Sensitivity enhancement of capillary electrophoresis-frontal analysis-based method for characterization of drug-protein interactions using on-line sample preconcentration

Capillary electrophoresis-frontal analysis is one of the most frequently used approaches for the study of plasma protein-drug interactions as a substantial part of new drug development. However, the capillary electrophoresis-frontal analysis typically combined with ultraviolet-visible detection suffers from insufficient concentration sensitivity, particularly for substances with limited solubility and low molar absorption coefficient. The sensitivity problem has been solved in this work by its combination with an on-line sample preconcentration. According to the knowledge of the authors this combination has never been used to characterize plasma protein-drug binding. It resulted in a fully automated and versatile methodology for the characterization of binding interactions. Further, the validated method minimalizes the experimental errors due to a reduction in the manipulation of samples. Moreover, employing an on-line preconcentration strategy with capillary electrophoresis-frontal analysis using human serum albumin-salicylic acid as a model system improves the drug concentration sensitivity 17-fold compared to the conventional method. The value of binding constant (1.51 ± 0.63) · 10⁴ L/mol obtained by this new capillary electrophoresis-frontal analysis modification is in agreement with the value (1.13 ± 0.28) ·10⁴ L/mol estimated by a conventional variant of capillary electrophoresis-frontal analysis without the preconcentration step, as well as with literature data obtained using different techniques.     

Highly sensitive capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry for rapid screening and accurate quantitation of drugs of abuse in urine

The combination of capillary electrophoresis (CE) and mass spectrometry (MS) is particularly well adapted to bioanalysis due to its high separation efficiency, selectivity, and sensitivity; its short analytical time; and its low solvent and sample consumption. For clinical and forensic toxicology, a two-step analysis is usually performed: first, a screening step for compound identification, and second, confirmation and/or accurate quantitation in cases of presumed positive results. In this study, a fast and sensitive CE-MS workflow was developed for the screening and quantitation of drugs of abuse in urine samples. A CE with a time-of-flight MS (CE-TOF/MS) screening method was developed using a simple urine dilution and on-line sample preconcentration with pH-mediated stacking. The sample stacking allowed for a high loading capacity (20.5% of the capillary length), leading to limits of detection as low as 2 ng mL⁻¹ for drugs of abuse. Compound quantitation of positive samples was performed by CE-MS/MS with a triple quadrupole MS equipped with an adapted triple-tube sprayer and an electrospray ionization (ESI) source. The CE-ESI-MS/MS method was validated for two model compounds, cocaine (COC) and methadone (MTD), according to the Guidance of the Food and Drug Administration. The quantitative performance was evaluated for selectivity, response function, the lower limit of quantitation, trueness, precision, and accuracy. COC and MTD detection in urine samples was determined to be accurate over the range of 10–1000 ng mL⁻¹ and 21–1000 ng mL⁻¹, respectively.     

Sensitive Determination of Lead by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry Improved with Branched Capillary as Hydride Generator and Without Phase Separation

The sensitivity of traditional flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) is low for the determination of lead. Therefore, a simple branched capillary was used for hydride generation with air-acetylene FAAS determination of lead in geochemical samples and paint. Using a Y-shaped connector, the sampling capillary of a traditional FAAS instrument was branched, with one branch for introducing the reductant solution, KBH₄, and the other for the sample solution, Pb⁴⁺. The KBH₄ solution and the Pb⁴⁺ solution were then merged and mixed inside the reaction capillary and thereafter inside the nebulizer for generating the lead hydride, which, together with the liquid fine droplets, was directly brought into the air-acetylene flame for atomization without gas/liquid separation. The experimental conditions were optimized for best signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). A calibration curve was obtained with a linear dynamic range of up to 1.0 mg L⁻¹ and a correlation coefficient of 0.9997. The limit of detection (LOD) for lead was found to be 0.004 mg L⁻¹, 10 times better than that of traditional FAAS and slightly better than or equivalent to that of the sophisticated inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The improvement in sensitivity and the LOD for lead largely owe to the altered atomization mechanism via hydride generation. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of lead in Geochemical Standard Deposit (GSD) samples and paint samples.     

Method for Screening and Quantification of Seven Phenothiazines in Whole Blood Samples by Non-Aqueous Capillary Electrophoresis

Seven phenothiazine derivatives (PHE) group were studied using non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE). The screening and quantification method for these drugs in blood was presented. Then the optimal medium for dissolution of the examined blood extracts was tested for. The precision of identification and quantification parameters comprised the ranges from 0.29 to 1.38 and from 1.21 to 9.15 % RSD, correspondingly. The detection limits were 0.08 for promazine and 0.15 g mL^–1 for the rest of drugs tested. The correlation coefficient of the method linearity was studied over the concentration range of 0.25–4.00 g mL^–1 and was higher than 0.996. Finally the proposed method was applied to two forensic blood samples and concentrations of the examined phenothiazines determined by HPLC and NACE methods were found to be comparable.     

Determination of aromatic amines in food products and composite food packaging bags by capillary electrophoresis coupled with transient isotachophoretic stacking

A capillary electrophoretic method was explored to assay aromatic amines in food samples. With an inline-coupled transient isotachophoretic stacking approach, the method has yielded about 200-fold improvement of sensitivity in UV detection of three primary aromatic amines and melamine. By using K⁺ as a leading ion and Tris⁺ as a terminating ion, a plug of 10 cm (equivalent to 0.44 μL) sample solution was allowed to introduce into a 60 cm (50 cm effective) capillary for separation, giving limits of detection down to 2.0 × 10⁻⁸ M. Baseline separation was achieved within 10 min, with relative standard deviation of 0.41–0.75% (intra-day) or 1.2–1.5% (inter-day) for migration time and 3.8–4.3% (intra-day) or 5.2–6.7% (inter-day) for peak area. The method was directly applicable to assaying the melamine in powder milk samples, with recovery in between 92.0% and 107.1%. The method could also be applied to the analysis of trace primary aromatic amines migrating from composite food packaging bags after combination of a 10-fold off-line concentration step, with limit of detection down to less than 1 μg/L. By this method, 4,4′-diaminophenylmethane and 2,4-diaminotoluene were thus found in three types of composite food packaging bags.     

Development and validation of a capillary electrophoretic method for the determination of amiodarone and desethylamiodarone

Summary A simple, sensitive and rapid capillary electrophoretic method has been developed for the separation and quantification of amiodarone and its metabolite, desethylamiodarone. The compounds were separated in a capillary of 45 cm effective length and 75 μm i.d., by use of an applied voltage of 25 kV and an electrolyte containing 15mm ADA buffer (pH 7.5), 10mm SDS, and 70% (v/v) acetonitrile. The selectivity, precision, linearity, range, sensitivity, and robustness of the method were good. The applicability of the assay was demonstrated by analyzing these drugs in serum. Electrokinetic injection with field-amplified sample-stacking was used to increase sensitivity. The limit of detection of the serum assay was 6.46 ng mL⁻¹ and the precision 3.7%.     

A novel capillary microliter droplet sample injection-chemiluminescence detector and its application to the determination of benzoyl peroxide in wheat flour

A novel capillary microliter order droplet injection-chemiluminescence (CL) system is proposed. In this system, the liquid sample microdrops, automatically formed at the end of a capillary tip by the effect of the gravity and the gas pressure, repeatedly drop into the miniature reaction cell and reacts with CL reagent to generate CL signal. The phenomena of sample zone dilution and spreading are eliminated as the capillary is used as the sample channel and gas pressure is used as driving force without the liquid carrier stream. Therefore, a high sensitivity is obtained. To evaluate the applicability of the proposed method, a determination of benzoyl peroxide (BP) is examined. The system shows that the benzoyl peroxide is detected linearly in the concentration range from 5×10⁻¹⁰ to 1×10⁻⁶ g ml⁻¹. The detection limit (signal-to-noise ratio=3) is 1.4×10⁻¹⁰ g ml⁻¹ for benzoyl peroxide (mass concentration is 1.1 pg, i.e., 4.5 fmol), which is the best result reported so far. The relative standard deviation (n=11) is 1.5% for 2.0×10⁻⁸ g ml⁻¹ BP. The proposed detector for the detection of benzoyl peroxide offers the advantages of sensitivity, simplicity, rapidity, automation and miniaturization. The proposed method has been applied satisfactorily to the determination of benzoyl peroxide in wheat flour.     

Improved HPLC determination of fluoxetine and norfluoxetine in human plasma

Summary An HPLC method with fluorescence detection has been developed for the determination of fluoxetine and its main metabolite norfluoxetine in human plasma. Pretreatment of the biological samples by liquid-liquid extraction was used to improve the sensitivity of a previously published SPE procedure. The method uses 200 μL plasma and recovery is good for both analytes. On a C₈ column with a mixture of perchlorate buffer and acetonitrile as mobile phase fluoxetine, norfluoxetine and the internal standard (paroxetine) were eluted in less than 9 min, without interference from the biological matrix. Response for both analytes was linearly dependent on concentration over the range 2.5–500 ng mL⁻¹, and repeatability (RSD%) was <4%. The limit of detection was 1 ng mL⁻¹ for both fluoxetines. Application to plasma samples from depressed patients treated with fluoxetine gave good results. There was no interference from other common CNS drugs. This method seems to be a useful tool for clinical monitoring, because it requires small plasma samples and is highly sensitive and highly selective.     

Preparation and characterization of p-tert-butylcalix[8]arene bonded capillaries for open-tubular capillary electrochromatography

p-tert-Butylcalix[8]arene bonded capillaries for open-tubular capillary electrochromatography were prepared with γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane as a bridge. The bonded capillary displayed low and steady electroosmotic flow (EOF) values over the pH range from 4 to 9. Detection limits for direct spectrophotometric detection at 277 nm for benzenediols (at a signal to noise ratio of 2) were 0.96 mg l⁻¹ for the unbonded capillary and 1.48 mg l⁻¹ for the bonded capillary, showing that the bonded layer did not show significant absorbance and hence decreased sensitivity. The bonded capillaries showed good separation selectivity for o-, m- and p-benzenediols, α- and β-naphthols, and α- and β-naphthylamines. This selectivity was attributed to significant interactions between the analytes and the bonded p-tert-butylcalix[8]arene, which contributed to the electrochromatographic separation mechanism. The bonded capillaries gave high stability and reproducibility.     

Voltammetric determination of ciprofloxacin based on the enhancement effect of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) at carbon paste electrode

Herein, an electrochemical method was developed for the determination of ciprofloxacin based on the enhancement effect of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). In pH 7.0 phosphate buffer, a poorly-defined oxidation peak is observed at carbon paste electrode (CPE) for ciprofloxacin. However, the oxidation peak current remarkably increases in the presence of low concentration of CTAB, suggesting that CTAB exhibits obvious enhancement effect to the determination of ciprofloxacin. All the experimental parameters, such as supporting electrolyte, pH value, concentration of CTAB, and accumulation time, were optimized for ciprofloxacin analysis. This new method possesses high sensitivity (detection limit is 5.0 × 10⁻⁸ mol l⁻¹), wide linearity (1.0 × 10⁻⁷−2.0 × 10⁻⁵ mol l⁻¹), rapid response, low cost and simplicity. Finally, this method was successfully employed to detect ciprofloxacin in drugs. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

The investigation of electrospun polymer nanofibers as a solid-phase extraction sorbent for the determination of trazodone in human plasma

A novel micro-extraction procedure was developed through the use of an electrospun polymer nanofiber as a solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbent to directly extract trazodone from human plasma. The target compound was then monitored by a high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detector (HPLC-UV) system. Parameters of influencing the extraction efficiency, such as fiber diameter, fiber packing amount, eluted solvent, pH and ionic strength were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, a linear response for trazodone over the range of 20-2000 ng mL⁻¹ was achieved with a γ² value of 0.9996. The precision of the method was examined with relative standard deviations of 5.7, 2.7, 2.2% corresponding to 50, 200, and 500 ng mL⁻¹, respectively, of trazodone spiked into 0.1 mL of plasma samples. The extraction recoveries of 58.3-75.2% and the relative recoveries of 94.6-105.5% were obtained. The limit of detection (LOD) was determined to be 8 ng mL⁻¹. A 15 min of HPLC gradient was successfully applied to determine trazodone from human plasma. Due to its simplicity, selectivity and sensitivity, the method may be applied to pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies of drugs.     

Application of a low impedance contactless conductometric detector for the determination of inorganic cations in capillary monolithic column chromatography

Poly(glycidyl methacrylate) cation exchange monolithic column was prepared in fused-silica capillaries of 320 μm i.d. by thermally initiated radical polymerization and utilized in capillary ion chromatography. With 15 mM methanesulfonic acid as the mobile phase, the separations of a mixture of inorganic cations (Li⁺, Na⁺, NH₄⁺, K⁺) was tested by using a capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector (C⁴D) and a low impedance C⁴D (LIC⁴D). The LIC⁴D is the series combination of a C⁴D and a quartz crystal resonator. At the resonant frequency of the series combination, the capacitor impedance from capillary wall was offset by the inductance impedance from the quartz crystal resonator. A minimum impedance was obtained in the impedance-frequency curve of the combination. The responses of the C⁴D and LIC⁴D were analyzed based on an equivalent circuit model. It was shown that the sensitivity of the C⁴D to the change in analyte concentration is rather poor due to the high ratio of the impedance from the capillary wall capacitor to the solution impedance. The LIC⁴D has the similar sensitivity as a contact conductivity detector but a much smaller cell volume. The on-column detection model was realized by LiC⁴D without preparation of optical detection window in monolithic column.     

A multi-syringe flow injection system for the spectrophotometric determination of trace levels of iron in waters using a liquid waveguide capillary cell and different chelating resins and reaction chemistries

A method integrating a long waveguide capillary cell with a preconcentration resin in a multi-syringe flow injection analysis (MSFIA) system for iron determination in waters was developed. The determination of iron is based on a colorimetric reaction and two reagents were tested, ferrozine and ammonium thiocyanate. A liquid waveguide capillary cell (1.0 m pathlength, 550 µm i.d. and 250 µL internal volume) with a preconcentration resin were used to improve the sensitivity of the determination. Two different preconcentration resins were also tested, Chelex 100 and NTA Superflow. The developed method employing the NTA Superflow with ferrozine colorimetric reagent provided a detection limit of 0.05 µg L^− 1 with a linear response up to 8 µg L^− 1 and a sample throughput rate of 12 per hour. The developed system presents low reagents/sample consumptions. The accuracy was assessed using a certified reference water sample.     

Development and application of a capillary electrophoresis based method for the simultaneous screening of six antibiotics in spiked milk samples

An easy to use and low time consuming capillary electrophoresis (CE) method was developed and applied to the simultaneous determination of six antibiotics (ampicillin, amoxicillin, cloxacillin, penicillin, tetracycline and chloramphenicol) in spiked milk samples. Samples of milk were cleaned up by solid-phase extraction (with a C₁₈ cartridge) after protein precipitation. Analysis was performed by CE and results compared with the obtained via HPLC, both coupled to a UV-vis detector (210 nm). CE employed a 58.5 cm long fused-silica capillary (50 cm to detector), 75 μm i.d., a 2.7 × 10⁻² M KH₂PO₄, 4.3 × 10⁻² M Na₂B₄O₇ separation buffer, pH 8; an applied voltage of 18 kV; a hydrostatic injection of 0.5 psi during 3 s; and a run temperature of 25 °C. Under the described conditions, amoxicillin was not separated by HPLC, while CE was able to separate, and, therefore, allow detection. Regardless of amoxicillin, comparable results were obtained by HPLC and CE. The average recoveries of antibiotics, from milk fortified at 2.5 and 5 μg/mL, was over 72% with R.S.D.s within 5%. Recovery levels were essentially dictated by the used SPE cartridge.     

Suitability of automated capillary and micro liquid chromatography for routine determination of drugs in human plasma samples from clinical pharmacokinetic investigations

One of the most widely acclaimed features of capillary and microcolumn LC, in comparison with conventional HPLC, is the enormous increase in mass sensitivity. Nevertheless, application of capillary and micro LC in quantitative trace bioanalysis, characterized by weak analyte concentrations in complex matrices, can only be of any practical utility if large sample volumes can be injected onto the columns without affecting chromatographic resolution and efficiency. Two applications of large volume injection in a non-eluting solvent (on-column focusing) for the quantitative analysis of drugs in biological fluids on both capillary and micro chromatographic systems are presented: the first example deals with a new selective H₁-antihistaminic drug, mizolastine, the second one with a well known calcium antagonist, diltiazem, and its main metabolites. For both compounds, results obtained on micro and capillary LC in comparison with conventional HPLC are reported. The results demonstrate that when conventional HPLC methods are transformed into either micro or capillary LC techniques, they gain in sensitivity. By means of an on-column focusing technique, it is possible to increase the sensitivity 3–5 fold in comparison to conventional HPLC methods, but not 50–60 fold as obtained on synthetic drug solutions. Column robustness, handiness, reproducibility, and suitability of micro systems for routine bioanalysis are discussed for both capillary and micro LC columns, as well as limits of the technique in trace organic analysis problems.     

Loop-column technique: a new sample clean-up method for the determination of gallopamil from biological matrix

Summary A new sample clean-up method for the HPLC determination of gallopamil from biological matrix has been developed. In this method the loop capillary of the injection valve was replaced by a loop column filled with Nucleosil particles. This technique offers reduced extraction time (<1 min) and high sensitivity with a limit of detection as low as 0.1 ng/ml.     

HPLC Determination of Imidazoles with Variant Anti-Infective Activity in Their Dosage Forms and Human Plasma

A suitable HPLC method has been selected and validated for rapid simultaneous separation and determination of four imidazole anti-infective drugs, secnidazole, omeprazole, albendazole, and fenbendazole, in their final dosage forms, in addition to human plasma within 5 min. The method suitability was derived from the superiority of using the environmentally benign solvent, methanol over acetonitrile as a mobile phase component in respect of safety issues and migration times. Separation of the four anti-infective drugs was performed on a Thermo Scientific^® BDS Hypersil C₈ column (5 µm, 2.50 × 4.60 mm) using a mobile phase consist of MeOH: 0.025 M KH₂PO₄ (70:30, v/v) adjusted to pH 3.20 with ortho-phosphoric acid at room temperature. The flow rate was 1.00 mL/min and maximum absorption was measured with UV detector set at 300 nm. Limits of detection were reported to be 0.41, 0.13, 0.18, and 0.15 µg/mL for secnidazole, omeprazole, albendazole, and fenbendazole, respectively, showing a high degree of the method sensitivity. The method of analysis was validated according to Food and Drug Administration (FDA)guidelines for the determination of the drugs, either in their dosage forms with highly precise recoveries, or clinically in human plasma, especially regarding pharmacokinetic and bioequivalence studies.     

A novel stacking method of repetitive large volume sample injection and sweeping MEKC for determination of androgenic steroids in urine

In this research, a novel stacking capillary electrophoresis method, repetitive large volume sample injection and sweeping MEKC (rLVSI-sweeping MEKC) were developed to analyze the presence of three androgenic steroids considered as sport doping drugs, testosterone (T), epitestosterone (E) and epitestosterone glucuronide (EG) in urine. This method provides better sensitivity enhancement than the traditional large volume sample stacking-sweeping strategies due to sensitivity enhancement by repetitive injections. This multiple sampling method enhances sensitivity of monitoring of urine samples by UV detection (254 nm). Firstly, the phosphate buffer was filled into an uncoated fused silica capillary and the samples were injected into the capillary at 10 psi for 20 s, and then stacked at −10 kV for 1 min using phosphate buffer containing SDS. The above injecting and stacking steps were repeated five times. Finally, separation was performed at −20 kV, using phosphate buffer containing methanol, SDS and (2-hydroxypropyl)-β-cyclodextrin. Method validation showed that calibration plots were linear (r ≧ 0.997) over a range of 5-200 ng mL⁻¹ for T, 20-200 ng mL⁻¹ for E and 0.5-500 ng mL⁻¹ for EG. The limits of detection were 1.0 ng mL⁻¹ for T, 5.0 ng mL⁻¹ for E and 200.0 pg mL⁻¹ for EG. When evaluating precision and accuracy, values of RSD and RE in intra-day (n = 3) and inter-day (n = 5) analysis were found to be less than 10.0%. Compared with the simple LVSS-sweeping, which is also a stacking strategy, this method further improves sensitivity up to 25 folds (∼2500 folds with MEKC without preconcentration). This method was applied to monitor 10 athletes’ urine, and did not detect any analyte. The novel stacking method was feasible for monitoring of doping by sportsmen.     

Comparison of pyrolysis mass spectrometry with high performance liquid chromatography for the analysis of Cremophor EL in drugs and serum

Polyoxyethyleneglycerol triricinoleate 35 (Cremophor EL: CrEL) is a solubilization agent for hydrophobic drugs. Recently, CrEL has shown some side effects in patients. In the present work, we introduce pyrolysis-mass spectrometry (Py-MS) for the determination of CrEL in drugs and blood samples. Mass to charge (m/z) values of 89 and 138 of CrEL and 3-nitroaniline (as internal standard), respectively, were used for quantitative measurements by selected ion monitoring (SIM) method. At a probe pyrolysis temperature range of 350-450 °C the results are highly reproducible. Limit of detection (LOD), linearity and relative standard deviation (R.S.D., n=5) were determined to be 1 ng ml⁻¹, 10 ng ml⁻¹-100 mg ml⁻¹ and 1.3%, respectively. The results of Py-MS are compared with those obtained by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and show that time for analysis, sensitivity and linearity are far better.