Hee Joo Lee

Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction based on solidification of floating organic droplets followed by high performance liquid chromatography for the determination of duloxetine in human plasma.

A novel dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction method based on solidification of floating organic droplets (DLLME-SFO) technique was developed for the determination of duloxetine in human plasma samples by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD). During the extraction procedure, plasma protein was precipitated by using a mixture of zinc sulfate solution and acetonitrile. After the protein precipitation step, duloxetine in an alkaline sample solution was quickly extracted by DLLME-SFO with 50 μL of 1-undecanol (extractant). Disperser was unnecessary because the small amount of remaining acetonitrile, which acts as a protein precipitating reagent, was also employed as a disperser; therefore, organic solvent consumption was reduced as much as possible. The emulsion was centrifuged and then fine droplets were floated to the top of the sample solution. The floated droplets were solidified in an ice bath and easily transferred. Various DLLME-SFO parameters such as extractant type, extractant amount, ionic strength, pH and extraction time were optimized. The chromatographic separation of duloxetine was carried out using ethanol as mobile phase. Validation of the method was performed with respect to linearity, intra- and inter-day accuracy and precision, limit of quantification (LOQ), and recovery. Calibration curves for duloxetine showed good linearity with correlation coefficients (r²) higher than 0.99. The method showed good precision and accuracy, with intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation less than 15% (LOQ: less than 20%) at all concentrations. The recovery was carried out following the standard addition procedure with yields ranging from 59.6 to 65.5%. A newly developed environmentally friendly method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of duloxetine in human plasma and was shown to be an alternative green approach compared with the conventional solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) techniques.

Determination of ambroxol in human plasma using LC-MS/MS

A sensitive and selective liquid chromatographic method coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed for the quantification of ambroxol in human plasma. Domperidone was used as internal standard, with plasma samples extracted using diethyl ether under basic condition. A centrifuged upper layer was then evaporated and reconstituted with 200 microl methanol. The reconstituted samples were injected into a C(18) XTerra MS column (2.1 x 30 mm) with 3.5 microm particle size. The analytical column lasted for at least 600 injections. The mobile phase was composed of 20 mM ammonium acetate in 90% acetonitrile (pH 8.8), with flow rate at 250 microl/min. The mass spectrometer was operated in positive ion mode using turbo electrospray ionization. Nitrogen was used as the nebulizer, curtain, collision, and auxiliary gases. Using MS/MS with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode, ambroxol was detected without severe interferences from plasma matrix. Ambroxol produced a protonated precursor ion ([M+H](+)) at m/z 379 and a corresponding product ion at m/z 264. And internal standard (domperidone) produced a protonated precursor ion ([M+H](+)) at m/z 426 and a corresponding product ion at m/z 174. Detection of ambroxol in human plasma was accurate and precise, with quantification limit at 0.2 ng/ml. This method has been successfully applied to a study of ambroxol in human specimens.

Determination of phloroglucinol in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry

A sensitive and selective liquid chromatographic method coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was developed for the quantification of phloroglucinol in human plasma. Resorcinol was used as internal standard, with plasma samples extracted using ethyl acetate. A centrifuged upper layer was then evaporated and reconstituted with mobile phase. The reconstituted samples were injected into a C(18) XTerra MS column (2.1 x 100 mm) with 3.5-microm particle size. The analytical column lasted for at least 500 injections. The mobile phase was 15% acetonitrile (pH 3.0), with flow-rate at 200 microl/min. The mass spectrometer was operated in negative ion mode with selective ion monitoring (SIM). Phloroglucinol was detected without severe interferences from plasma matrix when used negative ion mode. Phloroglucinol produced a parent molecule ([M-H](-)) at m/z 125 in negative ion mode. Detection of phloroglucinol in human plasma was accurate and precise, with quantification limit at 5 ng/ml. This method has been successfully applied to a study of phloroglucinol in human specimens.

Bioequivalence of LANIDIEM ® Tablet 4 mg to Vaxar ® Tablet 4 mg(Lacidipine 4 mg)

A bioequivalence study of LANIDIEM tablet 4 mg (Samil. Co., Ltd.) to Vaxar tablet 4 mg (GlaxoSmithKline Co., Ltd.) was conducted according to the guidelines of Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). Forty healthy male Korean volunteers were enrolled in the study and thirty six volunteers completed the study according to the protocol. Thirty six volunteers received each medicine at the lacidipine dose of 4 mg in a crossover study. There was one week wash-out period between the doses. Plasma concentrations of lacidipine were monitored by a high performance liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for over a period of 24 hours after drug administration. (the area under the plasma concentration-time curve from time zero to 24 hr) was calculated by the linear trapezoidal rule method. (maximum plasma drug concentration) and (time to reach ) were compiled from the plasma concentration-time data. Analysis of variance was carried out using logarithmically transformed and . No significant sequence effect was found for all of the bioavailability parameters indicating that the crossover design was properly performed. The 90% confidence intervals of the ratio and the ratio for LANIDIEM/Vaxar were log 0.8102~log 1.0417 and log 0.8493~log 1.1439, respectively. These values were within the acceptable bioequivalence intervals of log 0.80~log 1.25. Thus, our study demonstrated the bioequivalence of LANIDIEM tablet 4 mg and Vaxar tablet 4 mg with respect to the rate and extent of absorption.

Bioequivalence of Dilast TM Capsule to Ketas ® Capsule (Ibudilast 10 mg)

A bioequivalence study of Capsule (Chong Kun Dang Pharma. Co., Ltd.) to Capsule (Han Dok Pharma. Co., Ltd.) was conducted according to the guidelines of Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). Twenty eight healthy male Korean volunteers received each medicine at the ibudilast dose of 20 mg in a crossover study. There was one week wash-out period between the doses. Plasma concentrations of ibudilast were monitored by a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for over a period of 36 hours after drug administration. (the area under the plasma concentration-time curve from time zero to 36 hr) was calculated by the linear trapezoidal rule method. (maximum plasma drug concentration) and (time to reach ) were compiled from the plasma concentration-time data. Analysis of variance was carried out using logarithmically transformed . No significant sequence effect was found for all of the bioavailability parameters indicating that the crossover design was properly performed. The 90% confidence intervals of the ratio and the ratio for Capsule were and , respectively. These values were within the acceptable bioequivalence intervals of . Thus, our study demonstrated the bioequivalence of Capsule and Capsule with respect to the rate and extent of absorption.