Determination of carbohydrates, sugar alcohols, and glycols in cell cultures and fermentation broths using high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection

Cell cultures and fermentation broths are complex mixtures of organic and inorganic compounds. Many of these compounds are synthesized or metabolized by microorganisms, and their concentrations can impact the yields of desired products. Carbohydrates serve as carbon sources for many microorganisms, while sugar alcohols (alditols), glycols (glycerol), and alcohols (methanol and ethanol) are metabolic products. We used high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAE-PAD) to simultaneously analyze for carbohydrates, alditols, and glycerol in growing yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cultures and their final fermentation broths. Both cultures were grown on complex undefined media, aliquots centrifuged to remove particulates, and the supernatants diluted and directly injected for analysis. Pulsed amperometry allowed a direct detection of the carbohydrates, alditols, and glycols present in the cultures and fermentation broths with very little interference from other matrix components. The broad linear range of three to four orders of magnitude allowed samples to be analyzed without multiple dilutions. Peak area RSDs were 2-7% for 2, 3-butanediol, ethanol, glycerol, erythritol, rhamnose, arabitol, sorbitol, galactitol, mannitol, arabinose, glucose, galactose, lactose, ribose, raffinose, and maltose spiked into a heat-inactivated yeast culture broth supernatant that was analyzed repetitively for 48 h. This method is useful for directly monitoring culture changes during fermentation. The carbohydrates in yeast cultures were monitored over 1 day. A yeast culture with medium consisting primarily of glucose and trace levels of trehalose and arabinose showed a drop in sugar concentration over time and an increase in glycerol. Yeast growing on a modified culture medium consisting of multiple carbohydrates and alditols showed preference for specific carbon sources and showed the ability to regulate pathways leading to catalysis of alternative carbon sources.     

Microanalysis of beta-cyclodextrin and glucosyl-beta-cyclodextrin in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection.

High-performance liquid chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection was applied to the determination of beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) and glucosyl (G)-beta-CD in human plasma. They were well resolved from each other and from background components of plasma on a polymer-based reversed-phase column with 0.6% acetonitrile aqueous solution containing 1 mM sodium hydroxide as an eluent. The samples in the effluent were detected with a pulsed amperometric detector after postcolumn alkalization. The detection limits of beta-CD and G-beta-CD in plasma at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 were 11 and 5 pmol, respectively.     

Sugar analysis of glycoproteins and glycolipids after methanolysis by high-performance liquid chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection

A procedure for the analysis of the monosaccharide composition of glycoproteins and glycolipids by methanolysis and high-performance liquid chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection is described. The advantage over previous methods is the analysis of underivatized methyl glycosides of all glycoconjugate monosaccharides including sialic acid and uronic acid in a single chromatographic step at the subnanomolar level.     

Determination of lycopene in tissues and plasma of rats by normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with photometric detection

An analytical method for the determination of lycopene in tissues and plasma of rats is described. The method was validated for the determination of lycopene in liver and plasma with respect to selectivity, linearity, accuracy, recovery and precision. Following precipitation of proteins with water–ethanol plasma was extracted with hexane; tissues were extracted with acetone followed by precipitation of proteins with water–ethanol and extraction of lycopene with hexane. Separation and quantification of geometrical isomers of lycopene was achieved by normal-phase HPLC with UV/VIS detection at 471 nm. The method proved to be selective and specific for lycopene in plasma and liver. Detector response was linear in the range from 2 ng/g to 10 μg/g liver and 0.5 ng/ml to 2 μg/ml plasma, respectively. Average recoveries ranged from 96 to 101% in spiked liver samples and from 91 to 94% in spiked plasma samples. Intra-day variability (C.V.) was ≤6% and ≤5% in liver and plasma, respectively. Inter-day precision was ≤9% for liver samples and ≤6% for plasma samples. The procedures were successfully applied to the sample analysis of pharmacokinetic and metabolism studies.     

Determination of uric acid in human saliva by high-performance liquid chromatography with amperometric electrochemical detection

The aim of the present study is to establish a highly sensitive method for the determination of uric acid (UA) in human saliva. The monitoring of UA levels in less invasive biological samples such as saliva is suggested for the diagnosis and therapy of gout, hyperuricemia, and the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, and for detecting such conditions as alcohol dependence, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, kidney disease, and heart disease. Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC-ED) was employed for the determination of UA obtained by solid-phase extraction from saliva. To quantify UA, we compared the ED efficiencies of an amperometric ED (Ampero-ED) with a single electrode and a coulometric ED (Coulo-ED) with a multiple electrode array. The results showed that the detection limits (S/N=3) were 3 nM for Ampero-ED and 6 nM for Coulo-ED, and the linearity of the calibration curves of 60-6000 nM had correlation coefficients exceeding 0.999. In addition, the total analytical time was 10 min. In the sample preparation of UA in saliva, an Oasis MAX solid-phase cartridge was used. The recoveries of UA spiked at 0.6 and 3 microM in saliva were above 95% with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of less than 15%. Therefore, the present method may be used in the routine and diagnostic determination of UA in human saliva.     

Determination of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol in urine by high-performance liquid chromatography with amperometric detection

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been used for the quantitative determination of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) in urine. After incubation with glusulase, free MHPG is extracted into ethyl acetate and further isolated by a combination of thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The addition of amperometric detection provides increased sensitivity to a highly specific assay.     

Determination of erythromycin concentrations in rat plasma and liver by high-performance liquid chromatography with amperometric detection

A simple method for the quantitative determination of erythromycin (EM) concentrations in rat plasma and liver by high-performance liquid chromatography with amperometric detection was developed. EM was extracted from 200 μl of plasma or liver homogenate sample under sodium hydroxide alkaline conditions with tert.-butyl methyl ether. Oleandomycin was used as an internal standard. The recovery rate of EM was up to 100%. The detector cell potential for the oxidation of EM was +1100 mV. The calibration curves were linear over the concentration ranges 0.1–20.0 μg/ml for plasma and 0.5–100.0 μg/g for liver. The method was applied to the determination of the plasma and liver concentrations of EM in rats after intravenous administration (50 mg/kg dose). The method presented here has proved to be of great use for the investigation of the pharmacokinetic characteristics of EM in small animals such as rats.     

Mass assay for inositol 1-phosphate in rat brain by high-performance liquid chromatography and pulsed amperometric detection.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method for direct mass measurement of inositol 1-phosphate (I(1)P) in rat brain is described. Separation of I(1)P from its isomers and from endogenous components is achieved by polymeric anion-exchange chromatography with a sodium hydroxide/sodium acetate mobile phase. Detection is performed at high pH by pulsed amperometric detection at a gold electrode. Sample preparation involves liquid-liquid extraction and ion-exchange solid-phase extraction, prior to HPLC. The method is sufficiently sensitive and selective to enable facile determination of basal levels of I(1)P in small amounts of brain tissue. The applicability of the method is demonstrated by the in vivo monitoring of I(1)P levels in rat brain after administration of the inositol monophosphatase inhibitor lithium and the cholinergic agonist pilocarpine. The method is a significant improvement over existing published mass assays for I(1)P by virtue of its simplicity, speed, sensitivity, and ruggedness.     

Determination of amikacin in cerebrospinal fluid by high-performance liquid chromatography with pulsed electrochemical detection

A highly sensitive and fast reversed-phase liquid chromatographic (LC) method combined with pulsed electrochemical detection (PED) was developed for the direct quantification of the aminoglycoside antibiotic amikacin in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The limit of quantification obtained was 0.06 microg/ml and linearity was established over the concentration range 0.06-4.00 microg/ml. The recovery was found to be close to 100%. This method was developed in order to study CSF pharmacokinetics of amikacin in neonates. The narrow therapeutic range calls for monitoring to ensure optimal therapy and to minimize the risk of toxic side effects such as nephro- and ototoxicity, especially in populations like preterm neonates at birth, where the predictability of amikacin clearance is limited. Typical problems to be solved were the low amikacin concentrations and the limited sample volume of CSF.     

Determination of piretanide and furosemide in pharmaceuticals and human urine by high-performance liquid chromatography with amperometric detection

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method with electrochemical detection (ED) has been developed for the determination of two diuretics: 4-phenoxy-3-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-5-sulfamoylbenzoic acid (piretanide) and 4-chloro-2-furfurylamino-5-sulfamoylbenzoic acid (furosemide). The chromatographic separation was performed on a μBondapak C₁₈ column with a mobile phase of acetonitrile-water (40:60) containing 5 mM KH₂PO₄/K₂HPO₄ and with a flow-rate of 1 ml/min (69 bar). The temperature was optimized at 30 ± 0.2°C. The amperometric detector equipped with a glassy carbon electrode was operated at + 1200 mV versus Ag/AgCl in the direct current mode. The method was applied to the determination of these compounds in two concentration ranges (ppm and ppb), obtaining a reproducibility in terms of relative standard deviations lower than 1% for within-day and 4% for day-to-day and determination limits of 15 ppb for both compounds. Recoveries greater than 90% were obtained for spiked urine samples, using a liquid-liquid extraction method in the sample clean-up procedure. The LC-ED method was applied to commercially available pharmaceuticals (Seguril, furosemide 40 mg, and Perbilén, piretanide 6 mg) and urine samples obtained from healthy volunteers and hypertensive patients.     

Determination of closantel residues in plasma and tissues by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

The influence of the pH of the mobile phase with some modifiers on the chromatographic behavior and fluorescence properties of closantel have been investigated. At acidic pH values (2–6), the benzamide moiety of the closantel forms a six-membered ring by hydrogen bonding and possesses a native fluorescence. Using the fluorescence emission of closantel at λ_ex=335 nm, λ_em=510 nm, and pH 2.5 of the mobile phase, a linear calibration curve was estimated over a concentration range of about two orders of magnitude with a correlation coefficient larger than 0.992. The limit of the fluorescence detection was 10 μg/kg. This value was at least 10 times lower than that using UV detection. The method was applied to the determination of closantel in plasma and tissue samples, purified by a solid-phase extraction with C₁₈ cartridges.     

Five-minute glycoprotein sialic acid determination by high-performance anion exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection

Glycoprotein sialylation analysis is a common analytical step in characterizing biotherapeutic products and expression experiments to optimize production. In this article, a high-throughput (5-min) high-performance anion exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAE–PAD)-based analytical method for glycoprotein sialic acid determination is described. Results from this method are compared with both published HPAE–PAD and 1,2-diamino-4,5-methylenedioxybenzene (DMB) derivatization followed by ultra high-performance liquid chromatography fluorescence detection (UHPLC–FLD) assays. The quantified sialic acid amounts agree with prior HPAE–PAD analyses within replicate error and with UHPLC–FLD within an average of 24%, which are equivalent results based on assay reproducibility.     

Quantitative analysis of natural cyclodextrins by high-performance liquid chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection: application to cell permeation study

Simple HPLC-PAD methods were developed for quantitation of cyclodextrins (CDs) in aqueous matrices from in vitro cell permeation studies. C-18 solid-phase extraction was used for sample pretreatment. Samples were analysed using acetonitrile-water mobile phase with post-column alkalization by 0.5M NaOH. Zorbax SB-Aq (for alpha-CD) and Zorbax SB-Phenyl (for beta-CD and gamma-CD) columns gave excellent peak shape and sufficient resolution of CD to glucose (2.7-3.2). The methods showed good concentration-response relationship (r > or = 0.999), precision (RSD% 0.7-5.1), repeatability (RSD% 3.4-13.7) and accuracy (87-107%). The limits of quantitation were 0.78, 0.46 and 0.52 microg/ml for alpha-CD, beta-CD and gamma-CD (RSD% of 10.6, 8.1 and 16.3, respectively).     

Determination of erythromycin, clarithromycin, roxithromycin, and azithromycin in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with amperometric detection

In this study, a high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the quantitative determination of erythromycin (EM), roxithromycin (RXM), and azithromycin (AZM) in rat plasma with amperometric detection under a standardized common condition using clarithromycin (CAM) as an internal standard. This method was also proved to be applicable for the determination of CAM by employing RXM as an internal standard. Each drug was extracted from 150 μl of plasma sample spiked with internal standard under an alkaline condition with tert.-butyl methyl ether. The detector cell potential for the oxidation of the drugs was set at +950 mV. The linearity of the calibration curves were preserved over the concentration ranges of 0.1–10 μg/ml for EM and RXM, and 0.03–3.0 μg/ml for CAM and AZM. Coefficients of variation and relative error were less than 9% and ±7%, respectively. The analytical method presented here was proved to be useful for the investigation of the pharmacokinetic characteristics of EM, CAM, RXM, and AZM in rats.     

Analysis of acetaminophen metabolites in urine by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV and amperometric detection

Acetaminophen and several of its metabolites are separated isocratically on a reversed-phase (C₁) column using a mobile phase of 7% methanol and 0.75% glacial acetic acid in 0.1 M KH₂PO₄. Metabolites that can be separated include the sulfate, glucuronide, cysteine, and mercapturic acid conjugates of acetaminophen, as well as 3-hydroxyacetaminophen, 3-methoxyacetaminophen, and 3-methylthioacetaminophen. Although all of the metabolites can be detected by UV spectrophotometry, the sensitivity limits of detection are improved significantly for acetaminophen and all of the metabolites except the sulfate and glucuronide, by amperometric detection (electrochemical) of the same sample as it elutes from the UV detector. Minimal detectable limits (signal-to-noise ratio 2) for acetaminophen and its metabolites, other than the glucuronide and sulfate conjugates, were in the order of 1–2 ng injected on column using UV detection at 248 nm, and 0.1–0.5 ng using electrochemical detection at + 0.60 V with reference to an Ag/AgCl standard electrode.     

Direct determination of tryptophan using high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with integrated pulsed amperometric detection

Here we present a new method to rapidly quantify tryptophan (Trp) in proteins, animal feed (Mehaden fishmeal), cell cultures, and fermentation broths. Trp is separated from common amino acids by anion-exchange chromatography in 12min and directly detected by integrated pulsed amperometry. The estimated lower detection limit for this method is 1pmol. Alkaline (4M NaOH) hydrolysates can be directly injected, and therefore we used this method to determine the optimum alkaline hydrolysis conditions for the release of Trp from a model protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA). This method accurately determined the Trp content of BSA and fishmeal. High levels of glucose (2%, w/w) do not interfere with the chromatography or decrease recovery of Trp. We used this method to monitor free Trp during an Escherichia coli fermentation.     

Method for monitoring alginate released in biological fluids by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection

The use of alginate-entrapped cells in cell therapy requires a method for monitoring possible released compound within biological fluids following either their implantation or inoculation in artificial organs. Oligomannuronic and oligoguluronic acids were prepared by enzymatic depolymerization with alginate lyase from Pseudomonas alginovora, characterized by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection and quantitated in human, pig and rabbit blood, urine and tissue samples. The method was tested for linearity and detection limit, accuracy, intra- and inter-day precision. The limit of detection was 3 microgram/ml in both urine and plasma and 5 mg/g of tissues. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of intra-day precision were 6.0-16.6% and 4.8-8.7% in plasma and urine, respectively; the RSDs of inter-day precision were 5.1-14.4% and 5.0-11.6% in plasma and urine, respectively. Thus, this method appears suitable for the measurement of released alginate from entrapped cells used in cell therapy.     

Determination of retinoids by reversed-phase capillary liquid chromatography with amperometric electrochemical detection

A method for separating and detecting retinoids by reversed-phase capillary liquid chromatography with amperometric electrochemical detection is described. Packed columns with an inner diameter of 180 μm were employed for the separation using a C₁₈ stationary phase and a mobile phase containing acetonitrile-water-methanol (65:32.5:2.5, v/v/v) with 1% tetrabutylammonium perchlorate and 0.174 M acetate buffered at pH 5. The detection cell consisted of a carbon fiber barrel electrode held at 0.9 V versus an Ag/AgCl reference. Injection volumes of 2 μl produced detection limits of 2.73, 0.472, 0.428, and 0.267 fmol (or 410, 64.1, 60.9, and 38.2 pg ml⁻¹) for 13-cis-retinoic acid, all-trans-retinoic acid, retinaldehyde, and retinol, respectively. This represents an improvement in detection limits of at least three orders of magnitude for similar analyses using liquid chromatography and UV absorbance detection. The detector signal was linear over two orders of magnitude of analyte concentration. Retinoid concentrations in bovine serum were determined and found to be in good agreement with previously reported values.