and sensitive spectrophotometric method for analysis of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) has been developed and validated. The analysis was based on the formation of colored charge-transfer complexes between the intact molecule of SSRI drug as an n-electron donor and each of tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) or p-chloranilic acid (pCA) as electron acceptors. The formed complexes were measured spectrophotometrically at 842 and 520 nm for TCNQ and pCA, respectively. Different variables and parameters affecting the reactions were studied and optimized. Under the optimum reaction conditions, linear relationships with good correlation coefficients (0.9975-0.9996) were found between the absorbances and the concentrations of the investigated drugs in the concentration ranges of 4-50 and 20-400 microg/mL with TCNQ and pCA, respectively. With all the investigated drugs, TCNQ gave more sensitive assays than pCA; the limits of assay detection were 2.5-4.8 and 20-40 microg/mL with TCNQ and pCA, respectively. The intra- and interassay precisions were satisfactory; the relative standard deviations did not exceed 2%. The proposed procedures were successfully applied to the analysis of the studied drugs in pure form and pharmaceutical formulations with good accuracy; the recovery values were 98.4-102.8 +/- 1.24-1.81%. The results obtained from the proposed method were statistically comparable with those obtained from the previously reported methods.     

A simple HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of two selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and two serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors in hair, nail clippings, and cerebrospinal fluid

A novel and simple high-performance liquid chromatography method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of two selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (fluoxetine and paroxetine) and two serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (venlafaxine and duloxetine) in alternative samples of toxicological interest such as hair, nail clippings, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The separation was achieved on a Hichrom Kromasil 100-5C(18) (250 × 4.6 mm) 5 μm column by using ammonium acetate (0.05 M)-acetonitrile (59:41% v/v) as the mobile phase, delivered isocratically at a flow rate of 1.3 mL/min, within ca. 10 min. Ultraviolet detection at 235 nm was used for monitoring the eluting analytes. Validation was performed in terms of linearity, selectivity, accuracy, precision, and stability. Correlation coefficients were greater than 0.9954. The limits of quantitation ranged between 0.3 and 2.1 ng/μL for all analytes in the liquid matrix (CSF), while the respective values were in the range of 0.3-3.6 ng/mg for solid matrices (hair and nail clippings), with an injection volume of 20 μL. Repeatability and intermediate precision (relative standard deviation, RSD%) were less than 16.6%. The method was successfully applied to actual hair and nail samples from a patient under fluoxetine treatment.     

Magnetic carbon nanotubes modified with 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2] octane are a viable sorbent for extraction of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

Carbon nanotubes were modified with magnetite nanoparticles, and 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) was then covalently attached to their surface. The resulting material is shown to be a viable sorbent for the preconcentration of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors citalopram, sertraline, fluvoxamine and fluoxetine via ultrasound-assisted magnetic solid phase extraction. The effects of pH value, sorbent dosage, eluent volume and salt concentration were optimized by central composite design and desirability function. The drugs were quantified by HPLC with UV detection. Detection limits are as low as 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, and 0.5 ng mL^?1 for citalopram, sertraline, fluvoxamine and fluoxetine, respectively. The intra-day precisions (RSDs) are <4.0%. The method was applied to the determination of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in plasma samples and gave recoveries of >91%. The sorbent can be reused 12 times without a noticeable decrease in extraction efficiency.

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Graphical abstract Magnetic carbon nanotubes were modified with 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) with ionic liquid framework. Resulting material was used as a reusable and selective sorbent for preconcentration and extraction of antidepressant drugs from plasma samples.

     

Comparison of two extraction methods for the determination of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in sewage sludge by hollow fiber liquid-phase microextraction

This paper presents two procedures for the determination of four selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (citalopram, paroxetine, fluoxetine, and sertraline) and one metabolite (norfluoxetine) in sewage sludge utilizing three-phase hollow fiber liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME). First, direct HF-LPME was used for extraction, clean-up, and preconcentration. The pharmaceuticals were extracted from slurry samples into an organic phase and then back-extracted into an aqueous phase in the lumen of the hollow fiber. Second, a procedure combining pressurized hot water extraction and HF-LPME for clean-up and preconcentration was developed for the same analytes and matrix. The extracts were subsequently analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. For direct HF-LPME, limits of detection were between 1 and 12 ng g(-1) (dry weight) and the relative standard deviation (RSD) values were 3-12%. For the second method, limits of detection were approximately 6 ng g(-1) for all the compounds and RSD values were 8-12%. The methods were validated by comparison of results for the same samples. Sewage sludge from a Swedish wastewater treatment plant was analyzed by both methods; average concentrations were similar for citalopram, paroxetine, and fluoxetine with values of approximately 530, 40, and 200 ng g(-1) , respectively.     

Synthesis of 1-alkyl-2,3-dihydro-2-(4-pyridinyl)-1H-isoindoles as potential selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

Two 2,3-dihydro-2-(4-pyridinyl)-1H-isoindoles 2a,b have been synthesized by the reaction of isoindoline with 4-chloropyridines. In addition, a number of 1-alkyl-2,3-dihydro-2-(4-pyridinyl)-1H-isoindoles 2c-h were obtained from 2-(4-pyridinyl)phthalimide (5). The addition of alkyl Grignard reagents to 5 gave 1-alkylhydroxyisoindolones 6a-f which, in two cases 6a,b , were dehydrated and subjected to three separate reductions to give targets 2c,d . In three cases, the intermediate hydroxyisoindolones 6c-e were reduced in one step to the target compounds 2c-g with lithium aluminum hydride-aluminum chloride. When 6f , the product of the addition of phenyl Grignard to 5 , was subjected to these conditions, a hydroxyisoindoline 7 was obtained which was further reduced to 2h with triethylsilane-trifluoroacetic acid. The lithium aluminum hydride-aluminum chloride conditions were successfully applied to the synthesis of a 1-benzyl-4-piperidine derivative 21.     

Discovery of potent and selective covalent inhibitors of JNK

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Highlights? JNK inhibitors have been designed that target a conserved cysteine residue ? JNK-IN-8 is a highly selective JNK inhibitor based on multiple profiling strategies ? Covalent formation is crucial for both high potency and high specificity ? JNK-IN-8 inhibits c-Jun phosphorylation at submicromolar concentrations in cells     

Identification of novel human renin inhibitors through a combined approach of pharmacophore modelling,molecular DFT analysis and in silico screening

Renin is an aspartyl protease of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS) and the first enzyme of the biochemical pathway for the generation of angiotensin II – a potent vasoconstrictor involved in the maintenance of cardiovascular homeostasis and the regulation of blood pressure. High enzymatic specificity of renin and its involvement in the catalysis of the rate-limiting step of the RAS hormone system qualify it as a good target for inhibition of hypertension and other associated diseases. Ligand-based pharmacophore model (Hypo1) was generated from a training set of 24 compounds with renin inhibitory activity. The best hypothesis consisted of one Hydrogen Bond Acceptor (HBA), three Hydrophobic Aliphatic (HY-Al) and one Ring Aromatic (AR) features. This well-validated pharmacophore hypothesis (correlation coefficient 0.95) was further utilized as a 3D query to screen database compounds, which included structures from two natural product repositories. These screened compounds were further analyzed for drug-likeness and ADMET studies. The compounds which satisfied the qualifying criteria were then subjected to molecular docking and Density Functional Theory (DFT) analysis in order to discern their atomic level interactions at the active site of the 3D structure of rennin. The pharmacophore-based modelling that has been used to generate the novel findings of the present study would be an avant-garde approach towards the development of potent inhibitors of renin.     

Discovery of novel Pim-1 kinase inhibitors by a hierarchical multistage virtual screening approach based on SVM model, pharmacophore, and molecular docking

In this investigation, we describe the discovery of novel potent Pim-1 inhibitors by employing a proposed hierarchical multistage virtual screening (VS) approach, which is based on support vector machine-based (SVM-based VS or SB-VS), pharmacophore-based VS (PB-VS), and docking-based VS (DB-VS) methods. In this approach, the three VS methods are applied in an increasing order of complexity so that the first filter (SB-VS) is fast and simple, while successive ones (PB-VS and DB-VS) are more time-consuming but are applied only to a small subset of the entire database. Evaluation of this approach indicates that it can be used to screen a large chemical library rapidly with a high hit rate and a high enrichment factor. This approach was then applied to screen several large chemical libraries, including PubChem, Specs, and Enamine as well as an in-house database. From the final hits, 47 compounds were selected for further in vitro Pim-1 inhibitory assay, and 15 compounds show nanomolar level or low micromolar inhibition potency against Pim-1. In particular, four of them were found to have new scaffolds which have potential for the chemical development of Pim-1 inhibitors.     

Determination of YM992, a novel selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, in rat and dog plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method with fluorescence detection was developed for the determination of (S)-2-[[(7-fluoro-4-indanyl)oxy]methyl]morpholine monohydrochloride (YM992) in plasma. Plasma samples were extracted with n-hexane under alkali condition. After the organic solvent was evaporated to dryness, the residue was treated with 4-fluoro-7-nitrobezofurazan (NBD-F) in borate buffer (pH 7.5) at room temperature for 20 min. The reaction was terminated with hydrochloric acid and the resultant solution was injected onto HPLC without further purification. No interfering peak was observed at the retention time of YM992 or the internal standard. The calibration curve was linear with the concentration of YM992 up to 200 ng/ml. The limit of quantitation was 1 ng/ml. The intra- and inter-day relative standard deviation was less than 5.6% and 4.1%, respectively, and the intra- and inter-day relative error ranged from -3.0% to 17.2% and 2.8% to 7.5%, respectively. Using the assay, the plasma concentration of YM992 could be determined up to 8 and 10 h after the oral administration of YM992 to rats and dogs, respectively.