A Nitrite Excipient Database: A Useful Tool to Support N-Nitrosamine Risk Assessments for Drug Products.

N-Nitrosamine risk assessment and control have become an integral part of pharmaceutical drug product development and quality evaluation. Initial reports of nitrosamine contamination were linked with the drug substance and its manufacturing process. Subsequently, the drug product and aspects of the formulation process have shown to be relevant. Regarding specific formulation contributions to nitrosamine content in a product, one risk lies in possible interactions between nitrosating agents, derived from nitrite in excipients, and vulnerable amines, either present as moieties of the active molecule or as impurities / degradants. However, the limited validated information on nitrite levels in excipients available until now, has been an obstacle for scientists to assess the risk of nitrosamine formation in pharmaceutical products. This has driven the creation of a database to store and share such validated information. The database, maintained by Lhasa Limited, constitutes a central platform to hold the data donated by the pharmaceutical company members on the nitrite concentrations in common excipients measured with validated analytical procedures. The goal of this data sharing initiative is to provide a common framework to contextualize and estimate the risk posed by presence of nitrites to contribute to the formation of nitrosamines in drug products. The major findings from the database analyses are: (1) average nitrite content and batch to batch variance differ among excipients, (2) for solid dosage forms, the nitrite contribution is dominated by the highest formula % excipients, e.g., the fillers (diluents), which are typically used in larger proportion, and are characterized by low nitrite levels and low variability, leading to an average value of 1 µg/g nitrite in a typical formulation, (3) substantial differences in average nitrite content in batches from different excipient vendors potentially reflecting differences in source materials or processing methods for excipient manufacturing. That final point suggests that future selection of raw materials or processing by excipient manufacturers may help reduce nitrite levels in finished drug product formulations, and thus the overall risk of nitrosamine formation in cases where the product contains vulnerable amines.

Letter to the editor of Heliyon re: determination of dimethylamine and nitrite in pharmaceuticals by ion chromatography to assess the likelihood of nitrosamine formation Heliyon. 2021; 77: e06179.

Our letter to the editor of Heliyon outlines queries on the methodology and sample preparation used in article e06179, published in 2021. The nitrite measurements reported are higher than those observed in our experience. In the interest of reporting nitrite levels that are fully accurate, we would like to discuss the findings with the article authors.

Avoiding N-nitrosodimethylamine formation in metformin pharmaceuticals by limiting dimethylamine and nitrite.

Since late 2019, concerns regarding trace levels of the probable human carcinogen N-dimethylnitrosamine (NDMA) in Metformin-containing pharmaceuticals have been an issue if they exceeded the maximum allowable intake of 96 ng/day for a medicine with long-term intake. Here, we report results from an extensive analysis of NDMA content along the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing process as well as two different drug product manufacturing processes. Our findings confirm that Metformin API is not a significant source of NDMA found in Metformin pharmaceuticals and that NDMA is created at those steps of the drug product manufacturing that introduce heat and nitrite. We demonstrate that reduction of nitrite from excipients is an effective means to reduce NDMA in the drug product. Limiting residual dimethylamine in the API has proven to be another important factor for NDMA control as dimethylamine leads to formation of NDMA in the drug products. Furthermore, analysis of historical batches of drug products has shown that NDMA may increase during storage, but the levels reached were not shelf-life limiting for the products under study.

NDMA analytics in metformin products: Comparison of methods and pitfalls.

BACKGROUND: For nearly three years, the concerns regarding trace levels of N-nitrosamines in pharmaceuticals and the associated cancer risk have significantly expanded and are a major issue facing the global pharmaceutical industry. N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) found in formulations of the popular anti-diabetic drug metformin is a prominent example. This has resulted in product recalls raising the profile within the media. Issues of method robustness, sample preparation and several unexpected sources of nitrosamine contamination have been highlighted as false positive risks. It has become apparent that the identification of the root causes of artefactual formation of nitrosamines must be identified to mitigate risk associated with the analysis. METHODS: A comparison study between four laboratories, across three companies was designed, employing orthogonal mass spectrometric methods for the quantification of NDMA in two metformin immediate release (IR) formulations and one extended release (XR) formulation. These were 2x LC-MS/MS, GC-MS/MS and GC-HRMS. RESULTS: Good agreement of results was obtained for the IR formulations. However, we measured higher concentrations of NDMA in the XR formulation using GC-MS/MS compared to LC-MS/MS. We could show that this was due to artefactual (in situ) formation of NDMA when samples were extracted with dichloromethane. Removal of dimethylamine (DMA) and nitrite from the extracted sample or the addition of a nitrosation scavenger are shown to be effective remedies. NDMA in situ formation was not observed in 10% MeOH or acetonitrile. CONCLUSION: Metformin pharmaceuticals contain traces of the API impurity DMA as well as inorganic nitrite from excipients. This can lead to artefactual formation of NDMA and hence false positive results if DCM is used for sample extraction. Similar artefacts are likely also in other pharmaceuticals if these contain the secondary amine precursor of the respective nitrosamine analyte.

Detection of the Cytotoxic Penitrems A-F in Cheese from the European Single Market by HPLC-MS/MS.

Penitrems are fungal indole diterpene-derived tremorgenic secondary metabolites, which are mainly produced by Penicillium spp. Several cases of intoxications with penitrems and subsequent occurrences of penitrem A in foodstuff underline the need for reliable quantitation methods for the detection of these mycotoxins in food. In this study, a simple and fast high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method for the quantitative analysis of penitrems A-F in cheese was developed. Therefore, penitrems A-F were isolated from Penicillium crustosum as analytical reference standards. The analysis of 60 cheese samples from the European single market (EU) revealed the occurrence of penitrem A in 10% of the analyzed samples with an average concentration of 28.4 µg/kg and a maximum concentration of 429 µg/kg. In addition to penitrem A, other members of the group of penitrems, namely, penitrems B, C, D, E, and F, were for the first time quantitatively detected in food samples, although in lower concentrations and with lower incidence in comparison to penitrem A. Moreover, we report cytotoxic effects of all penitrems on two cell lines (HepG2 and CCF-STTG1). This clearly underlines their relevance and the importance to analyze food samples in order to get insights into the human exposure toward these mycotoxins.

Alternaria toxins in South African sunflower seeds: cooperative study.

Sunflower seed samples (N = 80) from different sunflower cultivars originating from different localities in South Africa were analyzed for 15 toxins produced by fungi of the genus Alternaria by means of a simple one-step extraction dilute-and-shoot HPLC-MS/MS approach. References for valine-tenuazonic acid (Val-TeA), altenusin (ALTS), and altenuisol (ALTSOH) were isolated from fungal culture extracts and spectroscopically characterized. Additionally, valine-tenuazonic acid was tested regarding its cytotoxicity in comparison with tenuazonic acid (TeA) and showed less activity on HT-29 cells. Furthermore, alternariol monomethyl ether-3-O-ß-D-glucoside (AME-3G) was produced by fermentation of alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) with the fungus Rhizopus oryzae. The seed samples were analyzed both with and without hulls. The method covers the AAL toxins TA1 and TA2, altenuene (ALT) and iso-altenuene (iso-ALT), altenuisol, altenusin, altertoxin I (ATX-I) and altertoxin II (ATX-II), alternariol (AOH) and alternariol monomethyl ether, alternariol monomethyl ether-3-O-ß-D-glucoside, tenuazonic acid, allo-tenuazonic acid (allo-TeA) and valine-tenuazonic acid, and tentoxin (TEN). More than 80% of the samples were positive for one or more analytes above the respective limit of detection (0.2-23 µg/kg). Alternariol, its monomethyl ether, tentoxin, tenuazonic acid, altenuisol, and valine-tenuazonic acid were found in quantifiable amounts. The highest prevalences were found for tentoxin (73% positive, mean content 13.2 µg/kg, maximum level 130 ± 0.9 µg/kg) followed by tenuazonic acid (51% positive, mean content 630 µg/kg, maximum level 6300 ± 560 µg/kg). The obtained data were further analyzed statistically to identify quantitative or qualitative relationships between the levels of Alternaria toxin in the samples.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry imaging of ochratoxin A and fumonisins in mold-infected food.

RATIONALE: Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by various fungi. Their distribution within contaminated material is of high interest to obtain insight into infection mechanisms and the possibility of reducing contamination during food processing. METHODS: Various vegetable foodstuffs were infected with fungi of the genera Fusarium and Aspergillus. The localization of the produced mycotoxins was studied by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of flight mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) of cryosections obtained from infected material. The results were confirmed by high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS). RESULTS: The mycotoxins ochratoxin A (OTA) and fumonisins of the B- and C-series (FB1 , FB2 , FB3 , FB4 , FC1 , FC2/3 , and FC4 ) as well as partially hydrolyzed fumonisins (pHFB1 , pHFB2 , pHFB3 , pHFC1 , and pHFC2/3 ) could successfully be detected by MALDI-MSI in mold-infested foodstuffs. The toxins are distributed differently in the material: OTA is co-localized with visible fungal spoilage while fumonisins could be detected throughout the whole sample. CONCLUSIONS: This work shows the applicability of MALDI-MSI to mycotoxin analysis. It has been demonstrated that the analyzed mycotoxins are differently distributed within moldy foodstuffs. These findings show the potential of MALDI-MSI for the localization of these hazardous compounds in various plant tissues. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Determination of Exposure to the Alternaria Mycotoxin Tenuazonic Acid and Its Isomer allo-Tenuazonic Acid in a German Population by Stable Isotope Dilution HPLC-MS(3).

The content of the Alternaria toxin tenuazonic acid and its isomer allo-tenuazonic acid was quantitated in urine of a German cohort (n = 48) using a newly developed and successfully validated solid phase extraction based stable isotope dilution HPLC-MS(3) method. Tenuazonic acid was detected in all of the samples and quantifiable in 97.9% of these samples in a range of 0.16-44.4 ng/mL (average = 6.58 ng/mL) or 0.07-63.8 ng/mg creatinine (average = 8.13 ng/mg creatinine). allo-Tenuazonic acid was for the first time detected in human urine (95.8% of the samples positive) and quantitated in 68.8% of the samples in a range of 0.11-5.72 ng/mL (average = 1.25 ng/mL) or 0.08-10.1 ng/mg creatinine (average = 1.52 ng/mg creatinine), representing 3.40-25.0% of the sum of both isomers (average = 12.4%). Food-frequency questionnaires were used to document food consumption of study participants to correlate mycotoxin exposure to nutritional habits. Although no statistically significant correlation between consumption of a specific food and urinary excretion of tenuazonic acid could be determined, a trend regarding elevated intake of cereal products and higher excretion of tenuazonic acid was evident. On the basis of these results, a provisional mean daily intake (PDI) for both tenuazonic acid and allo-tenuazonic acid was calculated, being 0.183 and 0.025 µg/kg body weight, respectively. A combined mean PDI for both isomers amounts to 0.208 µg/kg body weight with the highest individual PDI for one of the participants (1.582 µg/kg body weight) slightly exceeding the threshold of toxicological concern assumed for tenuazonic acid by the European Food Safety Authority of 1.500 µg/kg body weight. This is the first study to investigate the tenuazonic acid content in human urine of a larger sample cohort enabling the calculation of PDIs for tenuazonic acid and allo-tenuazonic acid.

Survey of Alternaria toxin contamination in food from the German market, using a rapid HPLC-MS/MS approach.

A HPLC-MS/MS-based method for the quantification of nine mycotoxins produced by fungi of the genus Alternaria in various food matrices was developed. The method relies on a single-step extraction, followed by dilution of the raw extract and direct analysis. In combination with an analysis time per sample of 12 min, the sample preparation is cost-effective and easy to handle. The method covers alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), tenuazonic acid (TeA), altenuene (ALT), iso-altenuene (isoALT), tentoxin (TEN), altertoxin-I (ATX-I), and the AAL toxins TA1 and TA2. Some Alternaria toxins which are either not commercially available or very expensive, namely AOH, AME, ALT, isoALT, and ATX-I, were isolated as reference compounds from fungal cultures. The method was extensively validated for tomato products, bakery products, sunflower seeds, fruit juices, and vegetable oils. AOH, AME, TeA, and TEN were found in quantifiable amounts and 92.1% of all analyzed samples (n = 96) showed low level contamination with one or more Alternaria toxins. Based on the obtained results, the average daily exposure to Alternaria toxins in Germany was calculated.

Detection and Quantitative Analysis of the Non-cytotoxic allo-Tenuazonic Acid in Tomato Products by Stable Isotope Dilution HPLC-MS/MS.

Tenuazonic acid (1) is a mycotoxin produced mainly by fungi of the genus Alternaria. It occurs in a variety of agricultural products. allo-Tenuazonic acid (2) is an isomer of 1 that is not chromatographically separated from 1 in most analytical methods. Therefore, both isomers are quantitated as a sum parameter. In this study a QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) based stable isotope dilution HPLC-MS/MS method including the chromatographic separation of both isomers was developed and applied to 20 tomato products from the German market. All products showed contamination with both toxins. 1 was found in a range from 5.3 ± 0.1 to 550 ± 15 µg/kg (average = 120 µg/kg) and 2 in a range from 1.5 ± 0.4- to 270 ± 0.8 µg/kg (average = 58 µg/kg). 2 represents 7.0-44% of the sum of both isomers (average = 29%). This is the first reported occurrence of 2 in food samples. To evaluate and compare the cytotoxicities of 1 and 2, both compounds were isolated from a synthetic racemic mixture. 1 showed moderate cytotoxic effects on HT-29 cells starting at 100 µM, whereas 2 exhibited no activity. 2 was not produced in liquid cultures of Alternaria alternata in yeast extract sucrose (YES) medium, but could be detected in small amounts in tomato puree inoculated with the fungus.

A new approach using micro HPLC-MS/MS for multi-mycotoxin analysis in maize samples.

Using micro high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) a simple and fast method for the quantitative determination of 26 mycotoxins was developed. Sample preparation consists of a single extraction step and a dilute-and-shoot approach without further cleanup. With a total run time of 9 min and solvent consumption below 0.3 mL per chromatographic run, the presented method is cost-effective. All toxins regulated by the European Commission with maximum or guidance levels in grain products (fumonisins B1 and B2 (FB1 and FB2)); deoxynivalenol (DON); aflatoxins B1, G1, B2, and G2 (AFB1, AFG1, AFB2, and AFG2); ochratoxin A (OTA); T-2 and HT-2 toxins; and zearalenone (ZEN) can be quantified with this method. Furthermore, the enniatins B, B1, A, and A1 (EnB, EnB1, EnA, and EnA1); beauvericin (BEA); 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3-AcDON); fusarin C (FusC); sterigmatocystin (STC); gliotoxin (GT); and the Alternaria toxins alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), altenuene (ALT), tentoxin (TEN), and altertoxin I (ATX I) can also be quantified. For all regulated compounds, recoveries ranged between 76 and 120%. For all other toxins, the recovery was at least 51%. The method was applied for the analysis of 42 maize samples from field trials in South Africa.