Comparative evaluation of the radioenzymatic method for the determination of urinary histamine with a mass spectrometric assay

Considerable inaccuracy and unreliability have recently been demonstrated to be associated with the widely used radioenzymatic methods for the determination of histamine in biological fluids. Urine appears to inhibit the methylation of histamine by histamine N-methyltransferase such that the radioenzymatic assay underestimates the concentration of histamine present in urine. Directly comparing the radioenzymatic assay with a recently developed reference method using mass spectrometry for the determination of urinary histamine, up to 34-fold differences in the levels of urinary histamine were found with the two methods.     

Recent advances of capillary electrophoresis in pharmaceutical analysis

This review covers recent advances of capillary electrophoresis (CE) in pharmaceutical analysis. The principle, instrumentation, and conventional modes of CE are briefly discussed. Advances in the different CE techniques (non-aqueous CE, microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography, capillary isotachophoresis, capillary electrochromatography, and immunoaffinity CE), detection techniques (mass spectrometry, light-emitting diode, fluorescence, chemiluminescence, and contactless conductivity), on-line sample pretreatment (flow injection) and chiral separation are described. Applications of CE to assay of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), drug impurity testing, chiral drug separation, and determination of APIs in biological fluids published from 2008 to 2009 are tabulated.     

Quantitative Evaluation of Paracetamol and Caffeine from Pharmaceutical Preparations Using Image Analysis and RP-TLC

Gradient elution isotachophoresis has demonstrated efficient enrichment and separation of many analytes, from small molecules to proteins. Prior work has shown analyte enrichment is most efficient with low conductivity samples and high conductivity leading electrolytes. This work investigates the applicability to small biomolecule measurements in highly saline matrices, such as found in biological fluids. The method was applied to the enrichment and separation of physiologically relevant concentrations of chromophore-derivatized aspartate and glutamate in artificial cerebrospinal fluid. Carboxyfluorescein-labeled species yielded the best sensitivity and resolution, with glutamate and aspartate LODs of 120 and 180 nM, respectively.     

Measurement of Histamine in Stinging Insect Venoms by Isotachophoresis

Abstract

An isotachophoretic histamine assay has been developed to determine the histamine content in hymenoptera stinging insect venoms. The amount of histamine was lowest in bee venom (0.9%) while the histamine content of vespid venom extracts varied between 2.7–5.2%. Histamine, determined quantitatively by isotachophoresis, correlated well with the histamine values achieved with reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography.     

A Rapid Qualitative and Quantitative Method of Assaying Histamine in Small Plasma Volume

Abstract

A modified method for a qualitative and quantitative determination of histamine in small plasma volume (≤300 μl) was developed. According to this method, blood samples containing methylhistamine, the internal standard, are centrifuged to collect plasma. These plasma samples which contain underivatized histamine are injected into a Dionex BioLC System coupled with a pulsed amperometric detector. Histamine and methylhistamine are separated through a C-18 Zorbax ODS 4.5mm ID ± 25cm (5 microns) column. Histamine is quantitated by comparing histamine peak height with that of known quantity of the internal standard. The sensitivity of the method is 0.03 pmols. The peak heights were found to be linearly related to histamine concentrations providing a quantitative means of assaying histamine in biological samples. The retention time of histamine was 6 min in contrast to that of methlyhistamine which was 10 min.     

Application of high-performance liquid chromatography of some antibiotics in clinical microbiology

During recent years high-performance liquid chromatography has become an excellent tool for the determination of antibiotics in biological fluids. Compared with biological assays, the major benefits of this method are specificity and rapidity. In particular, the determination of biologically inactive metabolites emphasizes that this technique plays an outstanding role for the analysis of antibiotics. This paper describes how the method can be used in the analysis of several antibiotics and demonstrates the efficacy of this method for clinical microbiology. Methods for the determination in biological fluids of acylaminopenicillins (azlocillin, mezlocillin, piperacillin and aspoxicillin), quinolones (ciprofloxacine, norfloxacine and ofloxacine), a penem (imipenem) and a cephalosporin (cefixime) are summarized. Furthermore, their application to in vitro studies and their trial in clinical studies are described.     

Application of capillary isotachophoresis in peptide analysis

This paper gives a broad and detailed review of the applications of one of the modern high-performance electromigration separation techniques--capillary isotachophoresis (ITP)--in peptide analysis. Examples are presented of the utilization of capillary ITP for peptide analysis in the fields of chemistry, general and clinical biochemistry, biology, biotechnology, pharmacy and the food industry. The complete composition of all the electrolyte systems used for peptide ITP analyses in both cationic and anionic techniques is given in tabular form. According to the purpose of analysis the applications are divided into several sections: model studies, determination of physico-chemical characteristics, purity control of both intermediate and final peptide preparations, including the determination of low-molecular-mass ionogenic admixtures, and the analysis of peptides in biological fluids and tissue extracts. In addition to the main applications the theoretical and methodological aspects of peptide ITP analysis are discussed. The basic electromigration properties of peptides (their polyampholyte character, effective and absolute mobilities, acid-base equilibria) are explained and the selection of parameters for peptide ITP analysis is described in detail. The advantages and disadvantages of ITP compared with other electrophoretic and chromatographic methods used for peptide analysis are discussed.     

Application of capillary isotachophoresis for fruit juice authentication

A method using capillary isotachophoresis (ITP) was developed and applied for the determination of the anionic profile of orange juices with the aim to obtain some useful information on the authenticity or adulteration of imported and native beverage products. An EA 100 electrophoretic analyser (Villa-LABECO, Slovak Republic) was used for capillary isotachophoretic determination of anions in tested samples. More systems of leading and terminating electrolytes were used. Detection conductivity and UV detection at 254 nm were used. Sample injection volume was 30 microl. These systems allow one to determinate inorganic anions, organic acids and some additives--adulterants in anionic forms in orange juices. By capillary isotachophoretic determination the lengths or areas of characteristic zones were established and compared to authentic orange juices of different species and origin and with RSK reference values (Code of Practice). Special emphasis was placed on D-isocitric acid ITP determination as a reliable fruit juice authentication marker. The presented multicomponent analysis of orange juice authenticity according to ITP anionic profiles obtained by capillary isotachophoresis presents an alternative information source necessary for deciding about authenticity of the products.     

Determination of captopril in pharmaceutical preparation and biological fluids using two- and three-way chemometrics methods

Spectrophotometric method has been developed for the direct quantitative determination of captopril in pharmaceuticalpreparation and biological fluids(human plasma and urine)samples.The method was accomplished based on parallel factoranalysis(PARAFAC)and partial least squares(PLS).The study was carried out in the pH range from 2.0 to 12.8 and with aconcentration from 0.70 to 61.50 μg mL~(-1)of captopril.Multivariate calibration models such as PLS at various pH and PARAFACwere elaborated from ultraviolet spectra deconvolution and captopril determination.The best models for this system were obtainedwith PARAFAC and PLS at pH 2.0.The applications of the method for determination of real samples were evaluated by analysis ofcaptopril in pharmaceutical preparations and biological fluids with satisfactory results.The accuracy of the method,evaluatedthrough the RMSEP,was 0.5801 for captopril with best calibration curve by PARAFAC and 0.6168 for captopril with PLS at pH 2.0model.     

Enantiomeric resolution of 2-arylpropionic acid nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs by capillary electrophoresis: methods and applications

The 2-arylpropionic acids (2-APAs) are an important group of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. These agents, the majority of which are available as racemates, exhibit stereoselectivity in both their action and disposition. Developments in stereoselective separation science methodology, mainly chromatographic, have facilitated an evaluation of the pharmacological properties of the individual enantiomers of these drugs and contributed to our understanding of both their mode(s) of action and disposition. While a number of electrophoretic techniques, including capillary electrophoresis, capillary electrochromatography and isotachophoresis, have been applied to the stereoselective resolution and stereospecific analysis of these agents using a variety of chiral selectors, e.g., cyclodextrins, oligosaccharides, macrocyclic antibiotics, and proteins, the number of published applications in pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis remains relatively limited. However, the utility of electrophoretic techniques for stereospecific analysis may be illustrated using the 2-APAs as typical examples of chiral acidic pharmaceuticals. Applications include: determination of enantiomeric composition following biosynthetic stereoselective hydrolysis; examination of both achiral and chiral impurity profiles in bulk drugs and formulated products; determination of enantiomeric impurities in both bulk drugs and formulated products; examination of configurational stability following stress testing of formulated products; determination of enantiomeric composition and metabolite profile in biological fluids following administration of the racemates and individual enantiomers. It may be anticipated that future exploitation of electrophoretic approaches to the stereospecific analysis of these agents will result in further contributions to our understanding of their stereoselective biological properties and therapeutic use.     

Differential pulse polarographic determination of ofloxacin in pharmaceuticals and biological fluids

A sensitive method is described for the determination of ofloxacin in its pure form, dosage forms and biological fluids. The proposed method depends upon the polarographic activity of ofloxacin in Britton Robinson buffers, whereby a well-defined cathodic wave is produced over the pH range 4.1-10.3. The wave was characterized as being irreversible, diffusion-controlled with limited adsorption properties. The current-concentration relationship was found to be rectilinear over the range 5x10(-5)-5x10(-4) M and 1x10(-5)-5x10(-4) M using the DC(t) and DPP modes respectively, with a minimum detectability (S/N=3) of 3x10(-7) M. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of ofloxacin in tablets and biological fluids. The results obtained were found to be in agreement with those obtained by a reference method.     

Determination of cholesterol in sub-nanomolar quantities in biological fluids by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A highly sensitive method for the determination of cholesterol in biological fluids is described. Unsaponifiable lipids from rat serum and thoracic duct lymph chylomicron samples were treated with cholesterol oxidase. The product of the enzymatic reaction, delta 4-cholestenone, was analysed by normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using hexane-isopropanol (95:5, v/v) as a mobile phase and detected with a UV spectrophotometer at 240 nm. When the standard samples containing varying amounts of cholesterol (0.15-3 nmol) were treated with cholesterol oxidase and analysed by HPLC (injected amounts 0.09-1.8 nmol of cholesterol), the peak areas increased proportionally with the amounts of authentic cholesterol with a correlation coefficient of 0.996. The values in these biological fluids determined by the HPLC method were identical to those obtained by enzymatic-colorimetric or gas chromatographic methods. Moreover, the detection limit (0.09 nmol) of the present method (0.15 nmol are required for the sample preparation) is lower than those of conventional methods (approximately 30 nmol). Because of the excellent sensitivity and reproducibility, this method is well suited for the determination of cholesterol in biological fluids where cholesterol concentration is low.     

Isotachophoretic determination of stability constants of Ho and Y complexes with diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid and 1,4,7,10-tetraazadodecane-N,N',N'',N'''-tetraacetic acid

The method of capillary isotachophoresis with conductivity detection was applied for the determination of the physico-chemical characteristics (conditional stability constants log beta') of holmium and yttrium complexes with DTPA (diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid) and DOTA (1,4,7,10-tetraazadodecane-N,N',N',N'-tetraacetic acid). The log beta' determination is based on the linear relation between the stability constants of lanthanide-DTPA (lanthanide-DOTA) complexes and the reduction of the zone of the complex owing to the bleeding phenomena (liberating free metal ion). The stability constants calculated using this relationship are comparable with the literary data obtained by other methods for both holmium (log beta'(Ho-DTPA)=21.9, log beta'(Ho-DOTA)=24.5) and yttrium complexes (log beta'(Y-DTPA)=21.2, log beta'(Y-DOTA)=24.4). Capillary isotachophoresis was applied for the determination of the optimum composition of the reaction mixture (metal:ligand ratio) as well.     

Determination of 4-methylimidazole in caramel color by capillary isotachophoresis

A method for the determination or 4-methylimidazole in caramel color, based on cationic separation of the sample by capillary isotachophoresis, is described. No pretreatment of the sample is necessary and the detection limit was found to be 5 ppm.     

Permanganate-based chemiluminescence analysis of cefadroxil monohydrate in pharmaceutical samples and biological fluids using flow injection

A chemiluminescent method using flow injection is described for the determination of cefadroxil monohydrate. The method is based on the chemiluminescence reaction of cefadroxil with potassium permanganate in sulphuric acid, sensitized by quinine. The proposed procedure allows the determination of cefadroxil over the concentration range 0.1-30 mug ml(-1) with a detection limit of 0.05 mug ml(-1) and a sample measurement frequency of 150 samples h(-1). The method was successfully applied to the determination of cefadroxil in pharmaceutical preparations and biological fluids.     

Impurity analysis of pharmaceuticals using capillary electromigration methods

This review deals with the determination of impurities in pharmaceuticals by electromigration methods in the capillary format. These separation methods are either based on the different effective mobility of the charged analytes (as in zone electrophoresis and isotachophoresis) or include hybrid methods such as micellar electrokinetic chromatography, microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography and electrochromatography. The pharmaceutically active compounds under consideration belong to chemotherapeutic agents, central nervous system drugs, histamine receptor drugs, cardiovascular drugs, anticancer drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs and some other drugs. The review discusses about 150 publications from the period between 1980 and 2007 with special emphasis on the recent trends and gives details about the experimental conditions applied for analyses and the obtained analytical performance parameters.     

Simultaneous analysis of 5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine and 5-fluorouracil in plasma by analytical isotachophoresis

Analytical isotachophoresis was used for the determination of 5-fluorouracil and 5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine in plasma. The inclusion of spacers in the system greatly improved the separation and quantitation. The method can be employed for simultaneous measurements of fluorinated pyrimidines used in clinical practice.     

Isotope dilution analysis in column-coupling isotachophoresis

The use of isotope dilution technique to eliminate problems associated with demands for a high load capacity in column-coupling capillary isotachophoresis was studied. Determinations of phosphate present in a model mixture and in white wine served for the evaluation of this approach to quantitative analysis in isotachophoresis. A high selectivity of the analysis with acceptable accuracy and precision of the determination also in complex ionic mixtures in a short time are obvious advantages of this approach.     

Spectrophotometric determination of proteins in biological fluids

A comparative analysis of procedures of the spectrophotometric determination of total protein with various organic dyes, Bromocresol Green, Bromophenol Blue, and Pyrogallol Red, in biological fluids is presented. It is shown that the results of determination with various dyes can differ because of the specific features of reagent interaction with the components of biological fluids. A new organic reagent, Bromopyrogallol Red, possessing equal sensitivity to different protein fractions (albumins and globulins) and ensuring a minimum error of the determination of total protein in clinical examinations using calibration solutions of various compositions is proposed. A procedure for the determination of total protein in biological fluids is developed and tested on real samples of urine and blood serum.