Enantiomeric quality control of antihistamines in pharmaceuticals by affinity electrokinetic chromatography with human serum albumin as chiral selector

The present paper deals with the enantiomeric separation of six antihistaminic enantiomers by affinity electrokinetic chromatography (AEKC)-partial filling technique using human serum albumin (HSA) as chiral selector. A multivariate optimization approach of the most critical experimental variables in enantioresolution, running pH, HSA concentration and HSA plug length (SPL) was carried out since there are interactions between variables that could not be considered in an univariate optimization. The estimated and experimental resolution values obtained for antihistaminic enantiomers varied from 1.13 (for orphenadrine) to 2.15 (for brompheniramine). The optimum experimental conditions for enantioresolution of each compound were: brompheniramine, pH 8.5, [HSA] 180 μM, SPL 180 s; chlorcyclizine, pH 6.5, [HSA] 180 μM, SPL 150 s; chlorpheniramine, pH 8.25, [HSA] 160 μM, SPL 150 s; hydroxyzine, pH 7.0, [HSA] 180 μM, SPL 150 s; and orphenadrine, pH 7.8, [HSA] 160 μM, SPL 150 s. pH and the quadratic term of pH seem to be the most critical factors that determine enantioresolution of antihistamines. The validity of the developed methodologies to enantiomeric quality control of antihistamines in pharmaceutical formulations is demonstrated analyzing the content of brompheniramine, chlorpheniramine and hyroxyzine enantiomers in commercially available pharmaceutical formulations containing racemic mixtures of compounds. Resolution, accuracy, reproducibility, cost and sample throughput of the proposed methodologies make them suitable for quality control of the enantiomeric composition of antihistamines in pharmaceutical preparations.     

Enantioseparation of nuarimol by affinity electrokinetic chromatography-partial filling technique using human serum albumin as chiral selector

The present paper deals with the enantiomeric separation of nuarimol enantiomers by affinity EKC-partial filling technique using HSA as chiral selector. Firstly, a study of nuarimol interactions with HSA by CE-frontal analysis was performed. The binding parameters obtained for the first site of interaction were n(1) = 0.84; K(1) = 9.7 +/- 0.3x10(3 )M(-1) and the protein binding percentage of nuarimol at physiological concentration of HSA was 75.2 +/- 0.2%. Due to the moderate affinity of nuarimol towards HSA the possibility of using this protein as chiral selector for the separation of nuarimol using the partial filling technique was evaluated. A multivariate optimization approach of the most critical experimental variables in enantioresolution, running pH, HSA concentration and plug length was carried out. Separation of nuarimol enantiomers was obtained under the following selected conditions: electrophoretic buffer composed of 50 mM Tris at pH 7.3; 160 muM HSA solution applied at 50 mbar for 156 s as chiral selector; nuarimol solutions in the range of 2-8x10(-4) M injected hydrodynamically at 30 mbar for 2 s and the electrophoretic runs performed at 30 degrees C applying 15 kV voltage. Resolution, accuracy, reproducibility speed and cost of the proposed method make it suitable for quality control of the enantiomeric composition of nuarimol in formulations and for further toxicological studies. The results showed a different affinity between nuarimol enantiomers towards HSA.     

Multivariate optimization approach for chiral resolution of drugs using human serum albumin in affinity electrokinetic chromatography-partial filling technique

The enantiomeric resolution of chiral compounds using HSA by means of affinity EKC (AEKC)-partial filling technique is the result of a delicate balance between different experimental variables such as protein concentration, running pH (background electrophoretic buffer, protein and compound solutions) and protein solution plug length. In this paper multivariate optimization approaches for chiral separation of four basic drugs (alprenolol, oxprenolol, promethazine and propranolol) using HSA as chiral selector in AEKC-partial filling technique are studied. The experimental conditions to achieve maximum resolution are optimized using the Box-Behnken experimental design. Partial least squares and pareto charts are used to analyse the main effects on the resolution. The experimental resolutions observed for all compounds studied in optimum conditions agree with the estimated values based on response surface models. The results obtained show that the range of experimental conditions that provided enantioresolution narrows as hydrophobicity of analytes decreases. This fact can be explained by assuming that hydrophobicity controls the interaction of basic compounds with HSA.     

Fast enantiomeric separation of propranolol by affinity capillary electrophoresis using human serum albumin as chiral selector: application to quality control of pharmaceuticals

In the last years, capillary electrophoresis (CE) has gained considerable interest in pharmaceutical laboratories for controlling the chiral purity of drugs. This paper describes a simple and fast method for resolution of propranolol enantiomers by affinity capillary electrophoresis (ACE) using human serum albumin (HSA) as chiral selector. The effect of several experimental variables such as HSA concentration, temperature, chiral selector plug length and addition of organic modifiers, on the separation is evaluated. Complete enantioresolution of R- and S-propranolol was achieved in less than 5 min when the capillary was completely filled with 100 μM HSA solution and the electrophoresis was carried out with 67 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) at 20 kV and 35 °C. Peaks were assigned to each propranolol enantiomer according to their relative affinities to HSA. The proposed method was applied to the analysis of pharmaceutical preparations containing propranolol. Resolution, accuracy, reproducibility, cost and sample throughput of the proposed method make it suitable for quality control of the enantiomeric composition of propranolol in pharmaceuticals.     

Chiral separation of bupivacaine enantiomers by capillary electrophoresis partial-filling technique with human serum albumin as chiral selector

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a powerful technique for enantiomer separations due to its intrinsic high separation efficiencies, speed of analysis, low reagent consumption and small sample requirements. However, some chiral selectors present strong background UV absorption providing high detection limits. The present paper deals with the application of the partial-filling technique to the separation of bupivacaine enantiomers by capillary electrophoresis using human serum albumin (HSA) as chiral selector. In this procedure the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was used as a dinamic capillary coating in order to reduce the electro-osmotic flow and detect both bupivacaine enantiomers out of the chiral selector plug. Several experimental conditions such as CTAB concentration, pH, HSA concentration and plug length, background electrolyte concentration, temperature and voltage were studied. Under the selected conditions it is possible to detect the separated enantiomers out of the HSA plug in less than 4 min using 50 mM Tris pH 8 as background electrolyte with 50 microM CTAB, at 30 degrees C and using a separation voltage of 25 kV. The proposed methodology was then validated for analytical purposes and applied to the analysis of pharmaceutical preparations commercially available. The results obtained with the proposed methodology were in good agreement with those declared by the manufacturers. The simplicity, sample throughput, accuracy, reproducibility and low cost of the proposed method make it suitable for the control of the enantiomeric composition of bupivacaine in pharmaceuticals.     

Characterization of interaction kinetics between chiral solutes and human serum albumin by using high-performance affinity chromatography and peak profiling

Peak profiling and high-performance columns containing immobilized human serum albumin (HSA) were used to study the interaction kinetics of chiral solutes with this protein. This approach was tested using the phenytoin metabolites 5-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-5-phenylhydantoin (m-HPPH) and 5-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-5-phenylhydantoin (p-HPPH) as model analytes. HSA columns provided some resolution of the enantiomers for each phenytoin metabolite, which made it possible to simultaneously conduct kinetic studies on each chiral form. The dissociation rate constants for these interactions were determined by using both the single flow rate and multiple flow rate peak profiling methods. Corrections for non-specific interactions with the support were also considered. The final estimates obtained at pH 7.4 and 37°C for the dissociation rate constants of these interactions were 8.2-9.6 s(-1) for the two enantiomers of m-HPPH and 3.2-4.1 s(-1) for the enantiomers of p-HPPH. These rate constants agreed with previous values that have been reported for other drugs and solutes that have similar affinities and binding regions on HSA. The approach used in this report was not limited to phenytoin metabolites or HSA but could be applied to a variety of other chiral solutes and proteins. This method could also be adopted for use in the rapid screening of drug-protein interactions.     

Evaluation of alternatives to warfarin as probes for Sudlow site I of human serum albumin: characterization by high-performance affinity chromatography

Warfarin is often used as a site-specific probe for examining the binding of drugs and other solutes to Sudlow site I of human serum albumin (HSA). However, warfarin has strong binding to HSA and the two chiral forms of warfarin have slightly different binding affinities for this protein. Warfarin also undergoes a slow change in structure when present in common buffers used for binding studies. This report examined the use of four related, achiral compounds (i.e., coumarin, 7-hydroxycoumarin, 7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin, and 4-hydroxycoumarin) as possible alternative probes for Sudlow site I in drug binding studies. High-performance affinity chromatography and immobilized HSA columns were used to compare and evaluate the binding properties of these probe candidates. Binding for each of the tested probe candidates to HSA was found to give a good fit to a two-site model. The first group of sites had moderate-to-high affinities for the probe candidates with association equilibrium constants that ranged from 6.4 x 10(3)M(-1) (coumarin) to 5.5 x 10(4)M(-1) (4-hydroxycoumarin) at pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C. The second group of weaker, and probably non-specific, binding regions, had association equilibrium constants that ranged from 3.8 x 10(1)M(-1) (7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin) to 7.3 x 10(2)M(-1) (coumarin). Competition experiments based on zonal elution indicated that all of these probe candidates competed with warfarin at their high affinity regions. Warfarin also showed competition with coumarin, 7-hydroxycoumarin and 7-hydroxy-4-methycoumarin for their weak affinity sites but appeared to not bind and/or compete for all of the weak sites of 4-hydroxycoumarin. It was found from this group that 4-hydroxycoumarin was the best alternative to warfarin for examining the interactions of drugs at Sudlow site I on HSA. These results also provided information on how the major structural components of warfarin contribute to the binding of this drug at Sudlow site I.     

Enantioseparation and quality control of biperiden in pharmaceutical formulations by capillary electrophoresis

An original capillary electrophoretic method has been developed and applied for the enantioselective analysis of the antiparkinson drug biperiden in pharmaceutical formulations, using a modified cyclodextrin as the chiral selector. Baseline enantioseparation of the racemic compound was achieved in less than 7 min using an uncoated fused silica capillary (50 μm i.d. and 48.5, 40.0 cm, total and effective length, respectively), filled with a background electrolyte consisting of a 50 mM phosphate buffer at pH 3.5 supplemented with 3% (w/v) β-cyclodextrin sulphate and applying a voltage of 20 kV, reversed polarity. Samples were injected by pressure (50 mbar, 90 s) at the cathodic end of the capillary and detection wavelength was 195 nm (bandwidth: 10 nm). A simple and fast pre-treatment procedure allowed the complete extraction of the drug from commercial formulations (sustained release tablets and ampoules for injections) without any interference from the matrix. Good linearity was found in the 1–50 μg/mL concentration range; the limit of quantitation was 1 μg/mL and the limit of detection was 0.4 μg/mL. Precision and accuracy were good, with R.S.D. values always lower than 2.8% and a mean recovery value of 101.1%. The method was suitable for the quality control of biperiden in commercial formulations.     

Thermodynamics of porphyrin binding to human serum albumin using affinity capillary electrophoresis

Summary The interaction thermodynamics of heptacarboxylporphyrin (HCP) and protoporhyrin (PP) with human serum albumin (HSA) was studied by affinity capillary electrophoresis (ACE) over the temperature range of 25–50°C, where HCP and PP bound to HSAvia 1:1 molecular association. The binding equilibrium constants (pH 7.4, phosphate buffer) for the binding of HCP with HSA were found to decrease with an increase in temperature, whereas the binding constants of the PP/HSA system appeared to be independent of temperature changes over the range studied. The van’t Hoff relationship (25–50°C) was found to be linear for the interaction of either HCP or PP with HSA. However, the interaction thermodynamics for both of these porphyrins with HSA were found to be quite different. In particular, the interaction of HCP (a hydrophilic porphyrin) with HSA appeared to be based on an enthalpy-driven process, whereas the binding between PP (a hydrophobic porphyrin) and HSA driven by a favorable change in entropy. The ability of using ACE to evaluate the interaction thermodynamics of serum proteins (e.g., HSA) with ligands (e.g., porphyrins and related compounds) should aid in the development of new and more effective photosensitizers in the photodynamic therapy of cancer.     

Enantioseparation of pheniramine enantiomers by high‐speed countercurrent chromatography using β‐cyclodextrin derivatives as a chiral selector

The enantioselective separation of pheniramine was studied by a high‐speed countercurrent chromatography method using β‐cyclodextrin derivatives as a chiral selector. Several key variables, for instance, type of organic solvent and chiral selector, concentration of chiral selector, pH value of aqueous phase, and temperature on the enantioselectivity, were investigated systematically by liquid–liquid extraction experiments. Combining the results of extraction experiments and high‐speed countercurrent chromatography, the most suitable conditions for separation of pheniramine enantiomers were obtained with the two‐phase system that consisted of isobutyl acetate/aqueous phase, containing 0.02 mol/L carboxymethyl‐β‐cyclodextrin, pH 8.50 at 278.15 K. Under the optimal conditions, pheniramine enantiomer was successfully resolved after four cycles of high‐speed countercurrent chromatography. By using high‐performance liquid chromatography to analyze the fractions, the purities of both (+)‐pheniramine and (–)‐pheniramine were over 99% and the recovery of this method was up to 85–90%.     

Enantioseparation of chiral N-imidazole derivatives by electrokinetic chromatography using highly sulfated cyclodextrins: mechanism of enantioselective recognition

Baseline separation of ten new substituted [1-(imidazo-1-yl)-1-phenylmethyl)] benzothiazolinone and benzoxazolinone derivatives, with one chiral center, was achieved by CD-EKC using highly sulfated CDs (alpha, beta, gamma highly S-CDs) as chiral selectors. The influence of the type and concentration of the chiral selectors on the enantioseparations was investigated. The highly S-CDs exhibit a very high enantioselectivity power since they allow excellent enantiomeric resolutions compared to those obtained with the neutral CDs. The enantiomers were resolved with analysis times inferior to 2.5 min and resolution factors R(s) of 3.73, 3.90, 1.40, and 4.35 for compounds 1, 2, 3, and 5, respectively, using 25 mM phosphate buffer at pH 2.5 containing either highly S-alpha-CD, highly S-beta-CD, and highly S-gamma-CD (3 or 4% w/v) at 298 K, with an applied field of 0.30 kV/cm. The determination of the enantiomer migration order for the various analytes and the study of the analyte structure-enantioseparation relationships display the high contribution of the interactions between the analytes phenyl ring and the CDs to the enantiorecognition process. The thermodynamic study of the analyte-CD affinities permits us to improve our knowledge about the enantioseparation mechanism.     

Kinetic studies of drug-protein interactions by using peak profiling and high-performance affinity chromatography: examination of multi-site interactions of drugs with human serum albumin columns

Carbamazepine and imipramine are drugs that have significant binding to human serum albumin (HSA), the most abundant serum protein in blood and a common transport protein for many drugs in the body. Information on the kinetics of these drug interactions with HSA would be valuable in understanding the pharmacokinetic behavior of these drugs and could provide data that might lead to the creation of improved assays for these analytes in biological samples. In this report, an approach based on peak profiling was used with high-performance affinity chromatography to measure the dissociation rate constants for carbamazepine and imipramine with HSA. This approach compared the elution profiles for each drug and a non-retained species on an HSA column and control column over a board range of flow rates. Various approaches for the corrections of non-specific binding between these drugs and the support were considered and compared in this process. Dissociation rate constants of 1.7 (±0.2) s(-1) and 0.67 (±0.04) s(-1) at pH 7.4 and 37°C were estimated by this approach for HSA in its interactions with carbamazepine and imipramine, respectively. These results gave good agreement with rate constants that have determined by other methods or for similar solute interactions with HSA. The approach described in this report for kinetic studies is not limited to these particular drugs or HSA but can also be extended to other drugs and proteins.     

Fluorescence enhancement of dansylamino acids by bovine serum albumin as mobile phase additive in microcolumn liquid chromatography

Summary The effects of acetonitrile and bovine serum albumin (BSA) concentrations on the signal intensity and retention behavior of dansylamino acids have been examined by using -cyclodextrin-bonded silica gel as the stationary phase in microcolumn liquid chromatography. Fluorescence intensities of dansylamino acids were enhanced by BSA as a mobile phase additive, e.g., detection limits of dansyl derivatives of L-Ala and L-Phe were improved by a factor of 12–18.     

Retention of structurally diverse drugs in human serum albumin chromatography and its potential to simulate plasma protein binding

The retention behavior of 39 structurally diverse neutral, basic and acidic drugs was investigated on an HSA stationary phase using PBS buffer (pH 7.0) and acetonitrile or 2-propanol as organic modifiers. Extrapolated or directly measured log k_w values as well as isocratic retention factors were correlated with plasma protein binding data taken from the literature. Retention factors determined in the presence of 10% acetonitrile led to high quality 1:1 correlation with apparent log K_HSA values. The derived reference equation was successfully validated using a secondary set of 24 drugs. Further analysis of HSA retention into more fundamental properties revealed the involvement of anionic species in solute-stationary phase interactions, expressed by the negatively charged fraction, besides the partitioning mechanism which was reflected by lipophilicity. Protonation of basic drugs, although less important, may also influence retention, leading to reduced partitioning into the HSA surface as a net effect, while it seems to have no effect on HSA binding. The above results were further confirmed by linear solvation energy relationships (LSER).     

Studies on the binding of paeonol and two of its isomers to human serum albumin by using microcalorimetry and circular dichroism

Interactions of paeonol and two of its isomers with human serum albumin (HSA) in buffer solutions (pH 7.0) have been investigated by calorimetry and circular dichroism. Heats of the interactions have been determined with isothermal titration microcalorimetry at 298.15 K. Data process has been based on the supposition that there are several independent classes of binding sites on each HSA molecule for molecules of each one of the drugs. The results obtained by using this supposition combined with Langmuir adsorption model show that there are two classes of such binding sites. The binding constant, changes of enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs free energy are obtained, which show that the two classes of binding are mainly driven by enthalpy except that the first-class binding of Ace is predominantly driven by entropy. On the same class of binding site, the negative value of binding enthalpy decreases in the order of Pae, Hma, and Ace. The difference of thermodynamic data is caused by the different locations of substituent groups on aromatic benzene ring of guest molecules. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra show that the three isomers change the secondary structure of HSA. These results indicate that the interaction includes contributions of the binding and the partial change of molecular structure of HSA induced by the three isomers.     

Monitoring of cefepime in human serum and plasma by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography: Improvement of sample preparation and validation by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry

Cefepime monitoring in deproteinized human serum and plasma by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry in presence of other drugs is reported. For micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography, sample preparation comprised dodecylsulfate protein precipitation at pH 4.5 using an increased buffer concentration compared to that of a previous assay and removal of hydrophobic compounds with dichloromethane. This provided robust conditions for cefepime analysis in the presence of sulfamethoxazole and thus enabled its determination in samples of patients that receive cotrimoxazole. The liquid chromatography assay is based upon use of a column with a pentafluorophenyl‐propyl modified and multiendcapped stationary phase and the coupling to electrospray ionization with a single quadrupole detector. The performances of both assays with multilevel internal calibration were assessed with calibration and control samples and both assays were determined to be robust. Cefepime levels monitored by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography in samples from patients that were treated with cefepime only and with cefepime and cotrimoxazole were found to compare well with those obtained by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Cefepime drug levels determined by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography could thereby be validated.     

Simultaneous quantification of twelve active components in Yiqing granule by ultra-performance liquid chromatography: application to quality control study

An ultra‐performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) method coupled with photodiode array (PDA) detection has been developed and validated for simultaneous quantification of 12 active components (berberine, palmatine, jatrorrhizine, aloe‐emodin, rhein, emodin, chrysophanol, physcion, baicalin, baicalein, wogonoside and wogonin) in Yiqing granule. Optimum separation were achieved on a C₁₈ column (50 × 2.1 mm i.d., 1.7 µm particle) through a 7.5 min gradient delivery of a mixture of A (acetonitrile) and B (0.1% aqueous phosphoric acid containing 1.8 mmol/L sodium dodecyl sulfonate and 10% acetonitrile, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min at 30°C. Because of the different UV characteristics of these components, three detection wavelengths were used for quantitative analysis. All of the analytes showed good linearity (r of >0.999). The method was validated for repeatability, precision, stability, accuracy and selectivity. The validated method was applied to quality control of Yiqing granule from different production batches. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Highly sensitive determination of haloperidol in human serum by capillary gas chromatography using a surface ionization detector

A method has been developed for highly sensitive determination of haloperidol in human serum involving a simple extraction procedure followed by gas chromatographic separation. Target components were separated from the extracting solvents with a Van den Berg type solventless sample injector before introduction Into a DB-1 capillary separation column. A surface ionization detector (SID), which has highly selective sensitivity for Substituted amines, was employed for quantitation using bromperidol as an internal standard. Chloroform proved to be the best extracting solvent, yielding a quantitative detection limit of 5 ng/ml (S/N = 2). Comparison of the response to target compounds obtained by the SID, FTD (flame thermionic detector), and FID (flame ionization detector) showed the SID to be superior.     

Binary mixed micelles of chiral sodium undecenyl leucinate and achiral sodium undecenyl sulfate: I. Characterization and application as pseudostationary phases in micellar electrokinetic chromatography

Sodium 10-undecenyl sulfate (SUS), sodium 10-undecenyl leucinate (SUL) and their five different mixed micelles at varied percent mole ratios were prepared. The critical micelle concentration (CMC), C₂₀, γ_CMC, partial specific volume, methylene group selectivity, mobilities and elution window were determined using a variety of analytical techniques. These surfactant systems were then evaluated as novel pseudostationary phases in micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). As a commonly used pseudostationary phase in MEKC, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was also evaluated. The CMC values of SUS and SUL were found to be 26 and 16 mM, respectively, whereas the CMC of mixed surfactants was found to be very similar to that of SUL. The C₂₀ values decreased dramatically as the concentration of SUL is increased in the mixed micelle. An increase in SUL content gradually increased the methylene group selectivity making the binary mixed surfactants more hydrophobic. Linear solvation energy relationships (LSERs) and free energy of transfer studies were also applied to predict the selectivity differences between the surfactant systems. The cohesiveness and the hydrogen bond acidic character of the surfactant systems were found to have the most significant influence on selectivity and MEKC retention. The SUS and SDS showed the strongest while SUL showed the weakest hydrogen bond donating capacity. The basicity, interaction with n and π-electrons of the solute and dipolarity/polarizability were the least significant factors in LSER model for the surfactant systems studied. Free energies of transfer of selected functional groups in each surfactant systems were also calculated and found to be in good agreement with the LSER data.