Strategies in quantitative LC-MS/MS analysis of unstable small molecules in biological matrices

Stability is an important pre-analytical variable for quantitative LC-MS/MS analysis of drug molecules and/or their metabolites in biological matrices. Instability of an analyte in any stage of the bioanalytical process, including sample collection, processing, storage, extraction and LC-MS/MS analysis, can result in under-/over-estimation if an adequate preventive procedure is not in place. In the current review on practical strategies in quantitative LC-MS/MS bioanalysis of unstable small molecules, the common causes of analyte instability were examined. The instability of some analytes is readily predictable because of the presence of certain chemically or biologically labile moieties in the molecules or because the compounds are in an inter-convertible form, e.g. lactone vs hydroxyl carboxylic acid. However, the instability of many other analytes is not readily predictable. Necessary evaluation needs to be conducted to identify the possible instability issues. The current review highlighted some general considerations and specific approaches for developing a robust LC-MS/MS method. In particular, incurred samples should be used as part of routine short-term stability assessment of any unstable analyte during the early stages of method development and validation. This can help unveil any 'hidden' instability issues that, if left unaddressed, could lead to the invalidation of a 'validated' method.     

Phase transition in Pd40Ni10Cu30P20 bulk metallic glass under HP & HT

The phase transitions in Pd40Ni10Cu30P20 bulk metallic glass (BMG) have been studied under high pressure and high temperature (HP & HT) by X-ray diffraction measurements with synchrotron radiation source. We found that the BMG underwent a phase transitions of amorphous-crystalline-amorphous at 10 GPa upon heating. The parallel experiments were carried out at 7 GPa, while we did not observe the amorphous-crystalline-amorphous transitions by increasing temperature. Quenching the melted BMG at 7 GPa, it was found that the phase crystallized from the melt differed from the primary phase crystallized from the starting amorphous solid upon heating, suggesting there existed a distinct mechanism in two cases.     

黄酮甙类化合物中的酰基取代及其取代位置的确定

研究了黄酮甙类化合物的酰基取代现象，借助２ Ｄ ＮＭＲ技术，举例研究了一黄酮醇三乙酰基三糖甙的结构，着重研究糖上酰基的取代位置，并归纳总结了黄酮甙类化合物中各种常见的酰基的＾１３ ＣＮＭＲ谱及其取代所产生的位移现象。     

黄酮醇-3-O-D-木糖(1→2)-L-鼠李糖甙类化合物的NMR谱研究

用2D NMR技术研究了从朝鲜淫羊藿中分离的一个黄酮醇-3-O-D-木糖-鼠李糖甙的结构,确定其双糖为1→2连接,并明确了判断同类黄酮醇-3-O-木糖基(1→2)-鼠李糖甙的简易标准.     

压力下Ti60Si40纳米晶的固相反应

 利用球磨方法制备出Ti₆₀Si₄₀纳米晶混合物，研究了该混合物在不同静压力下固态反应，利用X射线衍射和电子显微镜分别研究了样品中的相组成。实验结果表明，球磨过程中生成的微量新的亚稳相可以在适当的压力和温度条件下长大，但其长大速率却随压力的增加而减小。在常压下进行相同温度和时间的热处理，则只有纳米晶的长大而没有固相反应发生。     

Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric determination of atenolol in human plasma

A hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatographic method with tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of atenolol, a beta-blocking agent, in human plasma has been developed and validated over the curve range of 10--2000 ng/mL. The assay was based on protein precipitation followed by evaporation of the extraction solvent, reconstitution with acetonitrile, and chromatography on an Hypersil silica column (50 x 4.6 mm) using a low aqueous--high organic mobile phase. The mobile phase consists of 85% acetonitrile, 15% water, 0.5% acetic acid and 0.04% trifluoroacetic acid and runs isocratically at a flow rate of 2.0 mL/min. The column ef fluent was split so that 50% of it was transferred into the LC-MS/MS interface operated in positive electrospray ionization mode. The chromatographic run time was 2.0 min per injection. Atenolol and the internal standard, atenolol-d(7), showed a retention time of 1.0 min. The inter-day and intra-day precision and accuracy of the quality control samples were <5.3% relative standard deviation and <8.0% relative error, respectively. To explore the application of the current method for the analysis of other beta-blocking agents, propranolol and metoprolol were tested under the same chromatographic conditions with retention times of 0.68 and 0.75 min, respectively. The present method could be used for therapeutic drug monitoring, pharmacokinetic and drug--drug interaction studies of beta-blocking agents.     

An interlaboratory capillary zone electrophoresis-UV study of various monoclonal antibodies,instruments, and ε-aminocaproic acid lots

Capillary zone electrophoresis ultraviolet (CZE-UV) has become increasingly popular for the charge heterogeneity determination of mAbs and vaccines. The ε-aminocaproic acid (eACA) CZE-UV method has been used as a rapid platform method. However, in the last years, several issues have been observed, for example, loss in electrophoretic resolution or baseline drifts. Evaluating the role of eACA on the reported issues, various laboratories were requested to provide their routinely used eACA CZE-UV methods, and background electrolyte compositions. Although every laboratory claimed to use the He et al. eACA CZE-UV method, most methods actually deviate from He's. Subsequently, a detailed interlaboratory study was designed wherein two commercially available mAbs (Waters’ Mass Check Standard mAb [pI 7] and NISTmAb [pI 9]) were provided to each laboratory, along with two detailed eACA CZE-UV protocols for a short-end, high-speed, and a long-end, high-resolution method. Ten laboratories participated each using their own instruments, and commodities, showing excellence method performance (relative standard deviations [RSDs] of percent time-corrected main peak areas from 0.2% to 1.9%, and RSDs of migration times from 0.7% to 1.8% [n = 50 per laboratory], analysis times in some cases as short as 2.5 min). This study clarified that eACA is not the main reason for the abovementioned variations.     

基于HI-13串列加速器在束γ终端原子核激发态寿命测量的核结构研究

利用在HI-13串列加速器的在束γ终端上建立的多普勒线移衰减法、反冲距离多普勒线移法和快时间延迟符合法等3种寿命测量方法,开展了原子核手征对称性、磁转动等核结构热点课题的研究工作。实验结果表明,130Cs的伙伴带具有很好的手征特性,而106Ag的候选带并非手征双带。根据测量的能级寿命提取的B（M1）值表明,106Ag的正宇称晕带和107Ag的正、负宇称晕带都具有典型的磁转动特性。此外,寿命测量数据还为解释和理解不同的同位素链中展现出的形状演化、形状共存、形状相变及临界点对称性等物理现象提供了有价值的实验证据。 The significance and principle of lifetime measurements of excited states in nuclei are briefly described. By using the recoil-distance Doppler-shift method, the Doppler-shift attenuation method, and the fast-timing technique established at the in-beam γ terminal of HI-13 tandem accelerator, nuclear structure studies on topical subjects including chiral symmetries and magnetic rotation have been performed. Our experimental results indicate that 130Cs shows better chiral characteristics, however, the two candidate bands of 106Ag could not be a pair of chiral doublet bands. For magnetic rotation, the deduced B(M1) values deduced from the measured level lifetimes clearly demonstrate that the yrast positive-parity band in 106Ag and both the yrast positiveand negative-parity bands in 107Ag are magnetic rotation bands. In addition, our lifetime measurement data also provide valuable experimental evidences for the interpretation and understanding of the shape evolution, the shape coexistence, and the critical-point symmetries of shape phase transition in the different isotope chains.     

Simultaneous determination of midazolam and 1'-hydroxymidazolam in human plasma by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

A sensitive and simple liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of midazolam and 1'-hydroxymidazolam in human plasma has been developed and validated with a dynamic range of 0.1-250 ng/mL. The analysis was based on semi-automated liquid-liquid extraction followed by evaporation of the extraction solvent, reconstitution and chromatography on a reversed-phase C(18) column. The mobile phase consists of 5 mm ammonium acetate and methanol and runs in gradient at a flow rate of 0.25 mL/min with column temperature of approximately 20 degrees C. The entire column effluent was transferred into the LC-MS/MS interface operated in positive electrospray ionization mode. The chromatographic run time was 4.3 min per injection, with retention times for midazolam, 1'-hydroxymidazolaml and the internal standard, triazolam, of 2.5, 2.3 and 2.1 min, respectively. The intra-day and inter-day precision (RSD %) and accuracy (bias %) of the quality control samples were <15.0% and within +/-13%, respectively. The current method has been applied to a clinical drug-drug interaction study in human.