A modified LC-MS/MS method for determination of tetramethylpyrazine in microdialysis samples and calibration of home-made linear probes

Tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) is one of the most important active ingredients of a Chinese herb Ligusticum wallichii Franchat, which is widely used for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Several factors may affect TMP exposure after topical administration, resulting in large variability and demanding further elucidation of drug distribution. This paper describes a new efficient reliable LC‐MS/MS assay for the determination of TMP in dermal microdialysate, where TMP was separated on an Agilent C₁₈ column (3.5 µm, 100 mm × 2.1 mm i.d.) using a mixture of methanol, water and acetic acid (50:50:0.6, v/v/v) at a flow‐rate of 0.3 mL/min. The retention time was 1.89 min for TMP and 1.17 min for the internal standard (caffeine). Histological analysis confirmed an inflammatory response to the microdialysis probes and the presence of a collagen capsule. The membrane extraction efficiency (percentage delivered to the tissue space) for TMP was not altered through the implant lifetime. The validation and sample analysis results showed that the method is precise, accurate and well suited to support dermal microdialysis experiments. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analytical challenges and the development of biomarkers to measure and to monitor the effects of ocean acidification

Changing ocean-carbonate chemistry caused by oceanic uptake of anthropogenic atmospheric carbon dioxide leads to the formation of carbonic acid, thus lowering the pH of the sea with predictions of a decrease from current levels at 8.15 to 7.82 by the end of the century. The exact measurement of subtle pH changes in seawater over time presents significant analytical challenges, as the equilibrium constants are governed by water temperature and pressure, salinity effects, and the existence of other ionic species in seawater.Here, we review these challenges and how pH also affects dissolved inorganic and organic chemicals that affect biological systems. This includes toxic compounds (xenobiotics) as well as chemicals that are beneficial for marine organisms, such as the chemical signals (i.e. pheromones) that are utilized to coordinate animal behavior. We review how combining analytical, molecular and biochemical tools can lead to the development of biosensors to detect pH effects to enable predictive modeling of the ecological consequences of ocean acidification.     

Enantioseparation of dansyl amino acids and dipeptides by chiral ligand exchange capillary electrophoresis based on Zn(II)-l-hydroxyproline complexes coordinating with γ-cyclodextrins

A chiral ligand exchange capillary electrophoresis (CLE-CE) method using Zn(II) as the central ion and l-4-hydroxyproline as the chiral ligand coordinating with γ-cyclodextrin (γ-CD) was developed for the enantioseparation of amino acids (AAs) and dipeptides. The effects of various separation parameters, including the pH of the running buffer, the ratio of Zn(II) to l-4-hydroxyproline, the concentration of complexes and cyclodextrins (CDs) were systematically investigated. After optimization, it has been found that eight pairs of labeled AAs and six pairs of labeled dipeptides could be baseline-separated with a running electrolyte of 100.0 mM boric acid, 5.0 mM ammonium acetate, 3.0 mM Zn(II), 6.0 mM l-hydroxyproline and 4.0 mM γ-CD at pH 8.2. The quantitation of AAs and dipeptides was conducted and good linearity (r² ≥ 0.997) and favorable repeatability (RSD ≤ 3.6%) were obtained. Furthermore, the proposed method was applied in determining the enantiomeric purity of AAs and dipeptides. Meanwhile, the possible enantiorecognition mechanism based on the synergistic effect of chiral metal complexes and γ-CD was explored and discussed briefly.     

Improved and Rapid Liquid Chromatographic Determination of Indomethacin in Serum

Abstract

A rapid, specific and sensitive reversed-phase liquid chromatographic (LC) assay for the quantitative determination of indomethacin in serum without extraction was developed. Chromatographic separation using flunixin meglumine as the internal standard was achieved on octadecylsilane-coated particles with a mobile phase of 0.15 M acetate buffer pH 3.0 (50% v/v), acetonitrile (30% v/v) and methanol (20% v/v). The recovery of indomethacin from serum samples in the concentration range of 0.1-25 μg/ml was 95.5 ± 5.8% and as little as 100 ng/ml of indomethacin in serum samples can be quantitated by this procedure. A serum level versus time profile of dog with intravenously administered indomethacin demonstrated the applicability of the assay.     

Chromatographic and capillary electrophoretic determination of microcystins

Microcystins are cyclic peptide hepatotoxins that are produced during blooming of cyanobacteria. In recent two decades they gained a great interest because of the related ecological and public health risks. Over 70 different analogs of microcystins have been isolated from natural blooms and laboratory cultures of cyanobacteria. Because they are inhibitors of protein phosphatases they act as tumor promoters, but on the other hand, inhibitive enzymatic and ELISA methods may be employed for their screening or quantitative determination. Much larger analytical potential for this purpose have, however high‐performance separation chromatographic and electromigration techniques. Based on about 70 references from original journal papers these methods are reviewed together with presentation of their preconcentration methods and clean‐up procedures for analyzing environmental samples. Some attention is also focused on increasing application of LC/MS methods, and comparison of separation techniques with immunochemical or enzymatic methods.     

Establishment and validation of an SIL-IS LC–MS/MS method for the determination of ibuprofen in human plasma and its pharmacokinetic study

In this work, we developed and validated a highly sensitive, rapid and stable LC–MS/MS method for the determination of ibuprofen in human plasma with ibuprofen-d3 as a stable isotopically labeled internal standard (SIL-IS). Human plasma samples were prepared by one-step protein precipitation. The chromatographic separation was achieved on a Poroshell 120 EC-C₁₈ (2.1 × 50 mm, 2.7 μm). Aqueous solution (containing 0.05% acetic acid and 5 mm NH₄Ac) and methanol were selected as the mobile phase with gradient elution. An electrospray ionization source was applied and operated in negative ion mode. Multiple reaction monitoring mode was used for quantification using target fragment ions m/z 205.0 → 161.1 for ibuprofen and m/z 208.0 → 164.0 for SIL-IS, respectively. This method exhibited a linear range of 0.05–36 μg/ml for ibuprofen with correlation coefficient >0.99. Mean recoveries of ibuprofen in human plasma ranged from 78.4 to 80.9%. The RSD of intra- and inter-day precision were both < 5%. The accuracy was between 88.2 and 103.67%. The matrix effect was negligible in human plasma, including lipidemia and hemolytic plasma. A simple, efficient and accurate LC–MS/MS method was successfully established and applied to a pharmacokinetic study in healthy Chinese volunteers after a single oral administration of ibuprofen granules.     

Development and validation of LC–MS/MS method for amlexanox in rat plasma and its application in preclinical pharmacokinetics

Amlexanox, an anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic agent, has been widely used clinically for the treatment of canker sores, asthma, and allergic rhinitis. Recently, amlexanox has received considerable attention in curing nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases and hepatitis virus infection. Herein, we first established a sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrum (LC–MS/MS) method for the determination of amlexanox in rat plasma. Propranolol was used as the internal standard (IS). Using a simple protein precipitation method, the amlexanox and IS were separated with Capcell Pak C18 column (2.0 × 50 mm, 5 μm) and eluted with water and acetonitrile each containing 0.1% formic acid using gradient elution condition at a flow rate of 0.4 mL·min⁻¹. Amlexanox and IS were detected by a triple quadrupole mass in multiple reactive monitoring (MRM) under the transitions of m/z 299.2 → 281.2 and m/z 259.9 → 116.1 with positive electrospray ionization, respectively. The calibration curves of amlexanox were established with the range of 50 to 2000 ng·mL⁻¹ (r² > 0.99). The validation method consisted of selectivity, accuracy, precision, carryover effect, matrix effect, recovery, dilution effect, and stability. The fully validated method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of amlexanox in Wistar rats.     

Development and validation of an LC–MS/MS method for the quantification of artificial sweeteners in human matrices

Artificial sweeteners are widely used as substitutes for sugar. The sweeteners are generally considered safe, however their whereabouts during pregnancy and lactation and the effect on child development are poorly explored. There is a need for new tools to measure these substances during pregnancy and lactation. Here, we describe the development and validation of a sensitive liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous quantification of acesulfame, cyclamate, saccharin and sucralose in human plasma, umbilical cord blood, amniotic fluid and breast milk. The samples were prepared by protein precipitation and separated on a Luna Omega Polar C₁₈ column (2.1 × 50 mm, 1.6 μm). Electrospray ionization in negative mode and multiple reaction monitoring were used to monitor the ion transitions. The validated concentration ranges were from 1 to 500 ng/ml (10–500 ng/ml for sucralose). Interassay precisions were all ≤15% and the accuracies were within ±15%. Stability, linearity, dilution integrity, carryover and recovery were also examined and satisfied the validation criteria. Finally, this analytical method was successfully applied on spiked samples of plasma, umbilical cord blood, amniotic fluid and breast milk, proving its suitability for use in clinical studies on artificial sweeteners, including during pregnancy and lactation.     

Favipiravir (SARS-CoV-2) degradation impurities: Identification and route of degradation mechanism in the finished solid dosage form using LC/LC–MS method

Favipiravir finished dosage was approved for emergency use in many countries to treat SARS-CoV-2 patients. A specific, accurate, linear, robust, simple, and stability-indicating HPLC method was developed and validated for the determination of degradation impurities present in favipiravir film-coated tablets. The separation of all impurities was achieved from the stationary phase (Inert sustain AQ-C18, 250 × 4.6 mm, 5-μm particle) and mobile phase. Mobile phase A contained KH₂PO₄ buffer (pH 2.5 ± 0.05) and acetonitrile in the ratio of 98:2 (v/v), and mobile phase B contained water and acetonitrile in the ratio of 50:50 (v/v). The chromatographic conditions were optimized as follows: flow rate, 0.7 mL/min; UV detection, 210 nm; injection volume, 20 μL; and column temperature, 33°C. The proposed method was validated per the current International Conference on Harmonization Q2 (R1) guidelines. The recovery study and linearity ranges were established from the limit of quantification to 150% optimal concentrations. The method validation results were found to be between 98.6 and 106.2% for recovery and r² = 0.9995–0.9999 for linearity of all identified impurities. The method precision results were achieved below 5% of relative standard deviation. Forced degradation studies were performed in chemical and physical stress conditions. The compound was sensitive to chemical stress conditions. During the study, the analyte degraded and converted to unknown degradation impurities, and its molecular mass was found using the LC–MS technique and established degradation pathways supported by reaction of mechanism. The developed method was found to be suitable for routine analysis of research and development and quality control.