Simultaneous determination of BNP7787 and its metabolite mesna in plasma and tissue by micro-HPLC with a dual electrochemical detector.

Sensitive, accurate, and precise assays are described to determine BNP7787 (disodium 2,2'-dithio-bis-ethane sulfonate) and its metabolite mesna (sodium 2-mercaptoethane sulfonate) simultaneously in plasma and tissue by micro-high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with dual electrochemical detection. After separation of BNP7787 and mesna by micro-HPLC, the disulfide BNP7787 was reduced to mesna by a reactor cell with a glassy carbon working electrode (-1.6 V versus Hy-REF). At the second electrode, which consisted of a gold wall-jet electrode, the mesna generated from BNP7787 and the mesna already present in the samples were detected (+0.85 V versus Ag/AgCl). The lower limit of quantification (LLQ) of both compounds was 3 microM in plasma and 20 nmol/g in tissue. The dynamic range of the assay in plasma was 3-120 microM for mesna and 15-1200 microM for BNP7787. In tissue, the dynamic range was 20-2000 nmol/g for both compounds. The recovery of mesna from plasma and tissue ranged from 61.4 to 90.5% and 82.7 to 90.2%, respectively, and seemed to be concentration dependent. The recovery of BNP7787 from plasma and tissue was complete (i.e., 101.5 and 96.4%, respectively). The within- and between-day accuracy and precision for the plasma and tissue assay were within 14 and 7%, respectively. The utility of the assay was shown by determination of the stability of mesna and BNP7787 in a kidney sample of a rat and by analysis of plasma samples obtained from a patient receiving 18.4 g/m(2) BNP7787 as a 15-min intravenous infusion.

Quantification of mesna and total mesna in kidney tissue by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

A sensitive and selective assay for the determination of mesna and total mesna in tissue was developed and validated. After a simple homogenization, extraction and deproteinization step, mesna could be measured immediately by HPLC with an electrochemical detector provided with a sensitive wall-jet gold electrode. Total mesna (i.e., free mesna and mesna present in mesna disulfides and mixed mesna disulfides) could be measured after pre-column reduction with sodium borohydride to free mesna. The lower limit of quantification of mesna and total mesna was for both compounds 10 nmol/g. The assays for mesna and total mesna in tissue were linear over the ranges of 10-3000 and 10-10000 nmol/g, respectively. The within-day and between-day precisions of both methods were better than 9%. The within-day and between-day accuracy of the mesna assay ranged from 103.7 to 113.6%, whereas the accuracies of the total mesna assay ranged from 97.8 to 106.7%. Mesna in an EDTA containing tissue homogenate or in deproteinized tissue homogenate stored at -80 degrees C was stable for at least 12 weeks. Total mesna was stable under all conditions measured. The developed assays will be applied for the determination of the distribution of mesna and total mesna in tissues of the rat after administration of mesna or BNP7787.

Simultaneous determination of intact cisplatin and its metabolite monohydrated cisplatin in human plasma.

Cisplatin is a cytotoxic platinum compound, used in the treatment of several solid tumors. Cisplatin and to a greater extent its hydrolysis product monohydrated cisplatin are responsible for side-effects like nephrotoxicity. A sensitive, accurate and precise method was developed to simultaneously determine cisplatin and monohydrated cisplatin in plasma. The compounds were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography and quantified by off-line furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The linear ranges for cisplatin and monohydrated cisplatin in deproteinized plasma were 60-600 and 87.5-700 nM, respectively. From plasma, the mean recovery of cisplatin was 83.2% and that of monohydrated cisplatin 79.1%. The lower limits of quantification of cisplatin and monohydrated cisplatin in deproteinized plasma were 60 and 87.5 nM, respectively. Over the whole calibration range, the within- and between-day accuracy of intact cisplatin ranged from 100.7 to 111.4 and 94.8-102.0%, respectively. The within- and between-day accuracy of monohydrated cisplatin ranged from 107.1 to 113.3 and 101.4-104.9%, respectively. The within-day and between-day precision of cisplatin ranged from 3.4 to 11.5 and 7.3-10.3%, respectively. For monohydrated cisplatin, the within-day and between-day precision ranged from 3.7 to 6.2 and 5.6-7.9%, respectively. Currently, the developed assay has been implemented in pharmacokinetic studies of patients treated with cisplatin alone or in combination with other drugs.

Quantification of BNP7787 (dimesna) and its metabolite mesna in human plasma and urine by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

A sensitive and accurate assay was developed and validated to determine BNP7787 (dimesna), a new protector against cisplatin-induced toxicities, and its metabolite mesna in plasma and urine of patients. Both analytes were measured as mesna in deproteinized plasma or in urine diluted with mobile phase using high-performance liquid chromatography with an electrochemical detector provided with a wall-jet gold electrode. The assays for BNP7787 and mesna in deproteinized plasma were linear over the range of 1.6-500 microM and 0.63-320 microM, respectively. In plasma, the mean recovery of BNP7787 over the whole concentration range was 100.6% and of mesna 94.6%. The lower limits of quantitation (LLQs) of BNP7787 and mesna in deproteinized plasma were 1.6 microM and 0.63 microM, respectively. For both compounds the within- and between-day accuracy and precision of the assay was better than 12%. The assays for BNP7787 and mesna in urine were linear over the range of 0.8-1200 microM and 0.63-250 microM, respectively. In urine, the mean recovery of BNP7787 over the whole concentration range was 94.1% and of mesna 93.1%. The LLQ of BNP7787 in urine was 0.8 microM and of mesna 1.6 microM. The within- and between-day accuracy and precision of the assay for BNP7787 and mesna was lower than 15%. The stability of mesna in urine increased with an increasing concentration of mesna, lower temperature and addition of EDTA (1 g/l) and hydrochloric acid (0.2 M). BNP7787 in urine was stable for at least 24 h at temperatures in the range of -20 degrees C up to 37 degrees C and independent of the concentration. The developed assays are currently applied for samples of patients with solid tumors participating in a phase I trial of BNP7787 in combination with cisplatin.

Effect of Viscum album preparations on gastric chief cells and DNA methylation by N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine

The protective effect of extracts of mistletoe Viscum album (Iscador) with reference to carcinogenesis was tested on in vitro cultured porcine gastric chief cells. Putative protection against in vitro methylation of lambda DNA by N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) was studied with restriction endonucleases. Preparations of Iscador from mistletoe grown on oak as host tree had a high cytotoxic effect on gastric chief cells, with an LC50 after 24hrs that ranged between 0.01 and 0.03 mg/ml. At 0.01 mg/ml, Iscador was also found to protect lambda DNA from methylation or destruction by MNNG. During the course of this study a high variability was found both in cytotoxicity and protection rate against methylation which we attribute to batch to batch differences. Thus the LC50 for Iscador MH86L12 was 0.005 mg/ml, while for MH87 D24 it was 0.05 mg/ml after 24hrs. The Iscador batch W frf 50 mg/ml, which was made from a fresh plant extract at the Hiscia Institute, showed less variability. Results are therefore given for this batch of Iscador only

Identification of a Glu greater than Lys substitution in the activation segment of human pepsinogen A-3 and -5 isozymogens by peptide mapping using endoproteinase Lys-C.

The isozymogens PGA-3 and PGA-5 of human pepsinogen A were digested with endoproteinase Lys-C. The peptides were separated by reverse-phase HPLC. PGA-5 showed a peak strongly absorbing at 254 nm absent in PGA-3. Analysis of amino acid composition using the Pico-Tag methodology combined with DABITC-sequencing reveals the sequence Tyr-Phe-Pro-Gln-Trp-Lys (peptide 37-43 of the activation segment). This confirms a study at the DNA level by our group [16] suggesting a Glu greater than Lys mutation at position 43 in the activation segment of PGA-5. Furthermore, it is proposed that the number of genetic variants of PGA is higher than is actually seen by electrophoresis.

The nucleotide sequences of the genes coding for tRNAArgUCU, tRNAArgACG and tRNAAsnGUU on Spirodela oligorhiza chloroplast DNA.

The nucleotide sequences of the genes coding for tRNAArgUCU, tRNAArgACG and tRNAAsnGUU on chloroplast DNA of Spirodela oligorhiza have been determined. All three genes are expressed. 5' Proximal to these genes sequences are found homologous to prokaryotic promoter sequences, which might be involved as transcriptional start motifs.