Study of the evolution and degradation products of ciprofloxacin and oxolinic acid in river water samples by HPLC-UV/MS/MS-MS.

The results of a degradation study of the (fluoro)quinolone antibiotics ciprofloxacin and oxolinic acid in river water samples are presented in this paper. The decomposition of these compounds at ambient temperature was monitored during five months by HPLC-UV, and two consecutive degradation processes (photo- and bio/chemical-degradation) were observed in both cases although with different degradation rates. Ciprofloxacin was completely degraded after 3 months whereas 80% of oxolinic acid remained unaltered after five months of storage. The analysis of the degradation compounds formed was carried out using MS and tandem MS-MS, allowing the identification of four new ciprofloxacin transformation products not previously described in the literature. Possible degradation pathways for this antibiotic in river water are proposed.

Detection of coexisting protein conformations in capillary zone electrophoresis subsequent to transient contact with sodium dodecyl sulfate solutions.

Non-native conformations of proteins were generated by temporary contact with aqueous solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and separated from the native state with capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) in alkaline borate buffer deficient of SDS. Nine proteins at concentrations of 2.0 or 3.0 mg.L(-1) were compared in terms of their susceptibility to SDS. For superoxide dismutase and ferritin the tendency of unfolding was modest with < 25% of the protein being transformed to the non-native state at 10 mmol.L(-1) SDS. Highest susceptibility was observed for albumin, myoglobin (Mb), and hemoglobin with > 75% in the non-native state even at 2.0 mmol.L(-1) SDS. The influence of varying SDS concentrations on the conformational state of Mb was tested. Increasing the SDS concentration, circular dichroism revealed a reduction in alpha-helix, an increase in random coil, and an introduction of beta-sheet, which is absent in native structure. Modifications in the secondary structure were in agreement with distinct changes in the shape of the non-native Mb peak in CZE and make a gradual unfolding/refolding process with several coexisting molten globules instead of two-state transition of conformations most plausible for Mb. CZE was found to contribute to a further understanding of holo-Mb transformation towards a population of non-native conformations (i) by means of calculated peak area ratios of native to non-native states, which showed sigmoid transition, (ii) by detecting the release of the prosthetic heme group, and (iii) by changes in the effective electrophoretic mobility of the Mb-SDS peaks. Reconstituted holo-Mb forms differed in the Soret band around 410 nm, indicating diversity in the conformation of the heme pocket.

Stability of fluoroquinolone antibiotics in river water samples and in octadecyl silica solid-phase extraction cartridges.

Intensive use of antibiotics in human and veterinarian medicine and in industrial farming (food additives) has resulted in the transport of important quantities of the active ingredients to environmental waters. Environmental analysis usually requires sample storage for certain periods of time and, consequently, it is of great importance to know the stability of antibiotics in these kinds of sample. Thus, in this work the stability in river water of oxolinic acid (Oxo) and ciprofloxacin (Cip), taken as representatives of fluoroquinolone and quinolone antibiotics respectively, has been evaluated. The stability of these compounds in river water has been studied both in containers and on C(18) solid-phase extraction cartridges (SPE) under different storage conditions (time, light, and temperature). Data analysis revealed that Cip and Oxo have different degradation profiles with different degradation kinetics in river water. It was also concluded that these antibiotics are stable both in the containers and on SPE cartridges for at least 2 weeks at ambient temperature, and stability can be increased substantially if samples are stored at low temperatures (4 and -18 degrees C).

Trace enrichment of (fluoro)quinolone antibiotics in surface waters by solid-phase extraction and their determination by liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection.

A new and simple analytical methodology for the simultaneous analysis of acidic and zwitterionic (fluoro)quinolones in surface waters at trace concentration level is presented. The method is based on the preconcentration of these analytes by a solid-phase extraction procedure and their subsequent quantification by liquid chromatography using ultraviolet detection. The breakthrough volumes of the selected (fluoro)quinolones in four different sorbents--C18, styrenedivinylbenzene (SDB), C18-cation-exchange and SDB-cation-exchange--have been evaluated and varied between 25 and 150 ml depending on the antibiotic and the sorbent used. An exhaustive study of the influence of sample pH on the preconcentration step has been carried out in order to find a suitable procedure for extraction of acidic and zwitterionic FQs in one single step. Under optimum conditions, it was possible to percolate up to 250 ml of water solution onto both C18 and SDB-cation-exchange cartridges with quantitative recoveries for all the analytes tested. However, matrix components of the surface water samples analysed negatively affected the recoveries of the analytes in the SDB-cation-exchange cartridge and thus, C18 cartridges were finally selected for the analysis of the (fluoro)quinolones in lake and river water. The limits of detection achieved with this procedure varied between 8 and 20 ng l(-1) proving its suitability for the determination of the (fluoro)quinolones in water samples at a realistic environmental concentration level.

Comparative study of coulometric and amperometric detection for the determination of macrolides in human urine using high-performance liquid chromatography.

A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method using chromatographic conditions optimised in a previous work was applied for the separation of three macrolide antibiotics roxithromycin (Rox), oleandomycin (Ole) and rosamicin (Ros) and further determination of two of them, roxithromycin (Rox) and oleandomycin (Ole), in human urine samples. A comparative study of the behaviour of these macrolides under the two types of electrochemical detection (EC) widely coupled with HPLC, that is coulometric (EC-C) and amperometric (EC-A), was carried out by applying the same multiresidue method. From the assays performed using both detectors the comparison was made taking relevant criteria such as detection limits, linearity, recovery and precision values into account. As a result of this comparison, the coulometric detector appears slightly more suitable than the amperometric one for macrolide analysis.

Validation of an analytical procedure for the determination of oxidative hair dyes in cosmetic formulations.

A high range and variety of cosmetic formulations that contain oxidative hair dyes and matrix-forming compounds have been industrially developed over recent years and are now available on the international market. Member states of the European Union are responsible for conducting analyses of cosmetic products as deemed necessary by law and European regulation enforcement. Therefore, inspection authorities as well as the cosmetics trade and industry need validated analytical methods for the identification, characterization, and/or quality control of specific active ingredients or formulations with the aim of implementing the European Union Cosmetic Directives (76/768/ECC, 95/17/EC). In this frame, we validated a candidate reference method that enables the identification and quantification of hair dye-forming compounds. This method consists of a separation by RP-HPLC coupled with a DAD after a liquid-liquid extraction procedure for separating matrix components from the dye-forming compounds. The validation of the method includes common criteria such as the repeatability of the analysis and the establishment of figures of merit, as well as statistical evaluations and quality assurance in order to follow the recommendations of the Eurachem guide for analytical measurements.

Optimization and validation of an analytical procedure for the determination of oxidative hair dyes in commercial cosmetic formulations.

A method has been developed and validated for the analysis of commonly used intermediates of oxidative hair dyes in commercial cosmetic formulations, including both liquid and cream forms, in dark and blonde shades. The commercial formulations are submitted to extraction by an organic solvent, and the resulting aqueous phase is analyzed by reverse-phase HPLC with a gradient elution and detection with DAD and/or ESI-MS-MS. A spectra library containing 200-400 nm spectra of the target substances and their HPLC retention times has been recorded for the identification. The quantification of the target substances is also performed after spiking of the commercial formulations, using an external calibration. The recoveries obtained are very good for all selected intermediates. The whole procedure has been found to be highly suitable for the identification and quantification of dye intermediates. Also implemented has been a database containing (a) the retention times, (b) the spectral, MS, and MS/MS characteristics of the intermediates, (c) acidity constant values of some intermediates of interest experimentally determined and compared to the available NIST values, (d) the chromatographic conditions used, (e) the behavior towards extraction of dye intermediates, and (f) matrix compounds.

Recent developments in quantification methods for metallothionein.

The metallothioneins (MT), a family of proteins with relatively low molecular weight (6-7 kDa), are characterised by the intrinsic presence of 20 cysteinyl groups in their structure, which confers unique metal binding properties to the molecule. Since MT are involved in biological roles, quantification of MT remains an important task. To date, a large number of determination methods have been developed. In this paper recent developments, from 1995 to the present, in methodology employed in quantification studies of total MT and MT polymorphism are described. Different fields were taken into consideration, such as (i) separation techniques and hyphenated systems, (ii) electrochemical methods, (iii) immunological methods and (iv) quantification of MT mRNA. The data presented are based on our own and published results. A brief overview of the use of metallothionein as a biomarker is included as a relevant example of the importance of MT quantification. Finally, general problems associated with determination and evaluation of obtained results within the above four topics are mentioned.