On-line coupling of solid-phase extraction with mass spectrometry for the analysis of biological samples. III. Determination of prednisolone in serum.

Solid-phase extraction (SPE) was directly coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) to assess the feasibility of the system for the rapid determination of prednisolone in serum. A C(18) stationary phase allowed washing of the cartridge with 25% methanol. Elution was performed by switching the methanol percentage from 25% in the washing step to 50% during elution. The high flow-rates during the extraction (5.0 ml/min) combined with ion-trap MS detection resulted in a total analysis time of 4 min. Some tailing of the prednisolone peak was observed. However, the tailing was found acceptable, since by this elution procedure most matrix compounds were prevented from eluting from the cartridge. Some matrix interference was still observed with a triple-quadrupole MS, even in the multiple reaction monitoring mode. This resulted in a detection limit (LOD) of about 10 ng/ml. The matrix interference and the LOD were similar for atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation and atmospheric pressure photo ionisation. Applying an ion-trap MS in the MS-MS mode resulted in cleaner chromatograms. Due to extensive fragmentation of prednisolone, the LOD was not lower than about 5 ng/ml prednisolone in serum, and a limit of quantitation of about 10 ng/ml (relative standard deviation <15%) was observed.

Ion suppression in the determination of clenbuterol in urine by solid-phase extraction atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation ion-trap mass spectrometry.

Ion suppression effects were observed during the determination of clenbuterol in urine with solid-phase extraction/multiple-stage ion-trap mass spectrometry (SPE/MS(3)), despite the use of atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation. During SPE, a polymeric stationary phase (polydivinylbenzene) was applied. Post-cartridge infusion of analyte to the SPE eluate after the extraction of blank urine was performed to obtain a profile of the suppression. Single and multiple-stage MS were performed to provide insight in the suppressing compounds. The ion suppression was mainly ascribed to two m/z values, but still no identification of the compounds was achieved from the multiple-stage MS data. No ionisable and non-ionisable complexes and/or precipitation of clenbuterol with matrix compounds were observed. A concentration dependence of the percentage of suppression was observed. Up to 70% of the signal was suppressed upon post-cartridge infusion of 0.22 microg/mL (at 5 microL/min) clenbuterol into the eluate, and this decreased to about 4% at infusion of 22 microg/mL clenbuterol. Molecularly imprinted polymers were used to enhance the selectivity of the extraction. Although matrix components were still present after extraction, no interference of these compounds with the analyte was observed. However, the bleeding of the imprint from the polymer (brombuterol) caused significant ion suppression.

Non-equilibrium solid-phase microextraction coupled directly to ion-trap mass spectrometry for rapid analysis of biological samples.

To determine sub-ppb levels of drugs in biological samples, selective, sensitive and rapid analytical techniques are required. This work shows the possibilities for high-throughput analysis of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) directly coupled to an ion-trap mass spectrometer equipped with an atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation source. As no chromatographic separation is performed, the SPME procedure is the time-limiting step. Direct immersion SPME under non-equilibrium conditions permits the determination of lidocaine in urine within 10 min. After a 5 min sorption time with a 100 microm polydimethylsiloxane-coated fibre, the extraction yield of lidocaine from urine is about 7%. When applying 4 min desorption, using a mixture of ammonium acetate buffer (pH 4.5) and acetonitrile (85 + 15 v/v), about 10% of the analyte is retained on the fibre. An extra cleaning step of the fibre is therefore used to prevent carry-over. By use of tandem MS, no matrix interference is observed. The detection limit for lidocaine is about 0.4 ng ml(-1) and the intraday and interday reproducibility are within 14% over a concentration range of 2-45 ng ml(1).

Feasibility of the direct coupling of solid-phase extraction-pipette tips with a programmed-temperature vaporiser for gas chromatographic analysis of drugs in plasma.

Solid-phase extraction-pipette tips (SPE-PTs) were used for micro solid-phase extraction of lidocaine and diazepam from plasma. Off-line extraction was followed by on-line desorption. On-line desorption was carried out by direct coupling of the SPE-PTs with the liner of the programmed-temperature vaporiser. This coupling only required shortening of the liner by maximally 16 mm, cutting the SPE-PT, and equipping the remaining part with two O-rings. Due to the heating of the injector the SPE-PTs were heated as well, which resulted in a significant amount of impurities. Pre-heating and pre-washing was performed prior to the extraction to reduce the impurity level. The internal coupling device was applied successfully for the analysis of plasma samples with gas chromatography (GC) and mass-selective detection. Detection limits of 0.75 ng/ml and 2.5 ng/ml were obtained for lidocaine and diazepam, respectively, using 200 microl plasma. Recoveries for both compounds were about 80%. Although it is possible, the internal coupling device was not developed to be used as such. The main goal of this coupling was to show the feasibility of the integration of SPE-PTs with GC and to realize an important step to new automated SPE-GC systems.

Dynamically coated capillaries improve the identification power of capillary zone electrophoresis for basic drugs in toxicological analysis.

In systematic toxicological analysis (STA), analytical methods should have a high identification power. This can be suitably expressed by parameters such as mean list length (MLL) or discriminating power (DP). The reproducibility of a method has a great impact on its identification power, and should be as high as possible. In this study, two separation methods based on capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) were evaluated towards STA applications. Besides a normal phosphate buffer, the commercially available buffer CElixir was used, which is a double-layer dynamic coating system. The coating stabilizes the endoosmotic flow, is independent of the pH, and is claimed to be more reproducible and faster at low pH than with normal buffers. A test set of 73 basic pharmaceutical compounds was analyzed by the two CZE methods. The total analysis time, including rinsing steps, was 8 min when the coating was used and 18 min without the coating. Effective mobilities were calculated and the reproducibilities were a factor of 2 better when the coating was used (between-days SD 0.020 and 0.040 m2/V s with and without the coating, respectively). MLL and DP were calculated for the two CZE methods and for combinations with standardized liquid and gas chromatography systems. CZE with CElixir coating clearly has a high potential for STA applications, as it was shown to have a higher identification power and shorter analysis times than normal CZE.

Screening for the presence of drugs in serum and urine using different separation modes of capillary electrophoresis.

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a modern separation technique that has some distinct advantages for toxicological analysis, such as a high efficiency, fast analysis, flexibility, and complementary separation mechanisms to chromatographic methods. CE can be applied in various modes, which each have a different separation mechanism or selectivity. The most common mode is capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE), in which charged analytes migrate in a buffer under the influence of an electric field. In micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), micelles are added to the buffer which interact with the analytes. MEKC can also be used for the separation of neutral compounds. In non-aqueous CE (NACE), the aqueous buffer is replaced by a background of electrolytes in organic solvents. A sample that needs to be screened can easily be analyzed subsequently by these CE modes using the same instrumentation. The aim of the study was to develop procedures for the analysis of basic and acidic drugs in serum and urine using CZE, MEKC, and NACE. A test mixture that consisted of six basic and six acidic compounds was used to study the separation behavior of five CE methods. The results showed that three methods (based on CZE, MEKC, and NACE) were suitable for the analysis of basic compounds and three methods (based on CZE and MEKC) for the analysis of acidic compounds. For the extraction of analytes from serum and urine, a solid-phase extraction (SPE) and a liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) method were compared. Both SPE and LLE methods provided clean extracts after extraction of the basic compounds from serum and urine. The extracts of acidic compounds contained more matrix interferences, especially for urine. The SPE method had some advantages compared to LLE, as it lead to cleaner extracts and higher peaks, and as it elutes basic and acidic compounds in one fraction. The potentials and pitfalls of the various methods for screening purposes in analytical toxicology are discussed.

A fluorescent receptor assay for benzodiazepines using coumarin-labeled desethylflumazenil as ligand.

This article describes a novel nonisotopic receptor assay for benzodiazepines with fluorescence detection. As labeled ligand (coumarin-labeled desethylflumazenil, CLDEF), a metabolite of the benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil (desetheylflumazenil, Ro15-3890) has been coupled to a coumarin fluorophore, via a spacer. CLDEF had a Ki of 6.5 nM. To avoid the interference of the background fluorescence of the receptors in the measurement step, the bound CLDEF was dissociated from the receptors after the filtration step. This dissociation was achieved by incubating the CLDEF-bound to the receptors on the filters-with a weakly acetate buffer. The second filtrates then contained the previously bound CLDEF, which was then quantitated with a RP-HPLC system with a fluorescence detector. The results with a fluorescent receptor assay were very similar to those with a radioreceptor assay, in that the IC50 values of lorazepam were 7.2 +/- 0.5 and 6.6 +/- 0.7 nM, respectively.

Mephenytoin as a probe for CYP2C19 phenotyping:effect of sample storage, intra-individual reproducibility and occurrence of adverse events.

AIMS: To further evaluate mephenytoin as a probe for CYP2C19 phenotyping. METHODS: Healthy subjects (n = 2638) were phenotyped using the urinary (S)-mephenytoin to (R)-mephenytoin ratio. This method was evaluated for (a) the stability of the S/R-ratio following sample storage, (b) the intraindividual reproducibility of the ratio, and (c) the occurrence of adverse events. RESULTS: After prolonged storage, the S/R-ratio of samples from extensive metabolisers (EM) increased up to 85%. In 1.5% of the cases (1 out 66), this led to incorrect classification of phenotype. In EMs, but not in poor metabolisers (PMs), the S/R-ratio increased after acid treatment. The intraindividual reproducibility of the mephenytoin phenotyping procedure was 28%. No major side-effects were observed and there was no relationship between the incidence of side-effects and the phenotype of the subject. CONCLUSIONS: After prolonged storage the S/R-ratio significantly increased in EMs and, although low, the risk of incorrect classification should not be ignored. Our data support the use of mephenytoin as a safe drug for CYP2C19 phenotyping.

An optimized methodology for combined phenotyping and genotyping on CYP2D6 and CYP2C19.

A method for simultaneous phenotyping and genotyping for CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 was tested. Six healthy volunteers were selected (three extensive and three poor metabolisers for CYP2D6). CYP2D6 was probed with dextromethorphan and metoprolol and CYP2C19 was probed with omeprazole. Blood samples were collected and analysed for dextromethorphan, dextrorphan, metoprolol, alpha-hydroxymetoprol, omeprazole and 5-hydroxyomeprazole by HPLC. Genotyping was performed for both CYP2D6 and CYP2C19. Generally, plasma levels could be measured up to 8 h post-dose except for alpha-hydroxymetoprolol in poor metabolizers (PMs) and dextromethorphan in extensive metabolizers (EMs) (35% below quantification limit). The correlation between the metabolic ratio based on timed individual measurements and the metabolic ratio based on the AUC0-12 values was significant at 3 h post-dose for all probes. In conclusion, the following procedure is suggested: administer metoprolol (100 mg) and omeprazole (40 mg); after 3 h, take a blood sample to assess the genotype and the metabolic ratio for CYP2D6 (metoprolol over alpha-hydroxymetoprolol) and CYP2C19 (omeprazole over 5-hydroxyomeprazole) in plasma. With this procedure, all necessary information on the individual CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 metabolising capacity can be obtained in a practical, single-sample approach.

Enantioseparation of ofloxacin in urine by capillary electrokinetic chromatography using charged cyclodextrins as chiral selectors and assessment of enantioconversion.

A method was developed for the enantioseparation of ofloxacin, a member of the fluoroquinolones, using an anionic cyclodextrin-derivative with or without combination with a neutral cyclodextrin-derivative, as the chiral selector (s) in an electrokinetic chromatography system. The best results were obtained with 0.35 mM sulfated beta-cyclodextrin dissolved in a 50 mM phosphate buffer, pH 2.5, and at 15 degrees C. Under these conditions, a resolution of 2 was readily achieved. Furthermore, under adequate separation conditions, studies were performed in order to assess possible in vitro and in vivo enantioconversion of levofloxacin. The current method allows detection of 2 microg R-(+)-ofloxacine/mL diluted urine without the necessity of sample cleanup.

The prevalence of CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 genotypes in a population of healthy Dutch volunteers.

AIM: This study was performed in a sample of the Dutch population to estimate the prevalence of noncoding mutations of CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 as obtained by genotyping. In addition, the predictability of the genotyping strategy was assessed. METHODS: The CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 status of 765 unrelated healthy volunteers was evaluated. Dextromethorphan and mephenytoin were used for determining the phenotypes. Genotyping was performed by PCR on the most common null alleles for CYP2D6 (except for CYP2D6*5) and CYP2C19. RESULTS: For CYP2D6, the most frequently observed null allele was CYP2D6*4, which accounted for 89% of all null alleles. The prevalence of poor metabolizers (PMs) in healthy volunteers was 5.5%, which was lower than that found previously by phenotyping (8.0%; chi2 test P = 0.009). For CYP2C19*2 and CYP2C19*3, the frequencies were 13.3% and 0.2%, respectively. The S:R ratio was significantly higher in heterozygous subjects (S:R ratio 0.22) than in homozygous wild type subjects (S:R ratio 0.11). Comparison of all subjects below 45 years showed a significantly higher S:R ratio in the female ones compared to the male ones, especially in heterozygous subjects (S:R ratio 0.39 vs. 0. 19; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The frequencies of CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 allelic variants were in accordance with other European populations. Assessment of *3, *4, *6, *7, and *8 alleles for CYP2D6, and *2 and *3 for CYP2C19, predicted the phenotype with an accuracy of over 98.6%. A gene-dose effect was found for CYP2C19. CYP2C19 heterozygous female subjects had a decreased CYP2C19 activity that may be at least partly due to the use of oral contraceptives.

Recent innovations in the use of charged cyclodextrins in capillary electrophoresis for chiral separations in pharmaceutical analysis.

A review is presented on the use of charged cyclodextrins (CDs) as chiral selectors in capillary electrophoresis (CE) for the separation of analytes in pharmaceutical analysis. An overview is given of theoretical models that have been developed for a better prediction of the enantiomeric resolution and for a better understanding of the separation mechanism. Several types of charged CDs have been used in chiral capillary electrophoretic separation (anionic, cationic, and amphoteric CDs). Especially the anionic CDs seem to be valuable due to the fact that many pharmaceutically interesting compounds can easily be protonated (e.g., amine groups). For that reason several anionic CDs are now commercially available. Cationic and amphoteric CDs are less common in chiral analysis and only a few are commercially available. Attention is paid to the most common synthesis routes and the characterization of the CDs used in chiral capillary electrophoretic separations. The degree of substitution in the synthesized CDs may vary from one manufacturer to another or even from batch to batch, which may have a detrimental effect on the reproducibility and ruggedness of the separation system. In Sections 4, 5, and 6 the applications of anionic, cationic, and amphoteric CDs for the chiral separation in CE are described. Many interesting examples are shown and the influence of important parameters on the enantioselectivity is discussed.

Intra- and interinstrument reproducibility of migration parameters in capillary electrophoresis for substance identification in systematic toxicological analysis.

The intra- and interinstrument reproducibilities of four capillary electrophoresis instruments were studied for identification purposes in systematic toxicological analysis (STA). A test set of 20 acidic test compounds and 5 reference compounds were analyzed for five days on each instrument using capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). The buffers consisted of 90 mM borate set at pH 8.4 (CZE) and 20 mM phosphate and 50 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate set at pH 7.5 (MEKC). All analyses were carried out using fused silica capillaries at an electric field strength of 52.6 kV/m. The use of a reproducible identification parameter is very important in STA. To deal with the poor reproducibility of the migration time, we recently introduced the corrected effective mobility. In this study, we investigated the intra- and interinstrument reproducibility of the migration time, the effective mobility, and the corrected effective mobility. Large differences in intra-instrument reproducibility were found when the migration time was used. The calculation of the effective mobility and the corrected effective mobility diminished these differences and enhanced the interinstrument reproducibility roughly by a factor 3. For (corrected) effective mobilities, intrainstrument reproducibilities were between 0.8-2.6% and interinstrument reproducibilities were between 3.2-3.9%.

How to approach substance identification in qualitative bioanalysis.

The ultimate goal in qualitative analysis in the biosciences is to demonstrate with acceptable probability that for an unknown constituent in a sample only one substance comes into consideration and that all other substances can be rejected. In the biosciences, identification of relevant substances in complex matrices through database retrieval is frequently required. Yet, despite its importance, the subject has not received much attention, so that progress has been limited and relevant literature is scarce. As a result, one can conclude from many publications and reports that qualitative analysis in practice is often not being addressed properly. In this paper, some fundamental aspects of qualitative analysis will be discussed and a general approach is provided for the correct identification of organic substances in complex matrices through database retrieval. Special attention is given to the choice of proper analytical techniques and their inter-laboratory standard deviations, as well as to match factors and decision criteria based on applying multiple analytical techniques, also if the latter have different dimensions (e.g. retention data and spectral data). In addition, the requirements for suitable databases are outlined and the need for inter-laboratory cooperation is emphasized.

SPEC disc solid-phase extraction for rapid broad-spectrum drug screening in urine.

Broad-spectrum drug screening requires that all relevant substances be isolated, detected, and identified, regardless of their structure and/or polarity. To this end, systematic solid-phase extraction (SPE) approaches for drug isolation from biological fluids are required. Because speed and cost effectiveness are key issues in analytical toxicology, we have evaluated a disc-format extraction device for this purpose and compared the latter with an existing packed-bed column-format method. The discs were SPEC.PLUS.C18AR/MP3 cartridges with 10-mL solvent reservoirs, providing hydrophobic and cation exchange interactions. Blank human urine was spiked at 2 microg/mL with a selection of acidic, neutral, and basic drugs representing a variety of relevant drug classes. Urine specimens (2 mL) were diluted with 2 mL 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 5.0) and then applied to the preconditioned disc. Washing was done with 1 mL water. Acidic and neutral drugs were eluted with 1 mL ethyl acetate/acetone (1:1), and basic drugs were eluted with 1 mL ammoniated ethyl acetate. The eluates were collected separately, evaporated down to about 0.1 mL, and analyzed by gas chromatography-flame-ionization detection to check cleanliness, recoveries, and reproducibilities. The discs showed good extraction properties for all drugs and were easy to handle. Recoveries were 75-100% with coefficients of variation of around 5%. The resulting eluates showed only a few matrix interferences. As compared to our standard SPE method with packed-bed columns, the disc procedure allowed reductions in elution volumes and total processing time of approximately 60-65%.

Fluorescent-labeled ligands for the benzodiazepine receptor. Part 2: The choice of an optimal fluorescent-labeled ligand for benzodiazepine receptor assays.

In this article, the binding affinities of the fluorescent-labeled benzodiazepines described in Part 1 are compared to assess the influence of the labeling position and the choice of fluorophore on the binding affinity. This comparison was extended by taking into account the data of other fluorescent-labeled benzodiazepines in the literature. The differences in the binding affinities observed could partly be explained by structure-activity relationships (SAR). On the basis of this comparison, fluorescent-labeled desethylflumazenil (Ro15-3890, 19) derivatives were selected as the most suitable labeled ligands in fluorescent receptor assays. A methyl-methoxycoumarin derivative (Mmc-O-CO-(CH2)3-Ro15-3890) (20b) had a Ki-value of 6.5 nM, and a 7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3diazole derivative (NBD-NH-(CH2)3-Ro15-3890, 21) had a Ki-value of 5.7 nM. In order to yield sufficient sensitivity in the final receptor assay, a suitable fluorescent labeled ligand should have a Ki < 10 nM. A further advantage of the above two ligands is that the benzodiazepine moiety has no receptor affinity of its own. Thus, if some hydrolysis of the labeled ligand were to occur, the resulting Ro15-3890 (18) would hardly affect the outcome of the assay. In the second part of this paper the prerequisites of the fluorophore are being examined. In this regard, 20b is preferred, because the coumarin derivative has higher fluorescence intensities in aqueous media than the NBD-derivative. Therefore, 20b was selected as a fluorescent-labeled ligand in the development of a non-radioactive receptor assay for benzodiazepines.

Fluorescent-labeled ligands for the benzodiazepine receptor. Part 1: Synthesis and characterization of fluorescent-labeled benzodiazepines.

Because radioactive labeled ligands in receptor assays have several disadvantages, we synthesized a number of fluorescent-labeled benzodiazepines. Several fluorophores were attached at different positions of 1,4-benzodiazepine molecules in order to assess the impact of the fluorophores and their coupling position on the affinity for the benzodiazepine receptor. Besides the 1,4-benzodiazepines, the 1,2-annelated 1,4-benzodiazepines were also used for labeling. A metabolite of flumazenil (18), desethylflumazenil (Ro15-3890, 19), was labeled with the fluorophore 4-bromomethyl-7-methoxycoumarin, with and without the incorporation of a spacer chain, yielding the methyl-methoxycoumarin (Mmc) derivatives Mmc-Ro15-3890 (20a) and Mmc-O-CO-(CH2)3-Ro15-3890 (20b), respectively. After the synthesis, the fluorescent-labeled benzodiazepines were purified by HPLC, using an analytical RP-C18 column. For the purification of 20b, the chromatographic system was optimized, using multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) techniques. The binding affinities for the benzodiazepine receptor and the fluorescence characteristics were determined for the resulting products.

Rapid extraction of clenbuterol from human and calf urine using empore C8 extraction disks.

In the present paper, disk extraction was evaluated for the rapid isolation of clenbuterol from human and calf urine, followed by high-performance liquid chromatography analysis with UV detection. A method was developed for the extraction with standard density C8 disks. The disks could be washed with 25% methanol in 0.01M sodium hydroxide without significant losses of clenbuterol. The recovery of denbuterol was about 85%, and the extracts were clean. The detection limit was about 10 ng/mL. The main advantages of these disks were the saving of time and the reduced amounts of organic solvents needed.

Selectivity in capillary electrokinetic separations.

This review gives a survey of selectivity modes in capillary electrophoresis separations in pharmaceutical analysis and bioanalysis. Despite the high efficiencies of these separation techniques, good selectivity is required to allow quantitation or identification of a particular analyte. Selectivity in capillary electrophoresis is defined and described for different separation mechanisms, which are divided into two major areas: (i) capillary zone electrophoresis and (ii) electrokinetic chromatography. The first area describes aqueous (with or without organic modifiers) and nonaqueous modes. The second area discusses all capillary electrophoretic separation modes in which interaction with a (pseudo)stationary phase results in a change in migration rate of the analytes. These can be divided in micellar electrokinetic chromatography and capillary electrochromatography. The latter category can range from fully packed capillaries, via open-tubular coated capillaries to the addition of microparticles with multiple or single binding sites. Furthermore, an attempt is made to differentiate between methods in which molecular recognition plays a predominant role and methods in which the selectivity depends on overall differences in physicochemical properties between the analytes. The calculation of the resolution for the different separation modes and the requirements for qualitative and quantitative analysis are discussed. It is anticipated that selectivity tuning is easier in separation modes in which molecular recognition plays a role. However, sufficient attention needs to be paid to the efficiency of the system in that it not only affects resolution but also detectability of the analyte of interest.

Coupling device for desorption of drugs from solid-phase extraction-pipette tips and on-line gas chromatographic analysis.

Solid-phase extraction-pipette tips were used for micro solid-phase extraction of lidocaine and diazepam. Off-line desorption was done after in-vial collection for reference purposes, whereas with on-line desorption the eluate was directly introduced in the gas chromatograph. With both methods the total eluate (100 microl) was introduced into the GC system, which was equipped with a programmed-temperature vaporiser (PTV) for large volume injection. For on-line desorption a laboratory-made coupling device was developed to connect the pipette tips with the injector of the PTV. The coupling device was applied successfully since no leakage occurred at the connection of the coupling device and the pipette tip. No significant differences in recovery of lidocaine and diazepam and in presence of impurities were observed between chromatograms obtained with either off-line or on-line desorption. Preliminary experiments with standard solutions showed recoveries of about 75% for a concentration level of 1 microg/ml. The system seems particularly suitable for high-throughput analysis.