A simple liquid chromatographic method was developed for the simultaneous determination of flavonoids from Orthosiphon stamineus Benth, namely sinensitin, eupatorin and 3'-hydroxy-5,6,7,4'-tetramethoxyflavone, in plasma. Prior to analysis, the flavonoids and the internal standard (naproxen) were extracted from plasma samples using a 1:1 mixture of ethyl acetate and chloroform. The detection and quantification limits for the three flavonoids were similar being 3 and 5 ng/ml, respectively. The within-day and between-day accuracy values, expressed as percentage of true values, for the three flavonoids were between 95 and 107%, while the corresponding precision, expressed as coefficients of variation, for the three flavonoids were less than 14%. In addition, the mean recovery values of the extraction procedure for all the flavonoids were between 92 and 114%. The calibration curves were linear over a concentration range of 5-4000 ng/ml. The present method was applied to analyse plasma samples obtained from a pilot study using rats in which the mean absolute oral bioavailability values for sinensitin, eupatorin and 3'-hydroxy-5,6,7,4'-tetramethoxyflavone was 9.4, 1.0 and 1.5%, respectively.
A sensitive and selective high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the determination of itraconazole and its active metabolite, hydroxyitraconazole, in human plasma. Prior to analysis, both compounds together with the internal standard were extracted from alkalinized plasma samples using a 3:2 (v/v) mixture of 2,2,4-trimethylpentane and dichloromethane. The mobile phase comprised 0.02 M potassium dihydrogen phosphate-acetonitrile (1:1, v/v) adjusted to pH 3.0. Analysis was run at flow-rate of 0.9 ml/min with excitation and emission wavelengths set at 260 and 365 nm, respectively. Itraconazole was found to adsorb on glass or plastic tubes, but could be circumvented by prior treating the tubes using 10% dichlorodimethylsilane in toluene. Moreover, rinsing the injector port with acetonitrile helped to overcome any carry-over effect. This problem was not encountered with hydroxyitraconazole. The method was sensitive with limit of quantification of 3 ng/ml for itraconazole and 6 ng/ml for hydroxyitraconazole. The calibration curve was linear over a concentration range of 2.8-720 ng/ml for itraconazole and 5.6-720 ng/ml for the hydroxy metabolite. Mean recovery value of the extraction procedure for both compounds was about 85%, while the within-day and between-day coefficient of variation and percent error values of the assay method were all less than 15%. Hence, the method is suitable for use in pharmacokinetic and bioavailability studies of itraconazole.
A simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method using ultraviolet detection was developed for the determination of testosterone in human plasma. Testosterone and the internal standard, griseofulvin, were extracted from 0.50 ml plasma sample using a mixture of dichloromethane-2,2,4-trimethylpentane (3:2, v/v). The mobile phase, consisted of 0.02 M sodium dihydrogenphosphate-acetonitrile-methanol (51:47:2, v/v) adjusted to pH 3.1 and delivered to a C(18) analytical column (150 x 4.6 mm I.D., 4 microm particles) at a flow-rate of 1 ml/min while the detection wavelength was set at 240 nm with a sensitivity range of 0.005 a.u.f.s. The method has a quantification limit of 1.6 ng/ml. Recoveries of testosterone were all greater than 92% over the linear concentration range of 1.6-400 ng/ml while that of griseofulvin was approximately 95%. The within- and between-day RSD values were all less than 8% while the accuracy values ranged from 96.0 to 106.0% over the concentration range studied. The method was applied to the analysis of early morning plasma testosterone levels of 12 healthy human male volunteers. The levels were found to range from 3.1 to 8.4 ng/ml, within the normal range reported in the literature.
Mesoporous silica material, MCM-41, was utilized for the first time as an adsorbent in solid phase membrane tip extraction (SPMTE) of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in urine prior to high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLC-UV) analysis. The prepared MCM-41 material was enclosed in a polypropylene membrane tip and used as an adsorbent in SPMTE. Four NSAIDs namely ketoprofen, diclofenac, mefenamic acid and naproxen were selected as model analytes. Several important parameters, such as conditioning solvent, sample pH, salting-out effect, sample volume, extraction time, desorption solvent and desorption time were optimized. Under the optimum extraction conditions, the MCM-41-SPMTE method showed good linearity in the range of 0.01-10μg/mL with excellent correlation coefficients (r=0.9977-0.9995), acceptable RSDs (0.4-9.4%, n=3), good limits of detection (5.7-10.6μg/L) and relative recoveries (81.4-108.1%). The developed method showed a good tolerance to biological sample matrices.
Screening for potential drug-drug interaction (DDI) or herb-drug interaction (HDI) using in vitro cytochrome P450 inhibition (IVCI) assays requires robust analytical methods with high sensitivity and reproducibility. Utilization of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) for analyte quantification is often hampered by the presence of non-volatile IVCI sample buffer constituents that often results in ion suppression. In this study, to enable screening of drug interactions involving tamoxifen (TAM) metabolism using IVCI-LC-MS/MS, a liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) method was developed and optimized for sample clean-up. Utilization of chloroform as extraction solvent and adjustment of sample pH to 11 was found to result in satisfactory recovery (>70%) and low ion suppression (<19%). A LC-MS/MS method was subsequently developed and validated for simultaneous quantification of major TAM metabolites, such as N-desmethyltamoxifen (NDT), endoxifen (EDF) and 4-hydroxytamoxifen (HTF) to enable IVCI sample analysis. Satisfactory separation of E-/Z-isomers of endoxifen with peak resolution (Rs) of 1.9 was achieved. Accuracy and precision of the method was verified within the linear range of 0-50 ng/mL for NDT, 0-25 ng/mL for HTF and 0-25 ng/mL for EDF (E/Z isomers). Inhibitory potency (IC50, Ki and mode of inhibition) of known CYP inhibitors and Strobilanthes crispus extract was then evaluated using the validated method. In summary, the results demonstrated applicability of the developed LLE and validated LC-MS/MS method for in vitro screening of DDI and HDI involving TAM metabolism.
An HPLC system using a simple liquid-liquid extraction and HPLC with UV detection has been validated to determine tramadol concentration in human plasma. The method developed was selective and linear for concentrations ranging from 10 to 2000 ng/ml with average recovery of 98.63%. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) was 10 ng/ml and the percentage recovery of the internal standard phenacetin was 76.51%. The intra-day accuracy ranged from 87.55 to 105.99% and the inter-day accuracy, 93.44 to 98.43% for tramadol. Good precision (5.32 and 6.67% for intra- and inter-day, respectively) was obtained at LOQ. The method has been applied to determine tramadol concentrations in human plasma samples for a pharmacokinetic study.
The aim of this study was to investigate and apply supported ionic liquid membrane (SILM) in two-phase micro-electrodriven membrane extraction combined with high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) for pre-concentration and determination of three selected antidepressant drugs in water samples. A thin agarose film impregnated with 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, [C6MIM] [PF6], was prepared and used as supported ionic liquid membrane between aqueous sample solution and acceptor phase for extraction of imipramine, amitriptyline and chlorpromazine. Under the optimized extraction conditions, the method provided good linearity in the range of 1.0-1000μgL(-1), good coefficients of determination (r(2)=0.9974-0.9992) and low limits of detection (0.1-0.4μgL(-1)). The method showed high enrichment factors in the range of 110-150 and high relative recoveries in the range of 88.2-111.4% and 90.9-107.0%, for river water and tap water samples, respectively with RSDs of ≤7.6 (n=3). This method was successfully applied to the determination of the drugs in river and tap water samples. It is envisaged that the SILM improved the perm-selectivity by providing a pathway for targeted analytes which resulted in rapid extraction with high degree of selectivity and high enrichment factor.
A UV-HPLC method optimized by Box-Behnken design model was developed to determine caffeine in pharmaceutical preparations and urine samples. The chromatographic conditions followed were mobile phase: methanol/water/ citrate buffer (pH 4.6) (40:25:35, v/v/v),AcclaimTMDionex C18 column (ODS 100A˚, 5 µm; 4.6 × 250 mm),flow rate (0.9 mL min-1), column temperature (30 °C) and UV-detection wavelength (204 nm). The chromatographic variables: pH (A), % methanol fraction (B), flow rate(C) and column temperature (D) were optimized at 50 μg mL-1caffeine using BBD model. The chromatogram resulted in the asymmetry factor (1.23), theoretical plate 13,786 and retention time (5.79 min). The proposed HPLC method's greenness point was assessed byAnalytical Eco-scale and found to be 78 (as per guidelines, ranked as excellent). The linearity was ranged from2.0 to 70 µg mL-1 with coefficient of correlation (r = 0.999) and detection limit of 0.19 µg mL-1. The proposedmethod was developed successfully and applied for the assay of active caffeine in pharmaceutical preparations and urine samples. The % recovery obtained by both (proposed and reference) methods ranged from 99.98 to 100.05 % followed the compliance (100 ± 2 %) with Canadian Health Protection regulatory guidelines. The performance of the proposed method was compared with published papers and found to be acceptable and superior. The proposed method was quite effective as the reference method, and hence can be used as an alternative method for the assay of active caffeine in pharmaceutical preparations and urine samples.
Nucleocapsid (N) protein of Nipah virus (NiV) is a potential serological marker used in the diagnosis of NiV infections. In this study, a rapid and efficient purification system, HisTrap 6 Fast Flow packed bed column was applied to purify recombinant histidine-tagged N protein of NiV from clarified feedstock. The optimizations of binding and elution conditions of N protein of NiV onto and from Nickel Sepharose 6 Fast Flow were investigated. The optimal binding was achieved at pH 7.5, superficial velocity of 1.25 cm/min. The bound N protein was successfully recovered by a stepwise elution with different concentration of imidazole (50, 150, 300 and 500 mM). The N protein of NiV was captured and eluted from an inlet N protein concentration of 0.4 mg/ml in a scale-up immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) packed bed column of Nickel Sepharose 6 Fast Flow with the optimized condition obtained from the method scouting. The purification of histidine-tagged N protein using IMAC packed bed column has resulted a 68.3% yield and a purification factor of 7.94.
Fusion M13 phage with disulfide constrained heptapeptide, C-WSFFSNI-C, inserted into the minor coat protein (gpIII), has been selected in the current study as ligand in direct purification of hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) from unclarified Escherichia coli (E. coli) feedstock. The selected fusion phage showed strong association with the surface of the core particle. In the present study, this fusion M13 phage was immobilized onto Streamline base matrix via epoxy activation and used as adsorbent to capture HBcAg from crude E. coli homogenate. The maximum binding capacity for the adsorbent was 3.76 mg/mL with equilibrium coefficient of 1.83 mg/mL. Due to the slow uptake rate of HBcAg by M13 phage-immobilized adsorbents, a modified EBAC operation with recirculation of feedstock into the expanded bed has been investigated in this study. The introduction of feedstock recirculation has led to an 18% increase in yield; however, the purity of the eluted product was reduced by 15% compared with typical EBAC operation. The level of antigenicity exhibited by the core particles purified by both EBAC operations employed in the present study was comparable to that purified using sucrose ultracentrifugation.
A rapid and simple reversed phase liquid chromatographic system has been developed for simultaneous analysis of terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIAs) and their precursors. This method allowed separation of 11 compounds consisting of eight TIAs (ajmalicine, serpentine, catharanthine, vindoline, vindolinine, vincristine, vinblastine, and anhydrovinblastine) and three related precursors i.e., tryptophan, tryptamine and loganin. The system has been applied for screening the TIAs and precursors in Catharanthus roseus plant extracts. In this study, different organs i.e., flowers, leaves, stems, and roots of C. roseus were investigated. The results indicate that TIAs and precursor accumulation varies qualitatively and quantitatively in different organs of C. roseus. The precursors showed much lower levels than TIAs in all organs. Leaves and flowers accumulate higher level of vindoline, catharanthine and anhydrovinblastine while roots have higher level of ajmalicine, vindolinine and serpentine. Moreover, the alkaloid profiles of leaves harvested at different ages and different growth stages were studied. The results show that the levels of monoindole alkaloids decreased while bisindole alkaloids increased with leaf aging and upon plant growth. The HPLC method has been successfully applied to detect TIAs and precursors in different types of C. roseus samples to facilitate further study of the TIA pathway and its regulation in C. roseus plants.
M13 is a non-lytic filamentous bacteriophage (phage). It has been used widely in phage display technology for displaying foreign peptides, and also for studying macromolecule structures and interactions. Traditionally, this phage has been purified by cesium chloride (CsCl) density gradient ultracentrifugation which is highly laborious and time consuming. In the present study, a simple, rapid and efficient method for the purification of M13 based on anion exchange chromatography was established. A pre-packed SepFast Super Q column connected to a fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) system was employed to capture released phages in clarified Escherichia coli fermented broth. An average yield of 74% was obtained from a packed bed mode elution using citrate buffer (pH 4), containing 1.5 M NaCl at 1 ml/min flow rate. The purification process was shortened substantially to less than 2 h from 18 h in the conventional ultracentrifugation method. SDS-PAGE revealed that the purity of particles was comparable to that of CsCl gradient density ultracentrifugation method. Plaque forming assay showed that the purified phages were still infectious.
Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) are a group of chiral amine drugs which are commonly abused for their sympathomimetic and stimulant properties. ATS are extensively metabolised by hepatic cytochrome P450 enzymes. As metabolism of ATS has been shown to be highly stereospecific, stereoselective analytical methods are essential for the quantitative determination of ATS concentrations for both in vivo and in vitro studies of ATS metabolism. This paper describes a new stereoselective method for the simultaneous determination of amphetamine (AM), methamphetamine (MA), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), 4-hydroxy-3-methoxymethamphetamine (HMMA), 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyamphetamine (HMA), 3,4-hydroxymethamphetamine (HHMA) and 3,4-hydroxyamphetamine (HHA) in human urine samples validated according to the United States Food and Drug Administration guidelines. In this method, analytes are simultaneously extracted and derivatized with R-(-)-α-methoxy-α-(trifluoromethyl)phenylacetyl chloride (R-MTPCl) as the chiral derivatization reagent. Following this, the analytes were subjected to a second derivatization with N-methyl-N-trimethylsilyltrifluoroacetamide (MSTFA) which targets the hydroxyl groups present in HMMA, HMA, HHMA and HHA. The derivatized analytes were separated and quantified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The method was evaluated according to the established guidelines for specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, recovery and stability using a five-day protocol. Intra-day precision ranged from 0.89 to 11.23% RSD whereas inter-day precision was between 1.03 and 12.95% RSD. Accuracy values for the analytes ranged from -5.29% to 13.75%. Limits of quantitation were 10 μg/L for AM, MA, MDMA, HMA and HMMA and 2μg/L for MDA, HMA and HHA. Recoveries and stability values were also within accepted values. The method was applied to authentic ATS-positive samples.
A sequential solid-phase extraction (SPE) method was developed and validated using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) for the detection and quantification of salbutamol enantiomers in porcine urine. Porcine urine samples were hydrolysed with β-glucuronidase/arylsulfatase from Helix pomatia and then subjected to a double solid-phase extraction (SPE) first using the Abs-Elut Nexus SPE and then followed by the Bond Elut Phenylboronic Acid (PBA) SPE. The salbutamol enantiomers were separated using the Astec CHIROBIOTIC™ T HPLC column (3.0mm×100mm; 5μm) maintained at 15°C with a 15min isocratic run at a flow rate of 0.4mL/min. The mobile phase constituted of 5mM ammonium formate in methanol. Salbutamol and salbutamol-tert-butyl-d9 (internal standard, IS) was monitored and quantified with the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The method showed good linearity for the range of 0.1-10ng/mL with limit of quantification at 0.3ng/mL. Analysis of the QC samples showed intra- and inter-assay precisions to be less than 5.04%, and recovery ranging from 83.82 to 102.33%.
The partitioning of β-mannanase derived from Bacillus subtilis ATCC 11774 in aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) was studied. The ATPS containing different molecular weight of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and types of salt were employed in this study. The PEG/salt composition for the partitioning of β-mannanase was optimized using response surface methodology. The study demonstrated that ATPS consists of 25% (w/w) of PEG 6000 and 12.52% (w/w) of potassium citrate is the optimum composition for the purification of β-mannanase with a purification fold (PF) of 2.28 and partition coefficient (K) of 1.14. The study on influences of pH and crude loading showed that ATPS with pH 8.0 and 1.5% (w/w) of crude loading gave highest PF of 3.1. To enhance the partitioning of β-mannanase, four ionic liquids namely 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([Bmim]BF4), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([Emim]BF4), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ([Bmim]Br), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ([Emim]Br) was added into the system as an adjuvant. The highest recovery yield (89.65%) was obtained with addition of 3% (w/w) of [Bmim]BF4. The SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that the β-mannanase was successfully recovered in the top phase of ATPS with the molecular size of 36.7kDa. Therefore, ATPS demonstrated a simple and efficient approach for recovery and purification of β-mannanase from fermentation broth in one single-step strategy.
Polygalacturonase is one of the important enzymes used in various industries such as food, detergent, pharmaceutical, textile, pulp and paper. A novel liquid/liquid extraction process composed of surfactant and acetonitrile was employed for the first time to purify polygalacturonase from Durio zibethinus. The influences of different parameters such as type and concentration of surfactants, concentrations of acetonitrile and composition of surfactant/acetonitrile on partitioning behavior and recovery of polygalacturonase was investigated. Moreover, the effect of pH of system and crude load on purification fold and yield of purified polygalacturonase were studied. The results of the experiment indicated the polygalacturonase was partitioned into surfactant top rich phase with impurities being partitioned into acetonitrile bottom rich phase in the novel method of liquid/liquid process composed of 23% (w/w) Triton X-100 and 19% (w/w) acetonitrile, at 55.6% of TLL (tie line length) crude load of 25% (w/w) at pH 6.0. Recovery and recycling of components also was measured in each successive step of liquid/liquid extraction process. The enzyme was successfully recovered by the method with a high purification factor of 14.3 and yield of 97.3% while phase components were also recovered and recycled above 95%. This study demonstrated that the novel method of liquid/liquid extraction process can be used as an efficient and economical extraction method rather than the traditional methods of extraction for the purification and recovery of the valuable enzyme.
A three phase hollow fiber liquid-phase microextraction with in situ derivatization (in situ HF-LPME) followed by high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) method was developed for the trace determination of metformin hydrochloride (MH) in biological fluids. A new derivatization agent pentafluorobenzoyl chloride (PFBC) was used. Several parameters that affect the derivatization and extraction efficiency were studied and optimized (i.e., type of organic solvent, volume of NaOH (4M) and derivatization agent in the donor phase, acceptor phase (HCl) concentration, stirring speed, temperature, time and salt addition). Under the optimum conditions (organic solvent, dihexyl ether; volume of NaOH (4M) and derivatization agent (10mg PFBC in 1mL acetonitrile) in the donor phase, 600 and100μL, respectively; acceptor phase, 100mM HCl (10μL); stirring speed, 300rpm; extraction time, 30min; derivatization temperature, 70°C; without addition of salt) an enrichment factor of 210-fold was achieved. Good linearity was observed over the range of 1-1000ngmL(-1) (r(2)=0.9998). The limits of detection and quantitation were 0.56 and 1.68ngmL(-1), respectively. The proposed method has been applied for the determination of MH in biological fluids (plasma and urine) and water samples. Prior to the microextraction treatment of plasma samples, deproteinization step using acetonitrile was conducted. The proposed method is simple, rapid, sensitive and suitable for the determination of MH in a variety of samples.
A new salting-out assisted liquid-liquid extraction (SALLE) sample preparation method for the determination of the polar anti-diabetic biguanide drugs (metformin, buformin and phenformin) in blood plasma, urine and lake water samples were developed. The SALLE was performed by mixing samples (plasma (0.2mL), urine or lake water (1.0mL)) with acetonitrile (0.4mL for plasma, 0.5mL for urine or lake water), sodium hydroxide powder was then added for the phase separation. The effects of type of salting-out reagent, type of extraction solvent, volumes of acetonitrile and sample, amount of sodium hydroxide, vortexing and centrifugation times on the extraction efficiency were investigated. The upper layer, containing the biguanides, was directly injected into a HPLC unit using ZIC-HILIC column (150mm×2.1mm×3.5μm) and was detected at 236nm. The method was validated and calibration curves were linear with r2>0.99 over the range of 20-2000μgL-1for plasma and 5-2000μgL-1for urine and lake water samples. The limits of detection were in the range (3.8-5.6)μgL-1, (0.8-1.5)μgL-1and (0.3-0.8)μgL-1for plasma, urine and lake water, respectively. The accuracies in the three matrices were within 87.3-103%, 87.4-109%, 82.2-109% of the nominal concentration for metformin, buformin and phenformin, respectively. The relative standard deviation for inter- and intra -day precision were in the range of 1.0-17% for all analytes in the three matrices.
A hollow fiber liquid phase microextraction (HF-LPME) in conjunction with reversed phase HPLC-UV method was developed for the extraction and determination of trace amounts of the antidiabetic drug, mitiglinide (MIT) in biological fluids. The drug was extracted from 10 mL aqueous sample (donor phase (DP)) into an organic phase impregnated in the pores of hollow fiber, followed by the back extraction into a second aqueous solution (acceptor phase (AP)) located in the lumen of the hollow fiber. Parameters influencing the extraction efficiency including the kind of organic solvent, composition of DP and AP, extraction time, stirring rate and salt addition were investigated and optimized. Under the optimized extraction conditions, high enrichment factors (210-fold), good linearity (5-1000 ng mL(-1)) and detection limit lower than 1.38 ng mL(-1) were achieved. Recoveries of spiked samples were in the range (88.3-96.3%) and (92.0-99.3%) for urine and plasma samples, respectively. The percent relative standard deviation (n=9) for the extraction and determination of three concentration levels (100, 400 and 800 ng mL(-1)) of MIT were less than 10.6% and 13.6% for urine and plasma samples, respectively. The developed method is simple, sensitive and has been successfully applied to the analysis of MIT in biological fluids.
A simple, rapid, sensitive, and reproducible liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed to determine sitagliptin in human plasma. Diphenhydramine HCl was used as internal standard (IS). The chromatographic separation was achieved using Agilent Poroshell 120 EC-C18 - Fast LC column (100 × 2.1mmID, 2.7) fitted with UHPLC Guard Poroshell 120 EC-C18 (5 × 2.1mmID, 2.7 µm). The mobile phase consisted of 0.1% v/v formic acid and methanol (45:55, v/v) run at a flow rate of 0.45 mL/min at 30 °C. Methanol produced relatively cleaner plasma sample as deproteinization agent. Polytetrafluoroethylene membrane was preferred over nylon membrane as the former produced clear plasma samples. The standard calibration curve was linear over the concentration range of 5-500.03 ng/mL. The within-run precision was 0.53-7.12% and accuracy 87.09-105.05%. The between-run precision was 4.74-11.68% and accuracy 95.02-97.36%. The extended run precision was 3.60-6.88% and accuracy 93.18-95.82%. The recovery of analyte and IS was consistent. Sitagliptin in plasma was stable at benchtop (short term) for 24 h, in autosampler tray for 48 h, in instrumentation room for 48 h (post-preparative), after 7 freeze-thaw cycles (-20 ± 10 °C), and 62 days in the freezer (-20 ± 10 °C). Both sitagliptin (analyte) and IS stock solutions were stable for 62 days when kept at room temperature (25 ± 4 °C) and in chiller (2-8 °C). The validated method was successfully applied to a bioequivalence study of two sitagliptin formulations involving 26 healthy Malaysian volunteers.