Development and Validation of a Liquid Chromatographic Method for Determination of Efavirenz in Human Plasma

A simple, rapid, and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method for estimation of efavirenz in human plasma has been developed and validated. Chromatography was performed with C₁₈ analytical column and 50:50 acetonitrile–phosphate buffer (pH 3.5) as mobile phase. Compounds were monitored by UV detection at 247 nm. The retention time for efavirenz was 6.45 min and that for the internal standard, nelfinavir, was 2.042 min. Response was a linear over the concentration range of 0.1 μg–10 μg mL⁻¹ in human plasma. The method was simple, specific, precise and accurate and was useful for bioequivalence and pharmacokinetic studies of efavirenz.     

环丙基甲基酮的合成研究进展

环丙基甲基酮是合成环丙氟哌酸类广谱抗菌药物和抗艾滋特效药依法韦仑的重要中间体,在医药、化工及农林等领域均有广泛应用。环丙基甲基酮的合成方法大致分为4类,分别以酮类、酯类、醇类及呋喃有机物为原料,在一定条件下生成环丙基甲基酮粗品,经萃取及精馏得到环丙基甲基酮纯品。本文综述了环丙基甲基酮的合成研究进展。     

Reversed‐phase liquid chromatography with electrospray mass detection and 1H and 13C NMR characterization of new process‐related impurities,including forced degradants of Efavirenz: Related substances correlated to the synthetic pathway

In this study, a stability‐indicating reversed‐phase liquid chromatographic electrospray mass spectrometric method was developed and validated for the determination of process‐related impurities and forced degradants of Efavirenz in bulk drugs. Efavirenz was subjected to acid, alkaline hydrolysis, H₂O₂ oxidation, photolysis, and thermal stress. Significant degradation was observed during alkaline hydrolysis, and the degradants were isolated on a mass‐based purification system and characterized by high‐resolution mass spectrometry, positive electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry, and ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. Accurate mass measurement and NMR spectroscopy revealed the possible structure of process‐related impurities and degradant under stress conditions. The acceptable separation was accomplished on Waters bondapak C₁₈ column (250 mm × 4.6 mm; 5 μm), using 5 mM ammonium acetate and acetonitrile as a mobile phase in a gradient elution mode at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The eluents were monitored by diode array detector at 247 nm and quantitation limits were obtained in the range of 0.1–2.5 μg/mL for Efavirenz, degradants, and process‐related impurities. The liquid chromatography method was validated with respect to accuracy, precision, linearity, robustness, and limits of detection and quantification as per International Conference on Harmonization guidelines.     

Rapid Quantification of Efavirenz in Human Plasma by Electrospray Ionization Tandem Mass Spectrometry

We report a rapid and sensitive method for detecting efavirenz in human plasma by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS/MS). Detection of efavirenz in human plasma samples was confirmed by acquiring MS/MS of protonated efavirenz at m/z 316.5 to yield the characteristic fragment ions at m/z 298, 274, 272, 251, 246, 237, 232, 203 and 168, respectively. This approach provided good linearity for the quantification of efavirenz (R² = ～0.9989), with good precision (RSD >10%) and limit of detection (0.20 nM). This method can be widely applied for precise quantitative analysis of a variety of drugs in clinical samples.     

Surface thermodynamics of Efavirenz and a blend of Efavirenz with cellulose acetate propionate by inverse gas chromatography

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of an excipient on the surface energetics of Efavirenz (EFV) drug. The net retention volumes, V_N, for n‐alkanes and polar solutes on the two columns, namely, EFV drug and a blend of EFV with cellulose acetate propionate have been measured by inverse gas chromatography. The dispersive surface free energy, , Lewis acid parameter, K_a, and Lewis base parameter, K_b, have been determined using V_N values. The values are decreased linearly with increase of temperature for pure EFV as well as for the blend. Furthermore, the values of EFV are higher than in the blend, for example, values at T = 318.15 K for EFV, and for the blend are 28.09 ± 6.02 mJ/m² and 28.30 ± 2.31 mJ/m², respectively. The specific component of surface free energy has been obtained by the Schultz method as well as by the Dong et al. method. The values have been used to calculate Lewis acid‐base parameters for the EFV as well as the blend. The K_a values for the EFV and the blend are almost similar, where as the K_b values are higher in EFV than in the blend. Similar trend in K_a and K_b has been observed in both methods studied. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantitative analysis of the effect of zidovudine,efavirenz, and ritonavir on insulin aggregation by multivariate curve resolution alternating least squares of infrared spectra

Quantification of the effect of antiretroviral drugs on the insulin aggregation process is an important area of research due to the serious metabolic diseases observed in AIDS patients after prolonged treatment with these drugs. In this work, multivariate curve resolution alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) was applied to infrared monitoring of the insulin aggregation process in the presence of three antiretroviral drugs to quantify their effect. To evidence concentration dependence in this process, mixtures at two different insulin:drug molar ratios were used. The interaction between insulin and each drug was analysed by ¹H NMR spectroscopy. In all cases, the aggregation process was monitored during 45 min by infrared spectroscopy. The aggregates were further characterised by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). MCR-ALS provided the spectral and concentration profiles of the different insulin–drug conformations that are involved in the process. Their feasible band boundaries were calculated using the MCR-BANDS methodology. The kinetic profiles describe the aggregation pathway and the spectral profiles characterise the conformations involved. The retrieved results show that each of the three drugs modifies insulin conformation in a different way, promoting the formation of aggregates. Ritonavir shows the strongest promotion of aggregation, followed by efavirenz and zidovudine. In the studied concentration range, concentration dependence was only observed for zidovudine, with shorter aggregation time obtained as the amount of zidovudine increased. This factor also affected the aggregation pathway.     

Rapid identification of efavirenz metabolites in rats and humans by ultra high performance liquid chromatography combined with quadrupole time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometry

An in vivo study of efavirenz metabolites in rats and human patients with ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometry combined with MetabolitePilot^MT software is reported for the first time. Considering the polarity differences between the metabolites, solid‐phase extraction and protein precipitation were both applied as a part of the sample preparation method. The structures of the metabolites and their fragment ions were identified or tentatively characterized based on the accurate mass and MS² data. As a result, a total of 15 metabolites, including 11 from rat samples and 13 from human samples, were identified or tentatively characterized. Two metabolites and several new metabolism pathways are reported for the first time. This study provides a practical approach for identifying complicated metabolites through the rapid and reliable ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometry technique, which could be widely used for the investigation of drug metabolites.