High-performance liquid chromatographic-radioimmunoassay method for the measurement of angiotensin II peptides in human plasma

A highly selective high-performance liquid chromatographic-radioimmunoassay method for the measurement of individual endogenous angiotensin peptides in human plasma is described. This method allows the complete resolution of the immunoreactive angiotensin II peptides. We have also measured the angiotensin peptide levels and compared them in both pooled and individual human plasma. The effects of inhibition of angiotensin-converting enzyme on the angiotensin peptide levels have also been observed in a patient with renovascular hypertension with the plasma angiotensin II level being reduced greater than seven-fold. This new methodology was validated by recovery experiments in plasma over a range of physiological levels using two methods of detection, radioimmunoassay and liquid scintillation counting. Consistent recoveries near 80% have been achieved for each peptide in plasma at concentrations over a physiological range. The described method enables the direct measurement of the circulating angiotensin peptides and the elucidation of their specific roles in physiological and disease states.     

Rapid high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the measurement of atenolol in plasma using UV detection

A rapid, selective and reproducible high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the measurement of the beta-adrenoceptor blocking drug atenolol in small (400 microliters) volumes of plasma. Following solid phase sample preparation using Bond-ElutTM mini-columns the compound is separated by high-performance column liquid chromatography on a microparticulate (6 microns) cyano column using acetonitrile--ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (4:96) containing triethylamine (0.25%, v/v) as the mobile phase, and the absorption of the column effluent is monitored at 224 nm. The practical limit of quantitation, based upon an assay volume of 400 microliters, is 25 ng/ml for atenolol. The average coefficient of variation is 3.1%.     

Simple high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the measurement of toloxatone in rabbit cerebrospinal fluid and plasma

A simplified, rapid high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure has been developed for the measurement of toloxatone in rabbit plasma and cerebrospinal fluid. The method involves a single-step extraction of the alkalinized sample with diethyl ether and analysis of the evaporated extract on a C8 column. Detection was performed by ultraviolet absorbance monitored at 240 nm. The overall run-time of the assay was 8 min at a flow-rate of 1 ml min-1. The sensitivity limit of toloxatone was 70 ng ml-1 at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3:1 in rabbit cerebrospinal fluid and plasma. The assay has been used to define plasma toloxatone concentration-time profiles and to quantitate cerebrospinal fluid toloxatone levels after a single intravenous injection in rabbits.     

Simple isocratic high-performance liquid chromatographic method for measurement of iodixanol in human plasma.

A simple isocratic high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the determination of iodixanol in human plasma. Samples containing an internal standard were prepared for analysis using a simple clean-up procedure based on Sep-Pak C18 solid-phase extraction and chromatographed using a size-exclusion column with purified water as a mobile phase. The iodixanol peak was completely separated from the peaks of an internal standard and endogenous substances on this column. Three geometric isomers (exo-exo, endo-exo and endo-endo forms) of iodixanol could be eluted as a single peak. The method was found to be applicable to pharmacokinetic studies of iodixanol in human plasma.     

Simplified accurate approximation for the Kohn-Sham potential using the KLI method

The method of Krieger, Li, and Iafrate (KLI) [Phys. Rev. A46, 5453 (1992) and A47, 165 (1993)] is employed to calculate the Kohn-Sham (KS) potential, V_κσ, for the exchange-only case in which the electron-electron interaction between “core” electrons in the Hartree-Fock exchange energy functional is treated in the local-spin-density (LSD) approximation with and without self-interaction-correction (SIC). The resulting V_κσ(r) maintains the important analytic properties exhibited by the exact KS potential. When the core is taken to include all occupied states except those in the last two occupied subshells of the atom, we find that properties strongly dependent on the valence electron states continue to be accurately approximated. In particular, when the LSDSIC approximation is employed, we find the results of self-consistent calculations of the ionization potential and electron affinity are within 0.3 mRy of the exact KS results and that the energy eigenvalue corresponding to the highest energy occupied orbital and <r²> have an average error of a few tenths of 1% for both atoms and negative ions for Z ≤ 20. Similarly, slightly less accurate results are obtained when the LSD approximation is employed. These results suggest that the KLI method may be accurately and more easily applied to multiatom systems when this additional approximation is made. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Simplified method for the determination of organochlorine pesticides in honey.

A method is described for the detection and quantitative determination of organochlorine pesticides in honey. After extraction with hexane, the pesticides were cleaned-up by adsorption chromatography on a Florisil Sep-Pak cartridge and eluted with 15% diethyl ether in hexane. The detection of organochlorine pesticides was performed by capillary gas chromatography with electron-capture detection. The quantification limit obtained for different pesticides ranged from 0.56 to 2.78 micrograms kg-1 and recoveries from fortified honey samples averaged 89.6%.     

Simplified procedure for the determination of sotalol in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography

A simple, specific and rapid reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) procedure for sotalol determination is described requiring small plasma volumes. The high recovery of sotalol from plasma and the high precision of measurement obviate the need for an internal standard. Plasma samples (300 microliters) were deproteinised with 50 microliters of 70% (w/w) perchloric acid in disposable glass tubes. After vortex-mixing and centrifugation, 30 microliters of 4 M K2HPO4 were added followed by gentle shaking. A 20-microliters aliquot was then injected (by autosampler) for HPLC analysis. Chromatography was performed on a glass-lined 250 mm x 4 mm 5-micron C18 steel column. The mobile phase was 6% (v/v) acetonitrile in 0.08 M KH2PO4 buffer (pH 4.6). The flow-rate was 0.8 ml/min. Detection was by fluorescence with excitation and emission wavelengths at 235 and 310 nm, respectively. The retention time for sotalol was 7.1 min. Calibration was linear from 0.16 to 10 micrograms/ml in plasma (r greater than 0.999 for detector response to sotalol). The minimum concentration for quantitation was 0.08 micrograms/ml [within assay coefficient of variation (C.V.) less than 5%]. Recovery was near quantitative (greater than 98%) and replicate (intra-assay precision was less than 5% C.V.). Analysis of samples (n = 10) at concentrations of 0.42 and 4.2 micrograms/ml gave mean values of 0.44 and 4.3 micrograms/ml, respectively. The inter-assay C.V. values were 4.5 and 2.2%, respectively. Other clinically used antiarrhythmic drugs did not interfere. This assay can be performed using other commercial C18 analytical columns by suitable adjustment of mobile phase flow-rate and acetonitrile composition.     

Simplified method for concentration of mitochondrial membrane protein complexes

Extracting and concentrating mitochondrial protein complexes from gel strips after blue native PAGE (BN‐PAGE) can be daunting tasks using the traditional methods, such as electroelution, passive diffusion and centrifugal concentration. We present a simplified gel electrophoresis method to concentrate mitochondrial protein complexes with excellent recovery rate. Mitochondrial complex I present in a long gel strip from BN‐PAGE can be easily concentrated into a 0.8 cm gel strip when a second BN‐PAGE is performed with a Y‐shaped gel and the addition of 0.01% n‐dodecyl β‐D ‐maltoside and 0.001% SDS in the cathode buffer. Once completed, the concentrated protein complex in the gel strip is ready for SDS‐PAGE or proteomic studies.     

A rapid method for uranium isotope ratio measurement by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Uranium isotope ratio U 234/238 can be measured by commercial high-performance inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) with good precision and accuracy (relative standard deviation RSD<2%). The method is based on acquiring the data using a peak jump mode and a collecting signal 10 times longer for low abundance isotopes. Uranium isotope standards U-005 to U-200 from the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) were used for method development. The optimum uranium concentration range for analysis for dissolved samples is from 50 to 200 g l^–1.