Characterization of the chemical structure of sulphated glycosaminoglycans after enzymatic digestion. Application of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry with an atmospheric pressure interface.

Pneumatically assisted electrospray was demonstrated to be a powerful ionization source for the analysis of oligosaccharides. A mass spectrometer was interfaced to an HPLC system, using this interface, to determine oligosaccharides from the enzymatic digestion of heparin separated on a reversed-phase column. To set up the technique, and particularly to clarify the ionization process, purified disaccharides, from enzymatic digestion of chondroitin sulphates, were measured. The use of a suitable counter ion in the mobile phase, tetrapropylammonium (TPA), to optimize the HPLC separation, gave, with sulphated di- and oligosaccharides, adducts [M + nTPA - (n + m)H]m-, which were unexpectedly stable to fragmentation; molecular ions [M - (n + 1)H]n-, in the presence of the counter ion, were observed only with desulphated or monosulphated disaccharides. The stability of the adducts and the use of a deuterated ion-pair reagent permitted an exact evaluation of the molecular masses of disaccharides and oligosaccharides of unknown structure. Spectra obtained in the absence of the counter ion contained singly or multiply charged molecular ions and fragmentation ions mainly from loss of the sulphate groups; under these ionization conditions the exact mass determination and interpretation of the spectra were difficult. After removal of the counter ion, tandem mass spectra could be obtained with some interesting data for the characterization of these molecules. Complete spectral analyses were performed with amounts of samples of 50 micrograms but, using microbore columns, one twentieth of this amount may give good spectra.

Defibrotide, a single-stranded polydeoxyribonucleotide acting as an adenosine receptor agonist.

The binding of single-stranded polydeoxyribonucleotides to adenosine A1 and A2 receptors was investigated. Defibrotide, a natural substance with established anti-thrombotic and anti-ischaemic effects, displaced [3H]CHA (N6-cyclohexyl-adenosine) and [3H]NECA (5'-N-ethylcarboxamido-adenosine) concentration dependently, completely and competitively. Ki values of 371 +/- 68 and 688 +/- 115 micrograms/ml (mean +/- S.E.M. of 4-5 replications) were computed for adenosine A1 and A2 sites, respectively. Higher and lower molecular weight polydeoxyribonucleotides displayed comparable affinity, whereas a double-stranded polydeoxyribonucleotide and a polyanion with a negative charge comparable to that of defibrotide were inactive. Defibrotide did not affect the total number of binding sites in radioligand saturation experiments. Defibrotide relaxed the K(+)-contracted guinea-pig trachealis muscle (IC50 = 4001 micrograms/ml) about one-third as potently as the CHA-contracted preparation and as potently as the resting preparation. NECA, a mixed adenosine A1/A2 receptor agonist, behaved similarly. The effects were abolished by the adenosine A1/A2 receptor blocker 8-phenyltheophylline, but not by the selective A1 blocker, 1,3-dipropyl-8-(2-amino-4-chlorophenyl)-xanthine. These results demonstrate that defibrotide binds to adenosine receptors and triggers pharmacological responses comparable to those of a known agonist.

High-performance liquid chromatography determination of polydeoxyribonucleotides in plasma: its application to the determination of defibrotide's pharmacokinetics in the rabbit.

We describe an HPLC method for the determination of whole polydeoxyribonucleotides in animal plasma. This method was compared to a colorimetric method, which evaluates the sugar moiety of polydeoxyribonucleotides, and to an agarose gel electrophoresis method, which evaluates the whole polydeoxyribonucleotides as does the HPLC method, and was found to give results very close to those obtained with these two other methods. A pharmacokinetic study of the antithrombotic, profibrinolytic, polydeoxyribonucleotidic drug defibrotide was carried out by evaluating the plasma drug levels by these three methods. The pharmacokinetic parameters calculated from the data are very similar.