Determination of free radical reaction products and metabolites of salicylic acid using capillary electrophoresis and micellar electrokinetic chromatography

Hydroxylated radical products of salicylic acid are often used as a relative measurement in free radical research. Several analytical methods exist to determine the amount of 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid. In this study we use capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MECC) in order to determine these free radical products. The CZE experiment was optimized with a CZE simulation program in order to achieve an optimal pH. Calibration curves were recorded in the range 10⁻⁶–10⁻⁴ M and the detection limit was determined. For both CZE and MECC it was 2·10⁻⁷ M. Both methods resulted in a reproducible analysis of salicylate and its hydroxylated free radical products in 6 min.     

Separation and quantitation of azimilide and its putative metabolites by capillary electrophoresis

Reliable methods based on capillary electrophoresis (CE) have been developed for the separation and quantitation of azimilide, an antiarrhythmic drug under development at Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals (P&GP). Both capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MECC) were employed in the separation of azimilide from its impurities, degradants and/or metabolites. Separation of azimilide from NE-11178, F-410, F-1054 and F-1292 was obtained by MECC at pH 9 with 50 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The separation of azimilide and NE-10171, a key metabolite of azimilide, was difficult because their structures differ by only a single methyl group. The best separation was achieved under acidic pH conditions with cetyltriethyl ammonium chloride (CTAC) additive in the buffer. All of the CE separations were completed within a substantially shorter time and with better resolution than the corresponding high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) separations. Quantitation was done with azimilide and NE-10171. Calibration curves ranging from 10 to 1000 μg/ml were obtained with R² greater than 0.997 for both azimilide and NE-10171. The back-calculated concentrations of the calibration standards and the recoveries of the quality control (QC) samples were within the acceptance range currently used for HPLC methods. These results demonstrated the viability of CE as an alternative technique for drug metabolism studies in support of pharmaceutical development.     

Comparative determination of purine compounds in carotid plaque by capillary zone electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography

Allantoin, uric acid (UA), hypoxanthine (Hx) and xanthine (X) were determined on carotid plaque by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Comparison of the results showed that capillary zone electrophoresis may have similar or even superior analytical performance to HPLC, especially for the determination of allantoin in biological samples.     

Investigation of the stereoselective in vitro metabolism of the chiral antiasthmatic/antiallergic drug flezelastine by high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary zone electrophoresis

An achiral HPLC method using a silica gel column as well as two independent chiral analytical methods by HPLC and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) were developed in order to investigate the in vitro metabolism of the racemic antiasthmatic/antiallergic drug flezelastine. The chiral HPLC analysis was performed on a Chiralpak AD column, which also allowed the simultaneous separation of the N-dephenethyl metabolite. The chiral separation by CZE was achieved by the addition of β-cyclodextrin to the run buffer. The stereoselectivity of the in vitro biotransformation of flezelastine was investigated using liver homogenates of different species. Depending on the species, diverse stereoselective aspects were demonstrated. The determination of the enantiomeric ratios of flezelastine and of N-dephenethylflezelastine after incubations of racemic flezelastine with liver microsomes revealed that porcine liver microsomes showed the greatest enantioselectivity of the biotransformation. (−)-Flezelastine was preferentially metabolized. After incubations with bovine liver microsomes the enantiomer of N-dephenethylflezelastine formed from (+)-flezelastine dominated. Incubations of the pure enantiomers of flezelastine with induced rat liver microsomes resulted in the stereoselective formation of a hitherto unknown metabolite, which was only detected in samples of (+)-flezelastine. Initial structure elucidation of the compound indicated that the new     

Methyl malondialdehyde as an internal standard for the determination of malondialdehyde

Methyl malondialdehyde (Me-MDA) is suggested as an internal standard for the determination of the lipid peroxidation product, malondialdehyde (MDA). A procedure for synthesising the Me-MDA sodium salt is described in detail. The purity and identity of the synthesised Me-MDA have been confirmed using nuclear magnetic resonance and UV spectroscopy, and by micellar electrokinetic chromatography. The applicability of Me-MDA as an internal standard has been demonstrated for rat brain homogenate samples. These samples were purified solely through ultrafiltration. The preferred analytical technique was capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with UV detection at 267 nm. The limits of detection (3 S/N) for the CZE separations of Me-MDA and MDA were 0.5 and 0.2 μM, respectively, and the total analysis time was approximately 10 min. Details of separations are also presented using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection at 245 nm, and gas chromatography, together with either electron capture or mass spectrometric detection. The GC separations require derivatisation of MDA and Me-MDA with pentafluorophenylhydrazine while the CZE and HPLC separations can be performed on the native molecules.     

Determination of poorly separated monoclonal serum proteins by capillary zone electrophoresis

A capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) technique was developed for the determination of poorly separated monoclonal serum proteins by agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE). A P/ACE 5500 capillary instrument (Beckman) was used under the following conditions: 57 cm x 50 microm I.D. fused-silica capillary, pH 9.6 borate buffer, and 214 nm on-line detection. Sixty patients (61 +/- 13 years) with a well isolated (n=24, group A) or poorly separated monoclonal band(s) by AGE (n=36, group B) were included in this study. Within- and between-run precision for CZE was below 4% for albumin and 7% for gamma-globulin. A 100% (group A) or 61% agreement (group B, more bands detected by CZE in 10 cases) was obtained between CZE and AGE for the number of monoclonal bands. In group B, quantification was possible in 92% of samples by CZE vs. 64% by AGE (P<0.05, chi-square). The proposed CZE method appears as an additional helpful technique for the determination of poorly separated monoclonal serum proteins by AGE.     

On-line post-capillary affinity detection of immunoglobulin G for capillary zone electrophoresis

To address the quality issues of antibody manufacturing, post-capillary affinity detection of immunoglobulin G (IgG) is developed for capillary zone electrophoresis. In analogy to a two-dimensional separation system, capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE), as the first dimension, resolves IgG variants based on their differences in molecular structure. IgG variants separated by CZE are discriminated against other serum and cellular proteins by affinity complex formation with protein A binding fragment in a post-capillary reactor. The analytical power of post-capillary affinity detection is demonstrated for rapid and selective heterogeneity analysis of human IgG subclasses and monoclonal antibodies in complex sample matrices. By comparing with pre-capillary formation of affinity complexes between IgG and protein A, post-capillary affinity detection clearly exhibit greater resolving power for examining IgG microheterogeneity. Affinity complex formation prior to CZE analysis, however, has the advantage of lower detection limits. Detection limits suffer with post-capillary affinity detection because of the high fluorescence background contributed by the fluorescently labeled protein A in the post-capillary reactor, and the need to determine a small change in the background level upon complex formation.     

Analytical control of a pharmaceutical formulation of sodium picosulfate by capillary zone electrophoresis

A new procedure for the analytical control of a pharmaceutical formulation by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) is proposed. It allows the simultaneous determination of the major compounds in the formulation: active compound (sodium picosulfate) and preservative (methylparaben), and the degradation products of the preservative, which slowly degrades by hydrolysis or by transesterification with sorbitol (sweetener in excess in the formulation) yielding p-hydroxybenzoic acid and sorbitolparaben, respectively. UV–Vis detection in the absorption maxima of the analytes and 20 mM borate solution at pH 10 as background electrolyte are used. Results are compared with those provided by the HPLC procedure. The method has also been validated using the HPLC procedure as the reference method, evaluating selectivity, accuracy, linearity and precision. The CZE procedure developed is sufficiently accurate and the precision achieved is about 1% for major and 3% for minor compounds.     

Separation methods for pharmacologically active xanthones

Xanthones, as a kind of polyphenolic natural products with many strong bioactivities, are attractive for separation scientists due to the similarity and diversity of their structures resulting in difficult separation by chromatographic methods. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and thin layer chromatography (TLC) are traditional methods to separate xanthones. Recently, capillary electrophoresis (CE), as a micro-column technique driven by electroosmotic flow (EOF), with its high efficiency and high-speed separation, has been employed to separate xanthones and determine their physicochemical properties such as binding constants with cyclodextrin (CD) and ionization constants. Since xanthones have been used in clinic treatment, the development of chromatographic and CE methods for the separation and determination of xanthones plays an essential role in the quality control of some herbal medicines containing xanthones. This article reviewed the separation of xanthones by HPLC, TLC and CE, citing 72 literatures. This review focused on the CE separation for xanthones due to its unique advantages compared to chromatographic methods. The comparison of separation selectivity of different CE modes including capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE), micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), microemulsion electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEEKC) and capillary electrochromatography (CEC) was discussed. Compared with traditional chromatographic methods such as HPLC and TLC, CE has higher separation efficiency, faster separation, lower cost and more flexible modes. However, because of low sensitivity of UV detector and low contents of xanthones in herbal medicines, CE methods have seldom been applied to the analysis of real samples although CE showed great potential for xanthone separation. The determination of xanthones in herbal medicines has been often achieved by HPLC. Hence, how to enhance CE detection sensitivity for real sample analysis, e.g. by on-line preconcentration and CE-MS, would be a key to achieve the quantitation of xanthones.     

Determination of purity degree and counter-ion content in lecirelin by capillary zone electrophoresis and capillary isotachophoresis

Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and capillary isotachophoresis (CITP) were applied for the determination of peptide purity degree and counter-ion content in lecirelin, the synthetic analogue of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH). CZE analyses were carried out in acidic background electrolyte (100 mM H3PO4, 50 mM Tris, pH 2.25) in bare fused silica capillary using UV-absorption detection at 206 nm. CITP analyses were performed in the electrophoretic analyzer with column coupling, equipped with contactless conductivity detectors both in preseparation capillary and in analytical capillary, and with UV-absorption detector (220 and 254 nm) in analytical capillary. Determinations of peptide purity were carried out in cationic mode with leading electrolyte (LE), 10 mM KOH/AcOH, pH 4.5, and terminating electrolyte (TE), 10 mM beta-alanine (BALA)/AcOH, pH 4.4. Degree of peptide purity determined by both CZE and CITP was in the range 60.1-80.9% for crude preparations of lecirelin and in the range 96.4-99.9% for HPLC purified batches. Concentrations of contaminating counter-ions, the anions of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TFMSA), trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and acetic acid (AcOH), were determined by CITP analyses in anionic mode with LE 10 mM HCl/His, pH 6.0, and TE 10 mM 2-(N-morpholino)-ethanesulfonic acid (MES), pH 4.0, by the calibration curve method. Mass percentages of the counterion contents in the analyzed lecirelin batches varied from zero to ca. 9% (TFMSA), 3% (TFA) and 11% (AcOH), respectively.     

Comparison of high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary zone electrophoresis in penciclovir biodegradation kinetic studies

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) were used in biodegradation kinetic studies. This paper describes a rapid penciclovir separation using CZE with detection limits comparable to HPLC. The ionic-strength mediated stacking technique was employed while good resolution was maintained. With a shorter analysis time, comparable detection limits and no organic solvent consumption, CZE is a better method for penciclovir biodegradation studies than conventional reversed-phase HPLC (RP-HPLC).     

Rapid analysis of furosemide in human urine by capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence and electrospray ionization-ion trap mass spectrometric detection

Furosemide, a drug that promotes urine excretion, is used in the pharmacotherapy of various diseases and is considered as a doping agent in sports. Using alkaline electrolytes, analysis of furosemide by dodecyl sulfate based micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MECC) and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with laser-induced fluorescence detection (LIF, analyte excitation with the 325 nm line of a HeCd laser) is described. Data produced by injection of plain or diluted patient urines are confirmed with those obtained via analysis of urinary solid-phase extracts. CZE-LIF and MECC-LIF are thereby shown to permit unambiguous recognition of furosemide in urines collected after ingestion of therapeutic doses of this drug. This is in contrast to solute detection via UV absorbance for which the extraction of furosemide is required. MECC based electropherograms are somewhat more complex compared to those obtained by CZE-LIF, this suggesting that the latter approach is more suitable for rapid screening of urines with direct sample injection and LIF detection. Alternatively, capillary electrophoresis with negative electrospray ionization-ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry (CE-MS2) is shown to permit the direct confirmation of furosemide in human urine. This approach is based upon the monitoring of the m/z 329.3-->4m/z 285.2 precursor-product ion transition. CZE-LIF and CE-MS2 with injection of plain or diluted urine represent simple, rapid and attractive urinary screening and confirmation assays for furosemide in patient urines.     

Use of mathematically enhanced spectral analysis and spectral contrast techniques for the liquid chromatographic and capillary electrophoretic detection and identification of pharmaceutical compounds

The use of mathematically enhanced ultraviolet/visible (UV/VIS) absorbance spectral analysis and spectral contrast software techniques in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and micellar electrokinetic capillary electrophoresis (MECC) as an aid for the determination of peak homogeneity, identification, and tracking during method development was investigated. Various structurally similar pharmaceutical compounds, and compounds present as either cis/trans isomers, diastereomers, or enantiomers were used as test compounds to probe the limits of this technique. Two tricyclic antidepressants, nortriptyline and imipramine, were employed to study the effects of HPLC mobile phase composition and pH on the ability to identify and track peaks during method development. It was found that method changes altered the spectral matches used for identification, but not enough to cause incorrect peak identification. It was also shown using HPLC that the cis/trans isomers of doxepin and the diastereomers ephedrine and pseudoephedrine could be distinguished. The mathematically enhanced spectral analysis and spectral contrast software techniques were also employed with MECC. Peaks tracking during method development as pH and the concentration of surfactant changes is shown for a separation of various penicillin type antibiotics. It was shown that during chiral MECC (CMECC) analyses ephedrine/pseudoephedrine diastereomers as well as ephedrine enantiomers could be distinguished. The determination of enantiomers is possible in CMECC since enantiomers are eluted as diastereomeric complexes, as opposed to HPLC where they are eluted in their native state. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Application of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary zone electrophoresis to the peptide mapping of pepsin isoenzymes

A combination of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) was used for the characterization of peptide maps of swine pepsin after its digestion with α-chymotrypsin. Peptide maps obtained by both methods were compared and five selected chromatographic peaks were identified on an electrophoreogram. The different order of peaks found in RP-HPLC compared to CZE confirmed the complementarity of these two methods. More peptide fragments were resolved by RP-HPLC, which was also found to be less sensitive to salt content in peptide mixtures, than by CZE, but only CZE was able to separate and identify phosphorylated and dephosphorylated peptide fragments of swine pepsin digest. CZE peptides faster separation than RP-HPLC, however, the salts have to be removed by ultrafiltration or by RP-HPLC pre-separation prior to CZE analysis. Combined use of RP-HPLC and CZE for peptide mapping makes it possible to distinguish between the phosphorylated and dephosphorylated forms of swine pepsin. This is important from a diagnostic point of view, because pepsin phosphorylation may be associated with gastric cancer.     

Comparison of different techniques for the analysis of metallothionein isoforms by capillary electrophoresis

We have investigated free-solution capillary electrophoresis (FSCE) and micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MECC) separations of metallothionein (MT) isoforms conducted in uncoated and surface-modified fused-silica capillaries. At alkaline pH, FSCE rapidly resolves isoforms belonging to the MT-1 and MT-2 charge classes. At acidic pH, additional resolution of MT isoforms is achieved. The use of high-ionic-strength (0.5 M) phosphate buffers can result in high peak efficiencies and increased resolution for some MT isoforms. Interior capillary surface coatings such as polyamine and linear polyacrylamide polymers permit separation of MT isoforms with enhanced resolution through their effects on electroosmotic flow (EOF) and protein-wall interactions. Improvements in MT isoform resolution can also be achieved by MECC using 100 mM borate buffer pH 8.4 containing 75 mM SDS. Deproteinization of tissue cytosol samples with acetonitrile (60–80%) or perchloric acid (7%) produces extracts that can be subjected to direct analysis of MT by FSCE or MECC. We conclude that optimal separation of MT isoforms by capillary electrophoresis (CE) can be achieved with the appropriate combination of different capillaries, buffers and sample preparation techniques.     

Selenium speciation in human milk with special respect to quality control

Selenium-(SE) organo compounds of pooled human milk (7th-14th d after delivery) were separated by centrifugation and subsequent size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) as described in ref. (1). The SEC fractions were used for Se determinations by electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ETV-ICP-MS) in parallel to identification procedures of the organic ligands by two different capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) methods. Further, the combination of isotachophoresis-(ITP) CZE with ETV-ICP-MS was used for final identifications. Mass balances were carried out at each analytical step for quality assurance. Reinjection experiments were performed to check the stability of Se-organo compounds during the analytical procedure. These quality-control experiments showed that no species transformations took place during the analytical procedure, and the Se species were native in human milk. The identification and quantification of organic ligands were clear and resulted in values of 2 (±0.2) mg/L GSH/GSeH, 2 (±0.22) mg/L cystamine/Se-cystamine, 4 (±0.4) mg/L cystine/ Se-cystine, and 1 (±0.18) mg/L methionine/Se-methionine. Unfortunately, a differentiation between sulfur (S) and Se analogs was not possible with the applied CE methods. The Se values per organic ligand were determined as 2.5 (±0.23) mg/L associated with GSH (as GSeH), 3.1 (±0.31) mg/L associated with cystamine (as Se-cystamine), 5.2 (±0.4) mg/L associated with cystine (as Se-cystine), and 1 (±0.1) mg/L associated with methionine (as Se-methionine).     

Solid-phase synthesis of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) and two analogues. A chemical approach for evaluating the role of disulfide bridges in protein folding and stability.

The linear sequence of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) has been assembled by stepwise Fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis on a polyethylene glycol-polystyrene (PEG-PS) graft support with p-alkoxybenzyl ester anchoring. Similar methods were used to prepare two analogues, the first with all six half-cystine (Cys) residues replaced by alpha-amino-n-butyric acid (Abu), and the second with replacement of Abu at four Cys positions while retaining the native pairing between positions 14 and 38. Following cleavage from the support, the linear molecules (reduced form) were purified by semipreparative reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The native structure of BPTI was then formed by oxidation of a dilute solution of the protein at pH 8.7 in the presence of oxidized glutathione. The BPTI analogue with one disulfide bridge was obtained following treatment with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)-pH 6 buffer (1:9). Overall yields of homogeneous proteins were 2-4%, and further characterization was provided by amino acid analysis, sequencing, ion electrospray mass spectrometry, analytical HPLC, and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). Purified synthetic BPTI with the native sequence was indistinguishable from natural material by the analytical and biophysical criteria applied, including circular dichroism (CD) spectra and inhibition of trypsin action. Studies are in progress to evaluate conformational features of the analogues which respectively lack two, or all three, of the native disulfide bridges.     

Separation and characterization of lipopolysaccharide related compounds by HPLC/post-column fluorescence derivatization (HPLC/FLD) and capillary zone electrophoresis/mass spectrometry (CZE/MS)

The O,N-deacylated derivative (deON) and polysaccharide part (PS) from the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Escherichia coli C strain were separated by strongly basic anion-exchange chromatography (SAX) based on the differences in the number of charged phosphate and ethanolamine substituents. They were also successfully separated and characterized by capillary zone electrophoresis and subsequent ESI-ion trap-MS (CZE/ESI-IT-MS). The O-deacylated LPS (deO) presented as a broad peak in CZE/ESI-IT-MS. However, more than twelve species could be discriminated by an extracted ion electropherogram (EIE) and monitoring the species which have different numbers of phosphate and ethanolamine substituents on polysaccharide backbone.     

On the separation of 99mTcO4-, 99mTc-DTPA and 99mTc-citrate as marker species for the determination of Tc chemical forms in plant material using capillary zone electrophoresis

ABSTRACT

The present paper addresses the potential use of capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) as an analytical tool in 99- technetium speciation studies. In order to optimise sampling, storage and analytical procedures, the three marker compounds ^99mTcO₄-, ^99mTc-DTPA and ^99mTc-citrate were synthesised and used in test-measurements with CZE. The results underline the superior separation power of the CZE technique, and indicate good CZE performance for the stable ^99mTcO₄- and ^99mTc-DTPA compounds. The data suggest that CZE may be used without problems for various Tc-compounds of intermediate mobilities. The specific data of ^99mTc-citrate suggest that with this marker compound a threshold lability is reached for the use of CZE in plant Tc-speciation studies. This result means that CZE cannot be used in analyses of Tc-compounds which are less stable than Tc-citrate. Future CZE work will comprise the synthesis and use of Tc-markers of intermediate mobilities and stabilities; furthermore, effects of marker matrices and the plant matrix on CZE performance will be investigated.     

Application of capillary zone electrophoresis in cephalosporin analysis

Cephalosporins have structures and antibiotic activity similar to those of penicillins which represent a class of compounds with closely related structures. Most of the cephalosporins contain aromatic groups and show distinctive UV spectra. Separating the different types of cephalosporins is a challenging task for HPLC, but the resolving power of capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) makes this separation fast and simple. The present study reports the application of CZE for cephalosporin analysis and the separation of cephalosporins from plasma. Both field strength and temperature were shown to influence the plate number. The influence of injection time on the peak height was studied. Furthermore, the influence of pH value on the separation of cephalosporins by CZE was investigated. The low sample amount required and the relatively short analysis time are the main advantages of this method.