Determination and identification of amiloride in human urine by high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

A simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed to screen and determine amiloride (I) in human urine. The detection limit of the method is 0.12 micrograms/ml and the recovery of amiloride from urine was 80.4-85.5% at different concentrations. The coefficients of variation were less than 2.8 and 4.4% for intra- and inter-assays, respectively. Total urinary excretion of I in 24 h after oral administration of 5 mg or 15 mg of I ranged from 22.0 to 33.3% of the total dose for three different subjects. I could be detected in urine up to at least 44 h after a 5-mg dose and 72 h after a 15-mg dose. A gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) confirmatory method was established based on the methanolysis of I to methyl 3,5-diamino-6-chloropyrazine-carboxylate (II). The di-N-trimethylsilyl derivative of II showed very good GC-MS properties and provided reliable structure information for confirmation analysis of I. This is the first time that a reliable GC-MS method has been reported for the detection of urinary I.     

A new method for determination of buformin in plasma and urine by ion-paired reversed-phase HPLC with ultraviolet detection

Buformin is a widely used as an antidiabetic agent but its renal excretion is still controversial. A new HPLC method with ultraviolet (UV) detection for the determination of buformin in plasma and urine has been developed. After protein precipitation or dilution, buformin and internal standard phenformin were resolved on an octadecyl silica column and detected by UV detection at 233 nm. Intra- and inter-day coefficients of variation were <9%. The limit of quantification was around 0.05 micro g/ml for plasma and 2.5 micro g/ml for urine.     

Flow injection chemiluninescence for detecting picogram amounts of dobesilate in human urine

A sensitive method for the determination of dobesilate in pharmaceutical preparations and human urine is described by using controlled-reagent-release technology. The method entailed the use of luminol and periodate, which are immobilized on anion exchange resin and react in alkaline medium, giving chemiluminescence (CL) at 425 nm. Dobesilate was detected by measuring the decrease of CL intensity, and which was observed linear over the dobesilate concentration range of 10-600 pg ml(-1), and the limit of detection was 3.5 pg ml(-1) (3sigma) and a relative standard deviation of less than 3.0%. At a flow rate of 2.0 ml min(-1), the determination of dobesilate, including sampling and washing, could be performed in 0.5 min, giving a throughput of about 120 times per hour. The proposed method has an extremely low limit of detection down to 3.5 pg ml(-1), thus it can be applied directly in the assay of human urine without any pre-treatment. It was also found that the dobesilate concentration reached its maximum after orally administrated for 3.5h, and the excretion ratio in 24h was 58.8% in the body of volunteers.     

Determination of amdinocillin in plasma and urine by high-performance liquid chromatography

A rapid, sensitive and specific high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) assay was developed for the determination of amdinocillin (formerly mecillinam) in human plasma and urine. The assay is performed by direct injection of a plasma protein-free supernatant or a dilution of urine. A 10 micrometer muBondapak phenyl column with an eluting solvent of water--methanol--1 M phosphate buffer, pH 7 (70:30:0.5) was used, with UV detection of the effluent at 220 nm. Azidocillin potassium salt [potassium-6-(D-(-)-alpha-azidophenyacetamido)-penicillanate] was used as the internal standard and quantitation was based on peak height ratio of amdinocillin to that of the internal standard. The assay has a recovery of 74.4 +/- 6.3% (S.D.) in the concentration ranges of 0.1-20 microgram per 0.2 ml of plasma with a limit of detection equivalent to 0.5 microgram/ml plasma. The urine assay was validated over a concentration range of 0.025-5 mg/ml of urine, and has a limit of detection of 0.025 mg/ml (25 microgram/ml) using a 0.1-ml urine specimen per assay. The assay was applied to the determination of plasma and urine concentrations of amdinocillin following intravenous administration of a 10 mg/kg dose of amdinocillin to two human subjects. The HPLC and microbiological assays were shown to correlate well for these samples.     

UHPLC‐MS method for determination of gambogic acid and application to bioavailability,pharmacokinetics, excretion and tissue distribution in rats

A sensitive ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC‐MS) method was developed for determination of gambogic acid (GA) in rat plasma, urine, bile and main tissues. GA was separated on an Agilent Zorbax XDB–C₁₈ column (50 × 2.1 mm, 1.8 µm) with gradient mobile phase at the flow rate of 0.2 mL/min. The detection was performed by negative electrospray ionization with multiple reaction monitoring mode. The calibration curves of GA were linear between 1.0 and 1000 ng/mL in rat plasma and bile and between 1.0 and 500 ng/mL in urine and tissues. The lowest limit of quantification for all matrices was 1.0 ng/mL. Both accuracy and precision of the assay were satisfactory. This validated method was firstly applied to bioavailability (BA), pharmacokinetics, excretion and tissue distribution in rats. The BAs of GA (40 and 80 mg/kg) in rats were 0.25 and 0.32%, respectively. GA was distributed extensively in rats after oral administration and exhibited the highest level in liver. GA reached the cumulative excretion amount of 25.3 ± 1.7 µg in bile and 0.275 ± 0.08 µg in urine after i.g. 80 mg/kg to rats at 24 h. The present results would be helpful for further clinical use of GA as a potential anticancer drug. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gas chromatographic determination of beta-phenethylbiguanide and its metabolite p-hydroxy-beta-phenethylbiguanide in serum and urine.

A gas chromatographic method is presented for the detection of beta-phenethylbiguanide (PEBG) and its metabolite, p-hydroxy-beta-phenethylbiguanide (p-OHPEBG). The procedure is applicable for the determination of the drug and its metabolite in the serum and urine of rats. The detection limit is 0.2 mug PEBG and 0.5 mug p-OH PEBG per ml of serum or urine. A time course study of blood concentration and elimination rate following intraperitoneal injection of 100 mg/kg of PEBG to normal rats was performed. Beta-PEBG was found to be present in the blood and the urine, p-OH PEBG was only detected in the urine. Twenty-four hours following intraperitoneal injection, the urine contained 32% of the administered dose, 20% as unaltered PEBG and 12% as p-OH PEBG.     

Comparison of a novel thin-layer chromatographic-fluorescence detection method with a spectrofluorometric method for the determination of 7-hydroxycoumarin in human urine.

A novel method for the determination of 7-hydroxycoumarin in human urine which combines thin-layer chromatography (TLC) with fluorescence detection (FD) has been devised. The limit of detection (1 ng/ml) enables determination of 7-hydroxycoumarin after both administration of coumarin and environmental exposure to this fragrance material. When compared to a spectrofluorometric method of analysis, the TLC-FD method proved to be more selective for the analysis of 7-hydroxycoumarin in human urine.     

Determination of psychotropic phenylalkylamine derivatives in biological matrices by high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode-array detection.

Several procedures using high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode-array detection have been developed to create phytochemical and toxicological profiles of phenylalkylamine derivatives in biological samples (e.g. plant materials and urine). Mescaline-containing cactus samples were extracted with basic methanol, using methoxamine as internal standard; the extraction and clean-up of urine samples were performed on cation-exchange solid-phase extraction columns. The extracts were separated on a 3-micron ODS column with acetonitrile-water-phosphoric acid-hexylamine as the mobile phase. Peak detection was performed at 198 or 205 nm; peak identity and homogeneity were ascertained by on-line scanning of the UV spectra from 190 to 300 nm. The detection limit of phenylalkylamine derivatives in urine and cactus material was 0.026-0.056 micrograms/ml and 0.04 micrograms/mg, respectively. Following a single oral dose of 1.7 mg/kg methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA) the concentrations found in urine ranged from 1.48 to 5.05 micrograms/ml MDMA and 0.07-0.90 micrograms/ml methylenedioxyamphetamine (a metabolite of MDMA). The mescaline content of the cactus Trichocereus pachanoi varied between 1.09 and 23.75 micrograms/mg.     

Determination of sparfloxacin in serum and urine by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A specific and sensitive analytical method for the determination of sparfloxacin in serum and urine is described. Serum proteins are removed by precipitation with acetonitrile after the addition of ofloxacin as an internal standard. The supernatant solvent is evaporated in a vacuum concentrator and the dry residue is redissolved in the mobile phase. Separation is performed on a cation-exchange column (Nucleosil 100 5SA, 125 x 4.0 mm I.D., 5 microns particle size) protected by a guard column (Perisorb RP-18, 30 x 4.0 mm I.D., 30-40 microns particle diameter). The mobile phase consisted of 750 ml of acetonitrile and 250 ml of 100 mmol/l phosphoric acid (v/v) to which sodium hydroxide had been added. The final concentration of sodium was 23 mmol/l and the pH was 3.82. Sparfloxacin and ofloxacin were determined by spectrofluorimetry (excitation wavelength 295 nm; emission wavelength 525 nm). The flow-rate was 1.5 ml/min and the retention times were 4.7 (sparfloxacin) and 8.0 (ofloxacin) min. Validation of the method yielded the following results for serum: detection limit 0.05 mg/l; precision between series 10.4-3.6%; recovery 99.5-100.0%; comparison with a microbiological assay c(bioassay) = 1.035c(HPLC) - 0.06. The test organism was Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633. For urine the results were: detection limit 0.5 mg/l; precision between series 7.8-5.0%; recovery 97.0-97.8%; method comparison c(bioassay) = 1.092c(HPLC) - 1.09. No interferences were observed in human volunteers. The method can also be applied to stool samples.     

Characterization of boldione and its metabolites in human urine by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Boldione (1,4-androstadiene-3,17-dione) is a direct precursor (prohormone) to the anabolic steroid boldenone (1,4-androstadiene-17beta-ol-3-one). It is advertised as a highly anabolic/androgenic compound promoting muscularity, enhancing strength and overall physical performance, and is available on the Internet and in health stores. This work was undertaken to determine and characterize boldione and its metabolites in human urine, using both liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry and derivatization. Boldione and its three metabolites were detected in dosed human urine after dosing a healthy volunteer with 100 mg boldione. The excretion studies showed that boldione and its metabolites were detectable in urine for 48 h after oral administration, with maximum excretion rates after 1.8 and 3.6 h (boldenone case). The amounts of boldione and boldenone excreted in urine from this 100 mg dose were 34.45 and 15.95 mg, respectively.     

Enantiospecific high-performance liquid chromatographic assay with fluorescence detection for the monoamine oxidase inhibitor tranylcypromine and its applicability in pharmacokinetic studies.

In order to be able to measure low concentrations of tranylcypromine enantiomers in biological material, chiral fluorescent derivatization and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were employed. The internal standard S-(+)-amphetamine and borate-sodium hydroxide buffer pH 11 were added to plasma or urine sample aliquots. o-Phthaldialdehyde was used for precolumn derivatization in combination with the chiral mercaptan N-acetylcysteine. HPLC resolution of the diastereoisomeric derivatives was possible on an octadecylsilane column. The mobile phase consisted of sodium phosphate buffer solution pH 6.5, methanol and tetrahydrofuran. The fluorescence of the eluate was monitored at 344/442 nm. The intra-day coefficients of variation were below 10%, the limit of determination was 0.5 ng/ml. The assay was found to be applicable for routine analyses in a preliminary pharmacokinetic study, in which an oral dose of 20 mg racemic tranylcypromine sulfate was administered to three healthy volunteers. The plasma concentrations were generally low, and those of S-(-)-tranylcypromine significantly exceeded those of the R-(+)-enantiomer. Average maximum concentrations were 57.5 and 6.3 ng/ml for S- and R-tranylcypromine, respectively. While S-tranylcypromine was well detectable within the whole study period (8 h), R-tranylcypromine concentrations fell below the detection limit after 4 h in two out of the three studied volunteers.     

Simultaneous determination of nefiracetam and its metabolites by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic assay was developed to simultaneously quantitate nefiracetam (NEF), a novel nootropic agent, and its three known oxidized metabolites (N-[(2,6-dimethylphenylcarbamoyl)methyl]succinamic acid (5-COOH-NEF), 4-hydroxy-NEF and 5-hydroxy-NEF) in human serum and urine. The quantitative procedure was based on solid-phase extraction with Sep-Pak C18 and ultraviolet detection at 210 nm. The calibration curves of NEF and the metabolites were linear over a wide range of concentrations (0.5-21.5 nmol/ml for NEF and 0.4-9.5 nmol/ml for metabolites in serum and 4-86 nmol/ml for NEF and 8-190 nmol/ml for metabolites in urine). Intra- and inter-day assay coefficients of variation for the compounds were less than 10%. The limit of detection was 0.1 nmol/ml for NEF, 5-COOH-NEF and 4-hydroxy-NEF, and 0.2 nmol/ml for 5-hydroxy-NEF in both serum and urine. This method is applicable for the determination of NEF and its metabolites in human serum and urine with satisfactory accuracy and precision.     

Determination of furosemide in urine samples by direct injection in a micellar liquid chromatographic system

A sensitive, selective and efficient micellar liquid chromatographic (MLC) procedure was developed for the determination of furosemide (4-chloro-N-furfuryl-5-sulfamoylanthranilic acid) in urine samples by direct injection and UV detection. The procedure makes use of a C18 reversed-phase column and a micellar mobile phase of 0.05 mol l(-1) sodium dodecyl sulfate-6% v/v propanol and phosphate buffer at pH 3 to resolve furosemide from its photochemical degradation products. The importance of protecting the standards and urine samples to be analysed from light in the assay of furosemide, avoiding its degradation, was verified. The limit of quantification was 0.15 microg ml(-1) and the relative standard deviation of the inter-day assay was 0.8-0.04% in the 6-82 microg ml(-1) range. Detection of urinary excretion of furosemide was followed up to 12 h after ingestion of the drug by a healthy volunteer. No potential interference from the major metabolite (furosemide acylglucuronide) and its hydrolytic product (4-chloro-5-sulfamoylanthranilic acid) was observed. Commonly administered drugs also did not interfere. The proposed MLC procedure permits the rapid and reproducible measurement of low levels of furosemide in a small amount of urine.     

Urinary phenylacetic acid determination by HPLC

Summary A high-performance liquid chromatographic method for urinary total phenylacetic acid (PAA) determination is reported for clinical diagnostic purpose in depressed patients.The urine samples are hydrolized in 6N HCl at 100°C. The hydrolized samples are then adsorbed on a C₈ reversed-phase extraction cartridge and eluted with 0.05 N NaOH. This solution is extracted on an anionexchange extraction cartridge and eluted with 0.1 M phosforic acid; the eluate is injected into HPLC and separated by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection at 225 nm. The extraction recovery is 93±2.8%, the retention time is 3.7 min and the PAA minimum detectable level is 4 mg/l.The normal value determined on 10 healthy subjects was 151.3±19.1 mg/day. Ten depressed subjects were investigated, and no difference in PAA excretion between normal and depressed subjects was observed. Also, the expected PAA enhancement in depressed subjects after treatment did not occur.     

Determination and pharmacokinetic study of 1-p-(3.3-dimethyl-1-triazeno) benzoic acid in cancer patients by capillary gas chromatography

A capillary gas chromatographic method was developed for determining 1-p-(3.3-dimethyl-1-triazeno) benzoic acid in the plasma and urine of cancer patients under pharmacokinetic study. The drug was extracted with ethyl acetate and methylated with diazomethane. Octadelane (10 microg/ml) was added as internal standard. The separation was carried out on an OV-1 quartz capillary column, 15 m x 0.32 mm (0.52 microm), with high-purity nitrogen as carrier gas and flame ionization detector (FID) as detector. The column temperature was held at 130 degrees C for 9 min and then programmed to 240 degrees C, at a rate of 35 degrees C/min. The temperature of both injector and detector was 260 degrees C. The standard curve was linear from 0.4 to 40 microg/mL in plasma, and from 0.8 to 20 microg/mL in urine, with correlation coefficients of 0.9979 and 0.9932. The relative standard deviations (RSD) were less than 9.7%. The minimum recovery of this method was 81.8%. This method was applied to the pharmacokinetic studies of 1-p-(3.3-dimethyl-1-triazeno) benzoic acid in cancer patients after a single dose (i.v.) of 160, 420 or 760 mg/m(2) was administered. They all conformed to the two-compartment open model and showed linear pharmacokinetics. The excretion of this drug in the urine was minimal.     

Ion-paired high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of mitoxantrone in physiological fluids

Mitoxantrone is one of the newer anthracenedione derivatives which has already been studied in phase I and II trials, where it has shown significant antitumor activity against a variety of human tumours. To determine the prolonged terminal half-life of mitoxantrone, we developed a sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method, providing a detection limit of 1 ng/ml of extracted serum. This system uses a C18 reversed-phase column. The mobile phase consists of a mixture of acetonitrile (30%, v/v) and an ammonium formate buffer (70%, v/v) with a pH of 2.7. Hexane sulphonic acid is added as an ion-pair former. Detection at a wavelength of 658 nm provides a highly selective system, showing no interfering peaks. Ametantrone, another anthracenedione derivative, is used as an internal standard. The extraction procedure for serum also uses hexane sulphonic acid in an ion-paired system. Because of the highly selective detection wavelength, urine samples can be injected without a sample clean-up procedure. This very sensitive method, combined with high selectivity and a fast and inexpensive serum clean-up procedure, has allowed us to document the prolonged terminal plasma half-life of mitoxantrone (levels of 2-5 ng/ml of plasma can still be detected six days after an intravenous infusion of 15 mg/m2 over 30 min). In urine an as yet unidentified metabolite was discovered.     

Plasma determination of the novel anticonvulsant D,L-3-hydroxy-3-ethyl-3-phenylpropionamide and preliminary pharmacokinetic studies in the rat.

A sensitive gas chromatographic method with flame ionization detection was developed for the analysis in plasma of the novel anticonvulsant D,L-3-hydroxy-3-ethyl-3-phenylpropionamide (HEPP), using D,L-2-hydroxy-2-ethyl-2-phenylacetamide as the internal standard. HEPP was extracted from alkalinized plasma into dichloromethane and quantified after derivatization with bis(trimethylsilyl)-trifluoroacetamide: Standard curves were linear from 0.5 to 50 and from 2 to 100 micrograms/ml of plasma, using 1.5 and 5 micrograms of the internal standard, respectively. The lower limit of detection at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 standard deviations was 0.33 micrograms/ml of sample. The sensitivity, accuracy and reproducibility of the method were shown to be satisfactory for pharmacokinetic studies of HEPP. After intraperitoneal administration of 50 mg/kg to Wistar rats, the principal kinetic parameters were: absorption half-life = 0.04 h; volume of distribution = 1.32 l/kg; clearance = 4.40 ml/min; peak concentration = 50 micrograms/ml; peak time = 0.25 h; mean residence time = 4.55 h.     

Rapid, sensitive and fully automated high-performance liquid chromatographic assay with fluorescence detection for sulmazole and metabolites

Sulmazole (2-[(2-methoxy-4-methylsulfinyl)phenyl]-3H-imidazo [4,5-b] pyridine; AR-L 115 BS) and two metabolites (sulfide, sulfone) were quantified from directly injected body fluids (plasma, urine, bile) after high-performance liquid chromatographic separation. No internal standard is needed, which is particularly advantageous when fluorescence detection is established. After automated pre-column enrichment on Corasil C18 (37-50 microns), the parent compound and biotransformation products could be backflushed and chromatographed on ODS-Hypersil (5 microns) with a mixture of 0.075 mol/l phosphate buffer-acetonitrile (2:1), an elution rate of 2.0 ml/min and fluorimetric detection (lambda ex = 330 nm; lambda em = 370 nm). A hydroxylated metabolite of sulmazole which occurs preferentially in urine (and bile) can be quantified in the above-mentioned solvent system diluted 1:1 with water, but with different fluorescence characteristics (lambda ex = 345 nm; lambda em = 515 nm). The assay was linear in the range 8-1000 ng/ml. The lower limit of detection was about 8 ng/ml or 80 pg with coefficients of variation between 0.4 and 5.8% for sulmazole.     

Determination of temazepam and temazepam glucuronide by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.

A rapid and sensitive method for extracting temazepam from human serum and urine is presented. Free temazepam is extracted from plasma and urine samples using n-butyl chloride with nitrazepam as the internal standard. Temazepam glucuronide is analyzed as free temazepam after incubating extracts with beta-glucuronidase. Separation is achieved using a C8 reversed-phase column with a methanol-water-phosphate buffer mobile phase. An ultraviolet detector operated at 230 nm is used and a linear response is observed from 20 ng/ml to 10 micrograms/ml. The limit of detection is 15.5 ng/ml and the limit of quantitation is 46.5 ng/ml. Coefficients of variation are less than 10% for concentrations greater than 50 ng/ml. Application of the methodology is demonstrated in a pharmacokinetic study using eight healthy male subjects.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of eclanamine and its N-desmethyl and N,N-didesmethyl metabolites in urine

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been defined for the determination of eclanamine (free base of eclanamine maleate) and two of its metabolites, N-desmethyleclanamine and N,N-didesmethyleclanamine in urine. The method employs 10-ml urine samples, has a linear range from 5 to 500 ng/ml for the three compounds, and has a detection limit of 0.5 ng/ml for each compound. Sample preparation uses a cyanopropylsilane extraction column with washes of water, acetonitrile-water (30:70, v/v), and acetonitrile, and elution with 2% trifluoroacetic acid in acetonitrile. The eluate is evaporated to dryness, the residue dissolved in 1.0 ml acetonitrile-water (10:90, v/v) and 100 microliter are injected onto a Supelcosil LC-CN column. Eclanamine and its metabolites are eluted with an acetonitrile-water (35:65, v/v) eluent containing 0.01 M triethylamine and adjusted to pH 7.0 with phosphoric acid. The method has been validated by preparing and analyzing a series of fortified urines (range 2-500 ng/ml for each compound) on four separate days. Good linearity, precision, reproducibility, and specificity were obtained. Certification of the analytical method was accomplished by analyzing urine specimens collected from one volunteer administered a single oral dose of 45 mg eclanamine maleate. The data suggest that the metabolites of eclanamine have long elimination half-lives with levels still quantifiable in the 72-96 h collection interval.