Huguette Fabre

Influence of polyelectrolyte coating conditions on capillary coating stability and separation efficiency in capillary electrophoresis.

Polyelectrolytes are widely used in capillary electrophoresis as coating agents of silica capillaries to prevent adsorption phenomena and improve the repeatability of peptide and protein analysis. A systematic study of the coating experimental conditions has been carried out to optimize coating stability and performance. The main experimental parameters studied were the type and concentration of polyelectrolytes used in several monolayer and multilayer coatings, the ionic strength of coating and stabilizing solutions, and the procedures used for coating and capillary storage. Electroosmotic flow magnitude, direction and repeatability were used to monitor coating stability. Coating ability to limit adsorption was investigated by monitoring variations of migration times, time‐corrected peak areas and separation efficiency of test peptides. Capillary‐to‐capillary and batch‐to‐batch reproducibility was also studied. In addition, the separation performance of polyelectrolyte coatings were compared to those obtained with bare silica capillaries.

Influence of polyelectrolyte capillary coating conditions on protein analysis in CE

CE of biomolecules is limited by analyte adsorption on the capillary wall. To prevent this, monolayer or successive multiple ionic‐polymer layers (SMILs) of highly charged polyelectrolytes can be physically adsorbed on the inner capillary surface. Although these coatings have become commonly used in CE, no systematic investigation of their performance under different coating conditions has been carried out so far. In a previous study (Nehmé, R., Perrin, C., Cottet, H., Blanchin, M. D., Fabre, H., Electrophoresis 2008, 29, 3013–3023), we investigated the influence of different experimental parameters on coating stability, repeatability and peptide peak efficiency. Optimal coating conditions for monolayer and multilayer (SMILs) poly(diallyldimethylammonium) chloride/ poly(sodium 4‐styrenesulfonate) coated capillaries were determined. In this study, the influence of polyelectrolyte concentration and ionic strength of the coating solutions, and the number of coating layers on coating stability and performance in limiting protein adsorption was carried out. EOF magnitude and repeatability were used to monitor coating stability. Coating ability to limit protein adsorption was investigated by monitoring variations of migration times, time‐corrected peak areas and separation efficiency of test proteins. The separation performance of polyelectrolyte coatings were compared with those obtained with bare silica capillaries.

Determination of aminoglycosides in pharmaceutical formulations — II. High-performance liquid chromatography

A post-column derivatization procedure using OPA and fluorescence detection has been used for the determination of seven aminoglycosides (dibekacin, framycetin, kanamycin, netilmicin, sisomicin, tobramycin and gentamicin) in commercial pharmaceutical formulations. The linearity, precision and detection limits were satisfactory. Recoveries from eye drops, ointments, injections and capsules were comparable (P = 0.05) to those obtained with TLC or microbiological assays. A ruggedness test showed that the method was not sensitive to minor variations in the mobile phase composition, post-column derivatization system or detection wavelength.

Use of coated capillaries for the electrophoretic separation of stereoisomers of a growth hormone secretagogue.

The diastereoisomeric separation of peptidomimetics of hexarelin, a strong growth hormone secretagogue, in CE has been studied. Highly sulfated‐γ‐CD was found to be an appropriate selector for the separation of the stereoisomers. However, non‐repeatable analyses were obtained on bare fused silica capillary due to the progressive adsorption of the analytes on the capillary wall. Two types of polyelectrolyte coating agents were tested to prevent this phenomenon. Coating with neutral polyethylene oxide was found to be efficient but resulted in a very long analysis time (about 40 min). Coating with cationic poly(diallyldimethylammonium) chloride was found both to prevent analyte adsorption, reduce analysis time and alter separation selectivity. EOF measurement revealed that the highly sulfated‐γ‐CDs were strongly adsorbed on the poly(diallyldimethylammonium) chloride coating surface yielding a stable strong cathodic EOF, which considerably reduced analysis time (about 12 min). Very good repeatability of analysis was obtained (RSDmigration time<1%).

Stability of capillaries coated with highly charged polyelectrolyte monolayers and multilayers under various analytical conditions—Application to protein analysis

The stability of capillaries coated with highly charged polyelectrolytes under various analytical conditions was studied, as well as their performance for the analysis of proteins by Capillary Electrophoreis (CE) over a wide range of pH (2.5-9.3). In this study, fused silica capillaries were modified either with a poly(diallyldimethylammonium) chloride (PDADMAC) monolayer or PDADMAC/poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) multilayer coatings, using optimal coating conditions previously determined. Results show that the coated capillaries are remarkably stable and efficient to limit protein adsorption under a variety of extreme electrophoretic conditions even in the absence of the coating agent in the background electrolyte which is exceptional for non-covalent coatings. Monolayer coated capillaries were demonstrated for the first time to be stable to acidic rinses and to organic solvents which proves that the stability of the capillaries is highly dependent on the coating procedure used. In addition, PDADMAC/PSS multilayer coatings were found to be stable to alkaline treatments. PDADMAC/PSS coated capillaries gave excellent performances for the analysis of proteins covering a large range of pI (4-11) and of molecular weight (14-65 kDa) over a wide pH range (i.e. 2.5-9.3). Even at high pH 9.3, protein analysis was possible with very good repeatabilities (RSD(tm)<1% and RSD(CPA)<2.6% (n ≥ 8)) and high peak efficiencies in the order of 700,000.

Determination of cephalosporins utilising thin-layer chromatography with fluorescamine detection.

A thin-layer chromatographic procedure utilising fluorescamine detection is described for the quantitation of cephradine, cefaclor, cephalexin and cefadroxil. The repeatability, sensitivity and detectability of the method are compared with those for o-phthalaldehyde fluorescence emission and UV absorption measurements on the plate. The applicability of the fluorescamine method to the determination of these cephalosporins in serum, urine and pharmaceutical formulations is discussed.

Liquid chromatography with amperometric detection for the determination of cephalosporins in biological fluids

The amperometric detection of cephalosporins with an aminothiazole substituent in the side-chain after HPLC separation has been investigated. The electrochemical characteristics of the cephalosporins were determined at three different pH values. A limiting current is reached at a potential of + 1.00–1.10 V vs. Ag-AgCl under the conditions used. The linearity and precision are comparable to those obtained with UV detection. The detection limits are about five times lower than those obtained with UV detection. The applicability of the method to the determination of cephalosporins in serum and urine is shown for cefmenoxine. The method is also of interest for stability studies in vitro.

Determination of homotaurine as impurity in calcium acamprosate by capillary zone electrophoresis.

A method is reported which allows the quantification of homotaurine as an impurity in the drug. After addition of taurine as an internal standard, the sample is derivatised with fluorescamine at ambient temperature in 10 mM borate buffer, pH 9.2. The analytes are separated by capillary zone electrophoresis in a 31.2 cm (21 cm to the detector) x 100 microns I.D. fused-silica capillary at a potential of +7 kV and 25 degrees C. A 40 mM borate buffer, pH 9.2, is used as the electrolyte and detection is carried out at 205 nm. The validation tests showed that the method is reliable between 0.01% and 0.15% (m/m) of homotaurine with respect to the active drug. The limits of quantitation (0.01%, m/m) and detection (0.004%, m/m) allows to control the homotaurine content of the drug substance for which the maximum tolerated level is 0.05% (m/m). The proposed procedure (derivatisation and separation) developed in CE is rapid (20-25 min) by comparison to that currently used in HPLC (75 min). Satisfactory agreement was found between several batches of acamprosate analysed by CE and HPLC.

Capillary electrophoresis methods for the analysis of antimalarials. Part I. Chiral separation methods

This paper presents an overview on the current status of enantiomeric and diastereomeric separations of chiral antimalarials and derivatives by capillary electrophoresis (CE). The wide variety of chiral selectors which have been employed to resolve successfully antimalarial enantiomers: oligosaccharides (cyclodextrins, oligomaltodextrins), neutral (amylose, dextrin and dextran) and charged (chondroitin sulfate, heparin, dextran sulfate) polysaccharides and proteins are reviewed. Cyclodextrins were the most employed. Chiral additives added to the background electrolyte often facilitated separations of quinine/quinidine and cinchonine/cinchonidine diastereomers. However, in a few cases, using micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography or non aqueous CE, resolution of diastereomers could be achieved without additives. Quantitative applications of CE to the quality control of antimalarial drugs and their analysis in biological and food matrices are presented.

Determination of taurine in plasma by capillary zone electrophoresis following derivatisation with fluorescamine

A novel capillary zone electrophoresis method is described for the determination of taurine in plasma. The method is rapidly executed and is highly selective for taurine as separation is based on the difference in ionisation of this amino acid from that of other amino acids. Following addition of homotaurine as internal standard, plasma proteins were precipitated with acetonitrile and the supernatant was derivatised with fluorescamine in the presence of a borate buffer. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) separations were carried out in reverse polarity mode at 27.5 kV on a Beckman P/ACE MDQ CE instrument, equipped with a diode array detector (DAD) set at 266 nm. The sample tray was cooled to 5°C and separations were carried out at 20°C. The fused‐silica capillary was 50.2 cm in length (40.2 cm to detector) with an internal diameter of 75 μm. A capillary conditioning solution was applied daily in order to suppress the residual electroosmotic flow (EOF). The method, which was validated using feline plasma as the blank matrix, was shown to be linear and reproducible over the concentration range 2.5—100 μg/mL. The coefficients of variation (CVs) of replicate analyses were less than 4.5% at 1 μg/mL taurine in feline plasma and less than 3% for 2.5 μg/mL in human plasma. Recovery was estimated at 99.2% with a CV of 4.85%. It has been demonstrated that quantitation in aqueous solution yields similar results to those obtained by interpolation on a plasma calibration curve provided that subtraction for the taurine peak in unspiked plasma is carried out and that a suitable internal standard is employed.