Simultaneous determination of four antiepileptic drugs in human plasma samples using an ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method and its application in therapeutic drug monitoring

Therapeutic drug monitoring of antiepileptic drugs is widely practiced to achieve optimal efficacy and avoid adverse side effects. We describe an ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC/MS/MS) method developed for the monitoring of four frequently prescribed antiepileptic drugs – lamotrigine, levetiracetam, oxcarbazepine and topiramate. The main pharmacologically active metabolite of oxcarbazepine (mono‐hydroxy‐derivative metabolite, MHD) was also quantified. After addition of internal standards and a simple stage of protein precipitation, plasmatic samples were analyzed on a C₁₈ column. All antiepileptic drugs were separated and quantified in 6 min, without interference. A good linearity was observed all over the calibration range (r² > 0.99), up to 20 μg/mL (40 μg/mL for MHD). The limit of quantification was 0.20 μg/mL (0.40 μg/mL for MHD) with precision and accuracy ranging from 1.0 to 2.1% and from 96.7 to 110.8%, respectively. Intra‐ and inter‐day precision and accuracy values were within 15%. No significant matrix effect was observed for all analytes. Clinical application was successfully evaluated in 259 samples from patients treated for epilepsy or bipolar disorders. In conclusion, a rapid, specific and sensitive UHPLC/MS/MS method was developed and validated for simultaneous quantification of antiepileptic drugs, suitable for therapeutic drug monitoring in neurology and psychiatry.     

A chiral liquid chromatography method for the simultaneous determination of oxcarbazepine, eslicarbazepine, R-licarbazepine and other new chemical derivatives BIA 2-024, BIA 2-059 and BIA 2-265, in mouse plasma and brain

Recently, in silico models have been developed to predict drug pharmacokinetics. However, before application, they must be validated and, for that, information about structurally similar reference compounds is required. A chiral liquid chromatography method with ultraviolet detection (LC‐UV) was developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of BIA 2–024, BIA 2–059, BIA 2–265, oxcarbazepine, eslicarbazepine (S‐licarbazepine) and R‐licarbazepine in mouse plasma and brain. Compounds were extracted by a selective solid‐phase extraction procedure and their chromatographic separation was achieved on a LiChroCART 250–4 ChiraDex column using a mobile phase of water–methanol (92:8, v/v) pumped at 0.7 mL/min. The UV detector was set at 235 nm. Calibration curves were linear (r² ≥ 0.996) over the concentration ranges of 0.2–30 µg/mL for oxcarbazepine, eslicarbazepine and R‐licarbazepine; 0.2–60 µg/mL for the remaining compounds in plasma; and 0.06–15 µg/mL for all the analytes in brain homogenate. Taking into account all analytes at these concentration ranges in both matrices, the overall precision did not exceed 9.09%, and the accuracy was within ±14.3%. This LC‐UV method is suitable for carrying out pharmacokinetic studies with these compounds in mouse in order to obtain a better picture of their metabolic pathways and biodistribution. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development and validation of an HPLC-UV method for the simultaneous quantification of carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, eslicarbazepine acetate and their main metabolites in human plasma

For the first time, a simple, selective and accurate high-performance liquid chromatography method with ultraviolet detection was developed and validated to quantify simultaneously three structurally related antiepileptic drugs; carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, and the recently launched eslicarbazepine acetate and their main metabolites, carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide, 10,11-trans-dihydroxy-10,11-dihydro-carbamazepine, and licarbazepine. The method involves a solid-phase extraction and a reverse-phase C18 column with 5 cm length. The mobile phase consisting of water, methanol, and acetonitrile in the ratio 64:30:6 was selected as the best one and pumped at 1 mL/min at 40 °C. The use of this recent column and an aqueous mobile phase instead of buffers gives several advantages over the method herein developed; namely the fact that the chromatographic analysis takes only 9 min. The method was validated according to the guidelines of the Food and Drug Administration, showing to be accurate (bias within ±12%), precise (coefficient variation <9%), selective and linear (r ² > 0.997) over the concentration range of 0.05–30 μg/mL for carbamazepine; 0.05–20 μg/mL for oxcarbazepine; 0.15–4 μg/mL for eslicarbazepine acetate; 0.1–30 μg/mL for carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide; 0.1–10 μg/mL for 10,11-trans-dihydroxy-10,11-dihydro-carbamazepine, and 0.1–60 μg/mL for licarbazepine. It was also shown that this method can adequately be used for the therapeutic drug monitoring of the considered antiepileptic drugs, carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, eslicarazepine acetate, and their metabolites.     

Simultaneous determination of ten antiepileptic drugs in human plasma by liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry with positive/negative ion‐switching electrospray ionization and its application in therapeutic drug monitoring

A simple, rapid, and high‐throughput liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous quantitation of ten antiepileptic drugs in human plasma has been developed and validated. The method required only 10 μL of plasma. After simple protein precipitation using acetonitrile, the analytes and internal standard diphenhydramine were separated on a Zorbax SB‐C₁₈ column (50 × 4.6 mm, 2.7 μm) using acetonitrile/water as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.9 mL/min. The total run time was 6 min for each sample. The validation results of specificity, matrix effects, recovery, linearity, precision, and accuracy were satisfactory. The lower limit of quantification was 0.04 μg/mL for carbamazepine, 0.02 μg/mL for lamotrigine, 0.01 μg/mL for oxcarbazepine, 0.4 μg/mL for 10‐hydroxycarbazepine, 0.1 μg/mL for carbamazepine‐10,11‐epoxide, 0.15 μg/mL for levetiracetam, 0.06 μg/mL for phenytoin, 0.3 μg/mL for valproic acid, 0.03 μg/mL for topiramate, and 0.15 μg/mL for phenobarbital. The intraday precision and interday precision were less than 7.6%, with the accuracy ranging between –8.1 and 7.9%. The method was successfully applied to therapeutic drug monitoring of 1237 patients with epilepsy after administration of standard antiepileptic drugs. The method has been proved to meet the high‐throughput requirements in therapeutic drug monitoring.     

An HPLC‐UV method for determining plasma dimethylacetamide concentrations in patients receiving intravenous busulfan

Dimethylacetamide (DMA) is a solvent used in the preparation of intravenous busulfan, an alkylating agent used in blood or marrow transplantation. DMA may contribute to hepatic toxicity, so it is important to monitor its clearance. The aim of this study was to develop an HPLC‐UV assay for measurement of DMA in human plasma. After precipitation of plasma proteins with acetonitrile followed by dilution (1:4) with water, the extract was injected onto the HPLC and detected at 195 nm. Separation was performed using a Cogent‐HPS 5 μm C₁₈ column (250 × 4.6 mm) preceded by a Brownlee 7 μm RP₁₈, pre‐column (1.5 cm × 3.2 mm). The mobile phase was 25 mm sodium phosphate buffer (pH 3), containing 2.5% (v /v) acetonitrile and 0.0005% (v /v) sodium‐octyl‐sulfonate. Using a flow rate of 1 mL/min, the retention times of DMA and the internal standard (IS), 2‐chloroacetamide, were 9.5 and 3.5 min, respectively. Peak area ratio (DMA:IS) was a linear function of concentration from 1 to 1000 μg/mL. There was excellent intraday precision (<5% for 5–700 μg/mL DMA), accuracy (<3% deviation from the true concentration) and recovery (74–98%). The limits of detection and quantification were 1 and 5 μg/mL, respectively. In eight children who received intravenous busulfan, DMA concentrations ranged from 110 to 438 μg/mL.     

Chromatographic method for clobetasol propionate determination in hair follicles and in different skin layers

Clobetasol propionate (CLO) is a potent steroid used for the treatment of several dermatological diseases. Recent studies suggest its additional use in alopecia topical treatment, generating a demand for novel formulations with specific delivery into hair follicles. Hence, a selective analytical method for drug quantification in follicular structures and skin layers is required. For this, a simple HPLC‐UV method was developed. Quantification was performed using a RP‐C₁₈ column (4.6 mm × 15 cm, 5 μm), with a mixture of methanol–acetonitrile–water (50:15:35 v /v) as mobile phase, a flow rate of 1.2 mL/min, oven temperature of 30°C, injection volume of 50 μL and detection at 240 nm. The optimized conditions enabled a 12 min running with CLO elution at 10.1 min and resolution of 2.424 from skin matrix interferences. Validation was performed in accordance with International Conference on Harmonization guidelines and fulfilled the criteria of selectivity, linearity (0.5–15.0 μg/mL), robustness, precision, accuracy and limits of detection and quantification (0.02 and 0.07 μg/mL, respectively). The validated method was successfully applied for CLO quantification following in vitro skin permeation experiments and differential tape‐stripping for hair follicle deposition determination, demonstrating its suitability.     

Simultaneous UPLC‐MS/MS determination of antiepileptic agents for dose adjustment

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of anti‐epileptic drugs (AED) is a routine application. Carbamazepine (CRB) is monitored as the parent drug while oxcarbazepine (OXC) and eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) are monitored as their active metabolite (eslicarbazepine; MHD). We have developed a UPLC‐MS/MS method for determining CRB, OXC, ESL and MHD in plasma or serum with a simplified extraction protocol. The developed method detects sildenafil (SLD), which clinically interferes with AED and is likely to be co‐administered in epileptic patients suffering from sexual insufficiency (60%). MHD was prepared in‐house. AED were simultaneously determined in presence of SLD using gatifloxacin as an internal standard (IS). Separation was achieved using acetonitrile, methanol and 100 mm ammonium acetate in water (32:3:65, v /v/v) on an Intersil^®RP‐HPLC column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm). A one‐step extraction was performed by simultaneous protein and phospholipids precipitation. Detection was done by tandem mass spectrometry. No relative matrix effect was observed. The method was linear (0.5–40 μg/mL for CRB, ESL and MHD and 0.05–4 μg/mL for OXC), accurate and selective. Recoveries were 64.41 ± 5.07, 45.62 ± 1.73, 61.41 ± 4.77 and 60.33 ± 1.36 for CRB, OXC, ESL and MHD, respectively. The method was successfully applied for TDM of AED.     

Simultaneous Determination of Ceftriaxone Sodium and Non Steroidal Anti‐Inflammatory Drugs in Pharmaceutical Formulations and Human Serum by RP‐HPLC

An accurate, sensitive and least time consuming reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic (RP‐HPLC) method for the estimation of ceftriaxone in the presence of non steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs in formulation and human serum has been developed and validated. Chromatographic separation was conducted on prepacked Purospher Star, C18 (5 μm, 250 × 4.6 mm) column at room temperature using methanol:water:acetonitrile (80:15:5 v/v/v) as a mobile phase, pH adjusted at 2.8 with ortho‐phosphoric acid and at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/minute, while UV detection was performed at 270 nm. The results obtained showed a good agreement with the declared content. The method shows good linearity in the range of 2.5‐25 μg/mL ceftriaxone serum concentrations with a correlation coefficient 0.999 (inter‐ and intra‐day RSD < 2.0%). The limit of detection and quantification for ceftriaxone and NSAID's in pharmaceutical formulation and serum were in the range 0.51‐1.54 μg/mL. Analytical recovery was >98.1%. The proposed method may be used for the quantitative analysis of commonly administered non steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs i.e. tiaprofenic acid, naproxen sodium, flurbiprofen, diclofenac acid and mefenamic acid alone or in combination with ceftriaxone from raw materials, dosage formulations and in serum. The established HPLC method is rapid, accurate and selective, because of its sensitivity and reproducibility.     

Enantioselective HPLC-UV method for determination of eslicarbazepine acetate (BIA 2-093) and its metabolites in human plasma

Eslicarbazepine acetate (BIA 2-093) is a novel central nervous system drug undergoing clinical phase III trials for epilepsy and phase II trials for bipolar disorder. A simple and reliable chiral reversed-phase HPLC-UV method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of eslicarbazepine acetate, oxcarbazepine, S-licarbazepine and R-licarbazepine in human plasma. The analytes and internal standard were extracted from plasma by a solid-phase extraction using Waters Oasis HLB cartridges. Chromatographic separation was achieved by isocratic elution with water-methanol (88:12, v/v), at a flow rate of 0.7 mL/min, on a LichroCART 250-4 ChiraDex (beta-cyclodextrin, 5 microm) column at 30 degrees C. All compounds were detected at 225 nm. Calibration curves were linear over the range 0.4-8 microg/mL for eslicarbazepine acetate and oxcarbazepine, and 0.4-80 microg/mL for each licarbazepine enantiomer. The overall intra- and interday precision and accuracy did not exceed 15%. Mean relative recoveries varied from 94.00 to 102.23% and the limit of quantification of the assay was 0.4 microg/mL for all compounds. This method seems to be a useful tool for clinical research and therapeutic drug monitoring of eslicarbazepine acetate and its metabolites S-licarbazepine, R-licarbazepine and oxcarbazepine.     

Quantitative determination of regorafenib and its two major metabolites in human plasma with high‐performance liquid chromatography and ultraviolet detection

A simple, highly sensitive and specific high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for the simultaneous quantitation of regorafenib, N‐oxidemetabolite (M‐2) and the desmethyl N‐oxide metabolite (M‐5) in human plasma. Regorafenib, M‐2, M‐5 and the internal standard sorafenib were separated using a mobile phase of 0.5% KH₂PO₄ (pH 3.5)–acetonitrile (30:70, v/v), on a Capcell PAK MG II column at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min and measurement at UV 260 nm. The lower limits of quantification for regorafenib, M‐2 and M‐5 were 10 ng/mL for each analyte. A procedure using solid‐phase extraction required only a small amount of plasma (100 μL) for one analysis while providing high extraction recovery (>81% for all compounds) and good selectivity. Coefficients of variation for intra‐ and inter‐day assays were <12.2% for regorafenib, <12.3% for M‐2 and <15.1% for M‐5. Accuracies for intra‐ and inter‐day assays were <9.4% for regorafenib, <8.0% for M‐2 and <12.8% for M‐5 over a linear range from 10 to 10,000 ng/mL. This HPLC assay is suitable for clinical pharmacokinetic studies of regorafenib. The present HPLC method is currently in use for our observational studies of patients under treatment. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A chiral HPLC-UV method for the quantification of dibenz[b,f]azepine-5-carboxamide derivatives in mouse plasma and brain tissue: eslicarbazepine acetate, carbamazepine and main metabolites

For the first time, a selective and sensitive chiral HPLC-UV method was developed and fully validated for the simultaneous quantification of eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL), carbamazepine (CBZ), S-licarbazepine (S-Lic), R-licarbazepine (R-Lic), oxcarbazepine (OXC) and carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide (CBZ-E), in mouse plasma and brain homogenate supernatant. After the addition of chloramphenicol as the internal standard, samples were processed using an SPE procedure. The chiral chromatographic analysis was carried out on a LiChroCART 250-4 ChiraDex column, employing a mobile phase of water and methanol (88:12, v/v) pumped at 0.9 mL/min and the UV detector set at 235 nm. The assay was linear (r(2) ≥0.995) for ESL, CBZ, OXC, S-Lic, R-Lic and CBZ-E in the range of, respectively, 0.2-4, 0.4-30, 0.1-60, 0.2-60, 0.2-60 and 0.2-30 μg/mL, in plasma, and of 0.06-1.5 μg/mL for ESL, 0.12-15 μg/mL for CBZ and CBZ-E and 0.06-15 μg/mL for OXC and both licarbazepine (Lic) enantiomers in brain homogenate supernatant. The overall precision was within 8.71% and accuracy ranged from -7.55 to 8.97%. The recoveries of all the compounds were over 92.1%. Afterwards, the application of the method was demonstrated using real plasma and brain samples obtained from mice administered simultaneously with ESL and CBZ.     

Analysis of retinol, α‐tocopherol, 25‐hydroxyvitamin D2 and 25‐hydroxyvitamin D3 in plasma of patients with cardiovascular disease by HPLC–MS/MS method

Fat‐soluble vitamins play a pivotal role in the progression of atherosclerosis and the development of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, plasma monitoring of their concentrations may be useful in the diagnosis of these disorders as well as in the process of treatment. The study aimed to develop and validate an HPLC–MS/MS method for determination of retinol, α‐tocopherol, 25‐hydroxyvitamin D2 and 25‐hydroxyvitamin D3 in plasma of patients with cardiovascular disease. The analytes were separated on an HPLC Kinetex F5 column via gradient elution with water and methanol, both containing 0.1% (v/v) formic acid. Detection of the analytes was performed on a triple‐quadrupole MS with multiple reaction monitoring via electrospray ionization. The analytes were isolated from plasma samples with liquid–liquid extraction using hexane. Linearity of the analyte calibration curves was confirmed in the ranges 0.02–2 μg/mL for retinol, 0.5–20 μg/mL for α‐tocopherol, 5–100 ng/mL for 25‐hydroxyvitamin D2 and 2–100 ng/mL for 25‐hydroxyvitamin D3. Intra‐ and inter‐assay precision and accuracy of the method were satisfactory. Short‐ and long‐term stabilities of the analytes were determined. The HPLC‐MS/MS method was applied for the determination of the above fat‐soluble vitamin concentrations in patient plasma as potential markers of the cardiovascular disease progression.     

Development of a method for quantitative determination of the cytotoxic agent piplartine (piperlongumine) in multiple skin layers

This study reports the development of a simple and reproducible method, with high rates of recovery, to extract the cytotoxic agent piplartine from skin layers, and a sensitive and rapid UV‐HPLC method for its quantification. Considering the potential of piplartine for topical treatment of skin cancer, this method may find application for formulation development and pharmacokinetics studies to assess cutaneous bioavailability. Porcine skin was employed as a model for human tissue. Piplartine was extracted from the stratum corneum (SC) and remaining viable skin layers (VS) using methanol, vortex homogenization and bath sonication, and subsequently assayed by HPLC using a C₁₈ column, and 1:1 (v/v) acetonitrile–water (adjusted to pH 4.0 with acetic acid 0.1%) as mobile phase. The quantification limit of piplartine was 0.2 μg/mL (0.6 μm ), and the assay was linear up to 5 μg/mL (15.8 μm ), with within‐day and between‐days assay coefficients of variation and relative errors <15%. Piplartine recovery from SC and VS varied from 86 to 96%. The method was suitable to assay samples from skin penetration studies, enabling detection of differences in cutaneous delivery in different skin compartments resulting from treatment with various formulations and time periods.     

A sensitive column-switching HPLC method for aripiprazole and dehydroaripiprazole and its application to human pharmacokinetic studies

A simple and sensitive column‐switching HPLC‐UV method was developed for the simultaneous determination of aripiprazole, a novel atypical antipsychotic drug, and its active metabolite, dehydroaripiprazole in human plasma. Aripiprazole, its active metabolite and 7‐[5‐[4‐(3‐chloro‐2‐methylphenyl)‐1‐piperazinyl]pentyloxy]‐3,4‐dihydro‐2(1H)‐quinolinone (OPC‐14558) as an internal standard were extracted from 1 mL of plasma using a mixture of chloroform/n‐heptane (3:7, v/v), and the extract was injected into a column I (TSK BSA‐ODS/S precolumn, 5 μm) for cleanup and column II (C₁₈ STR ODS‐II analytical column, 5 μm) for separation. Peaks were detected with an UV detector set at a wavelength of 254 nm, and the total time for chromatographic separation was ～20 min. Mean absolute recoveries were 74.0 and 74.7% for aripiprazole and dehydroaripiprazole, respectively. Intra‐ and inter‐day CVs were less than 7.5 and 7.1% for aripiprazole concentrations ranging from 2 to 600 ng/mL, and 9.2 and 4.5% for dehydroaripiprazole concentrations ranging from 2 to 160 ng/mL. The validated concentration ranges for this method were 1–500 ng/mL and the limits of detection were 0.5 ng/mL for both aripiprazole and dehydroaripiprazole. This method was applied to pharmacokinetic study in human volunteers and patients taking aripiprazole.     

Development and validation of a HPLC method for determination of levonorgestrel and quinestrol in rat plasma

Levonorgestrel and quinestrol, commonly known as EP‐1, has long been used in the control of wild rodents. Up to the present time, however, no method for simultaneous quantification of levonorgestrel and quinestrol in rat plasma has been reported. In the present study, a sensitive reverse‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (RP‐HPLC‐UV) method for quantification of levonorgestrel and quinestrol in rat plasma has been developed. It uses a Kromasil ODS C₁₈ column and acetonitrile‐0.1% formic acid (85 : 15, v/v) mobile phase at ambient temperature. The plasma sample was prepared by hexane–isoamyl alcohol extraction (90 : 10, v/v). The flow rate and detection wavelength were 1.0 mL/min and 230 nm. The correlation coefficients were greater than 0.9995 within 0.08–50 μg/mL for levonorgestrel and 0.12–50 μg/mL for quinestrol, and the limits of detection were 0.02 and 0.05 μg/mL for levonorgestrel and quinestrol, respectively. Average recovery ranged from 92.5 to 96.3% and inter‐day RSDs were less than 7.56%. This method can be applied to the further pharmacokinetic study of levonorgestrel and quinestrol in rat plasma. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantification of 1‐(propan‐2‐ylamino)‐4‐propoxy‐9H‐thioxanthen‐9‐one (TX5), a newly synthetized P‐glycoprotein inducer/activator,in biological samples: method development and validation

A simple, rapid and economical method was developed and validated for the analysis and quantification of 1‐(propan‐2‐ylamino)‐4‐propoxy‐9H ‐thioxanthen‐9‐one (TX5), a P‐glycoprotein inducer/activator, in biological samples, using reverse‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A C₁₈ column and a mobile phase composed of methanol–water (90/10, v /v) with 1% (v/v) triethylamine, at a flow rate of 1 mL/min, were used for chromatographic separation. TX5 standards (0.5–150 μm ) were prepared in human serum. Methanol was used for TX5 extraction and serum protein precipitation. After filtration, samples were injected into the HPLC apparatus and TX5 was quantified by a conventional UV detector at 255 nm. The TX5 retention time was 13 min in this isocratic system. The method was validated according to ICH guidelines for specificity/selectivity, linearity, accuracy, precision, limits of detection and quantification (LOD and LOQ) and recovery. The method was proved to be selective, as there were no interferences of endogenous compounds with the same retention time of TX5. Also, the developed method was linear (r ² ≥ 0.99) for TX5 concentrations between 0.5 and 150 μm and the LOD and LOQ were 0.08 and 0.23 μm , respectively. The results indicated that the reported method could meet the requirements for TX5 analysis in the trace amounts expected to be present in biological samples.     

Simple HPLC‐UV for the quantification of a new leishmanicidal candidate (E)‐1‐4(trifluoromethyl) benzylidene)‐5‐(2‐4‐dichlorozoyl) carbonylhydrazine (LASSBio‐1736) in rat plasma for pharmacokinetics assessment

In this study, a sensitive HPLC‐UV assay was developed and validated for the determination of LASSBio‐1736 in rat plasma with sodium diclofenac as internal standard (IS). Liquid–liquid extraction using acetonitrile was employed to extract LASSBio‐1736 and IS from 100 μL of plasma previously basified with NaOH 0.1 M. Chromatographic separation was carried on Waters Spherisorb^®S5 ODS2 C₁₈ column (150 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) using an isocratic mobile phase composed by water with triethylamine 0.3% (pH 4), methanol and acetonitrile grade (45:15:40, v/v/v) at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. Both LASSBio‐1736 and IS were eluted at 4.2 and 5 min, respectively, with a total run time of 8 min only. The lower limit of quantification was 0.2 μg/mL and linearity between 0.2 and 4 μg/mL was obtained, with an R² > 0.99. The accuracy of the method was >90.5%. The relative standard deviations intra and interday were <6.19 and <7.83%, respectively. The method showed the sensitivity, linearity, precision, accuracy and selectivity required to quantify LASSBio‐1736 in preclinical pharmacokinetic studies according to the criteria established by the US Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of asymmetric and symmetric dimethylarginines in human plasma by HPLC with electrochemical detection

A new HPLC method was developed and validated for the determination of asymmetric and symmetric dimethylarginines and l ‐arginine in human plasma. After SPE and evaporation of the eluate, the samples were derivatised with an o‐phthaldialdehyde reagent containing 3‐mercaptopropionic acid. The derivatives formed were analysed by isocratic RP‐HPLC with electrochemical detection at +320 mV. The mobile phase consisted of 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH 6.1) containing 10% v/v acetonitrile, the flow rate was 1 mL/min. The retention times of all compounds including monomethylarginine (internal standard) were <24 min. The LODs (S/N 3:1) were 0.012 μM for both dimethylarginines and 0.013 μM for l ‐arginine; the linearity of the method was from 0.1 to 20 μM for both dimethylarginines and from 1 to 200 μM for l ‐arginine. Absolute extraction recoveries measured for all analytes ranged from 85 to 88%.     

High‐performance liquid chromatographic analysis: applications to nutraceutical content and urinary disposition of oxyresveratrol in rats

A high‐performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for the analysis of the stilbene, oxyresveratrol. This method involves the use of a Luna® C₁₈ column with ultraviolet detection at 320 nm. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile, water and formic acid (30 : 70 : 0.04 v/v) with a flow rate of 0.6 mL/min. The calibration curves were linear over the range of 0.5–100.0 μg/mL. The mean extraction efficiency was between 98.9 and 109%. The precision of the assay was 0.069–18.4% (RSD%), and within 20% at the limit of quantitation (0.5 μg/mL). The bias of the assay was <15% and within 15% at the limit of quantitation. This assay was successfully applied to pre‐clinical pharmacokinetic samples from rat urine and to nutraceutical product analysis. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development and validation of a reversed‐phase HPLC method for CYP1A2 phenotyping by use of a caffeine metabolite ratio in saliva

CYP1A2 is important for metabolizing various clinically used drugs. Phenotyping of CYP1A2 may prove helpful for drug individualization therapy. Several HPLC methods have been developed for quantification of caffeine metabolites in plasma and urine. Aim of the present study was to develop a valid and simple HPLC method for evaluating CYP1A2 activity during exposure in xenobiotics by the use of human saliva. Caffeine and paraxanthine were isolated from saliva by liquid‐liquid extraction (chlorophorm/isopropanol 85/15v/v). Extracts were analyzed by reversed‐phase HPLC on a C₁₈ column with mobile phase 0.1% acetic acid/methanol/acetonitrile (80/20/2 v/v) and detected at 273nm. Caffeine and paraxanthine elution times were <13min with no interferences from impurities or caffeine metabolites. Detector response was linear (0.10–8.00µg/ml, R²>0.99), recovery was >93% and bias <4.47%. Intra‐ and inter‐day precision was <5.14% (n=6). The limit of quantitation was 0.10µg/ml and the limit of detection was 0.018±0.002µg/mL for paraxanthine and 0.032±0.002µg/ml for caffeine. Paraxanthine/caffeine ratio of 34 healthy volunteers was significantly higher in smokers (p<0.001). Saliva paraxanthine/caffeine ratios and urine metabolite ratios were highly correlated (r=0.85, p<0.001). The method can be used for the monitoring of CYP1A2 activity in clinical practice and in studies relevant to exposure to environmental and pharmacological xenobiotics. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.