Jitka Caslavska

Determination of substituted purines in body fluids by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with direct sample injection

Many substituted purines (theobromine, caffeine, paraxanthine, theophylline and uric acid, as well as other methylated xanthines and uric acids) can easily be separated and analysed in one run using micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with a boratephosphate buffer containing 75 mM sodium dodecyl sulphate (pH approximately 9). Serum, saliva and urine samples collected after the self-administration of caffeine and serum samples from patients receiving theophylline or caffeine pharmacotherapy were screened for substituted purines. The data presented show the ease of using on-column multi-wavelength detection for investigating the feasibility of direct sample application, the characterization of sample pretreatment procedures and peak confirmation by comparing absorption spectra. It is shown that the determination of purines in serum and saliva samples, including therapeutic concentrations of caffeine and theophylline, can be accomplished without any sample pretreatment, whereas sample extraction is required for the determination of purines in urine. Quantitative data for the determination of micromolar amounts of theophylline (samples from adult patients) and caffeine (samples from infants born prematurely) in serum samples compared well with data obtained by non-isotopic immunoassays. Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with the direct injection of serum or saliva samples requires only microlitre volumes of sample and several different compounds can be determined within a few minutes.

Capillary isoelectric focusing with electroosmotic zone displacement and on-column multichannel detection

Abstract Isoelectric focusing (IEF) of proteins in uncoated, open-tubular fused-silica capillaries of 75 μm I.D. with on-column multiwavelength detection is reported. Small amounts of hydroxypropylmethylcellulose added to the catholyte are shown to provide column conditioning which allows rapid and high-resolution IEF analysis of proteins to be performed in the presence of an electroosmotic flow along the separation axis. The latter process displaces the developing zone pattern towards and across the point of detection. On-column multichannel zone detection is shown to be an efficient method for the simultaneous monitoring of the eluting proteins and carrier ampholytes. The absorbance profiles monitored at one location towards the capillary end and the temporal behaviour of the current under constant voltage conditions are shown to provide information on the degree of focusing at the time of detection.

Modeling of the Impact of Ionic Strength on the Electroosmotic Flow in Capillary Electrophoresis with Uniform and Discontinuous Buffer Systems

A new dynamic computer model permitting the combined simulation of the temporal behavior of electroosmosis and electrophoresis under constant voltage or current conditions and in a capillary which exhibits a pH-dependent surface charge has been constructed and applied to the description of capillary zone electrophoresis, isotachophoresis, and isoelectric focusing with electroosmotic zone displacement. Electroosmosis is calculated via use of a normalized wall titration curve (mobility vs pH). Two approaches employed for normalization of the experimentally determined wall titration data are discussed, one that considers the electroosmotic mobility to be inversely proportional to the square root of the ionic strength (method based on the Gouy-Chapman theory with the counterion layer thickness being equal to the Debye-Hückel length) and one that assumes the double-layer thickness to be the sum of a compact layer of fixed charges and the Debye-Hückel thickness and the existence of a wall adsorption equilibrium of the buffer cation other than the proton (method described by Salomon, K.; et al. J. Chromatogr. 1991, 559, 69). The first approach is shown to overestimate the magnitude of electroosmosis, whereas, with the more complex dependence between the electroosmotic mobility and ionic strength, qualitative agreement between experimental and simulation data is obtained. Using one set of electroosmosis input data, the new model is shown to provide detailed insight into the dynamics of electroosmosis in typical discontinuous buffer systems employed in capillary zone electrophoresis (in which the sample matrix provides the discontinuity), in capillary isotachophoresis, and in capillary isoelectric focusing.

Analysis of urinary drugs of abuse by a multianalyte capillary electrophoretic immunoassay.

This paper characterizes a novel multianalyte competitive binding, electrokinetic capillary-based immunoassay for urinary methadone, opiates, benzoylecgonine (cocaine metabolite) and amphetamines. After incubation of 25 microliters urine with the reactants for several minutes in the presence of an internal standard, a small aliquot of the mixture is applied onto a fused-silica capillary and the unbound fluorescein labelled drug tracers are monitored by capillary electrophoresis with on-column laser induced fluorescence detection. The multianalyte assay is shown to be rapid, simple, quantitative, capable of recognizing urinary drug concentrations > or = 30 ng/ml and suitable for screening of patient urines. Data are demonstrated to compare well with those obtained by routine screening methods based on enzyme multiplied immunoassay techniques and fluorescence polarization immunoassays. The electrokinetic capillary assay has been validated via analysis of external quality control urines and confirmation analysis of patient urines using GC-MS.

Confirmation testing of amphetamines and designer drugs in human urine by capillary electrophoresis-ion trap mass spectrometry.

Monitoring of amphetamines and designer drugs in human urine is a timely topic in clinical toxicology, surveillance of drug substitution, forensic science, drug testing at the workplace, and doping control. Confirmation testing of urinary amphetamine, methamphetamine, 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy) and 3,4‐methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) by capillary electrophoresis (CE) combined with atmospheric pressure electrospray ionization and ion trap mass spectrometry (MS) is described. Using an aqueous pH 4.6 buffer composed of ammonium acetate/acetic acid, CE‐MS and CE‐MS2 provided data that permitted the unambiguous confirmation of these drugs in external quality control urines. Furthermore, other drugs of abuse present in alkaline urinary extracts, including methadone and morphine, could also be monitored. The data presented illustrate that the sensitivity achieved with the benchtop MS is comparable to that observed by CE with UV absorption detection. CE‐MS2 is further shown to be capable of identifying comigrating compounds, including the comigration of amphetamine with nicotine.

Modification of a tunable UV-visible capillary electrophoresis detector for simultaneous absorbance and fluorescence detection: profiling of body fluids for drugs and endogenous compounds

Using fused-silica optical fibres for fluorescence light collection and bandpass filters for selection of emission wavelengths, a capillary electrophoresis detection cell of a conventional, tunable UV-Vis absorbance detector was adapted for simultaneous fluorescence (at selected emission wavelength) and absorbance (at selected excitation wavelength) detection. Detector performance is demonstrated with the monitoring of underivatized fluorescent compounds in body fluids by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with direct sample injection. Compared with UV absorption detection, fluorescence detection is shown to provide increased selectivity and for selected compounds also up to tenfold higher sensitivity. Examples studied include screening for urinary indole derivatives (tryptophan, 5-hydroxytryptophan, tyrosine, 3-indoxyl sulfate and 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid) and catecholamine metabolites (homovanillic acid and vanillylmandelic acid) and the monitoring of naproxen in serum, quinidine in serum and urine and of salicylate and its metabolites in serum and urine.

Stereoselective screening for and confirmation of urinary enantiomers of amphetamine, methamphetamine, designer drugs, methadone and selected metabolites by capillary electrophoresis

Data presented in this paper demonstrate that a competitive binding, electrokinetic capillary‐based immunoassay previously used for screening of urinary amphetamine and analogs cannot be employed to distinguish between the enantiomers of amphetamine and methamphetamine. However, capillary zone electrophoresis with a pH 2.5 buffer containing (2‐hydroxypropyl)‐β‐cyclodextrin as chiral selector is shown to permit the enantioselective analysis of urinary extracts containing methamphetamine, amphetamine, 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (Ecstasy) and other designer drugs, and methadone together with its major metabolite, 2‐ethylidene‐1,5‐dimethyl‐3,3‐diphenylpyrrolidine. In that approach, enantiomer identification is based upon comparison of extracted polychrome UV absorption data and electropherograms obtained by rerunning of spiked extracts with spectra and electropherograms monitored after extraction of fortified blank urine. The suitability of the described chiral electrokinetic capillary method for drug screening and confirmation is demonstrated via analysis of unhydrolyzed quality control urines containing a variety of drugs of abuse. Furthermore, in a urine of a patient under selegiline pharmacotherapy, the presence of the R‐(−)‐enantiomers of methamphetamine and amphetamine could be unambiguously identified. Direct intake of an R‐enantiomer or ingestion of drugs that metabolize to the R‐enantiomers can be distinguished from the intake of S‐(+)‐enantiomers (drug abuse) or prescribed drugs that metabolize to the S‐enantiomers of methamphetamine and amphetamine. The described approach is simple, reproducible, inexpensive and reliable (free of interferences of other major basic drugs that are frequently found in toxicological urines) and could thus be used for screening for and confirmation of urinary enantiomers in a routine laboratory.

Stereoselective determination of drugs and metabolites in body fluids, tissues and microsomal preparations by capillary electrophoresis (2000-2010).

During the past two decades, chiral capillary electrophoresis (CE) emerged as a promising, effective and economic approach for the enantioselective determination of drugs and their metabolites in body fluids, tissues and in vitro preparations. This review discusses the principles and important aspects of CE-based chiral bioassays, provides a survey of the assays developed during the past 10 years and presents an overview of the key achievements encountered in that time period. Applications discussed encompass the pharmacokinetics of drug enantiomers in vivo and in vitro, the elucidation of the stereoselectivity of drug metabolism in vivo and in vitro, and bioanalysis of drug enantiomers of toxicological, forensic and doping interest. Chiral CE was extensively employed for research purposes to investigate the stereoselectivity associated with hydroxylation, dealkylation, carboxylation, sulfoxidation, N-oxidation and ketoreduction of drugs and metabolites. Enantioselective CE played a pivotal role in many biomedical studies, thereby providing new insights into the stereoselective metabolism of drugs in different species which might eventually lead to new strategies for optimization of pharmacotherapy in clinical practice.

Analysis of codeine, dihydrocodeine and their glucuronides in human urine by electrokinetic capillary immunoassays and capillary electrophoresis-ion trap mass spectrometry.

Screening for and confirmation of illicit, abused and banned drugs in human urine is a timely topic in which capillary separation techniques play a key role. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) represents the newest technology employed in this field of analysis. Two rapid competitive binding, electrokinetic capillary-based immunoassays are shown to be capable of recognizing the presence, but not the identity, of urinary opioids, namely codeine (COD), codeine-6-glucuronide, dihydrocodeine (DHC), dihydrocodeine-6-glucuronide, morphine (MOR), morphine-3-glucuronide and ethylmorphine (EMOR). In these approaches, aliquots of urine and immunoreagents of a commercial, broadly cross-reacting fluorescence polarization immunoassay for opiates were combined and analyzed by capillary zone electrophoresis or micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with laser induced fluorescence detection. With the fluorescent tracer solution employed, the former method is shown to provide simple electropherograms which are characterized by an opioid concentration dependent magnitude of the free tracer peak. In presence of dodecyl sulfate micelles, however, two tracer peaks with equal opioid concentration sensitivity are monitored. These data suggest the presence of two fluorescent tracers which react competitively with the urinary opioids for the binding sites of the antibody. Assay sensitivities for COD and MOR are comparable (10 ng/ml), whereas those for DHC and EMOR are about four-fold lower. Furthermore, glucuronides are shown to react like the corresponding free opioids. Analysis of urines that were collected after administration of 7 mg COD and 25 mg DHC tested positively in both assay formats. The presence of the free and conjugated codeinoids in these urines and their identification was accomplished by capillary electrophoresis-ion trap mass spectrometry (CE-MS). This confirmatory assay is based upon solid-phase extraction using a mixed-mode polymer cartridge followed by CE hyphenated to the LCQ mass spectrometer with electrospray ionization in the positive ion mode. With this technology, MS2 is employed for proper identification of COD (m/z 300.4) and DHC (m/z 302.4) whereas MS3 provides unambiguous identification of the glucuronides of COD (m/z 476.5) and DHC (m/z 478.5) via their fragmentation to COD and DHC, respectively. MSn (n > or = 2) is shown to be capable of properly identifying the urinary codeinoids on the 100-200 ng/ml concentration level.

Determination of γ-hydroxybutyric acid in human urine by capillary electrophoresis with indirect UV detection and confirmation with electrospray ionization ion-trap mass spectrometry

Abstract γ-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), a minor metabolite or precursor of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), acts as a neurotransmitter/neuromodulator via binding to GABA receptors and to specific presynaptic GHB receptors. Based upon the stimulatory effects, GHB is widely abused. Thus, there is great interest in monitoring GHB in body fluids and tissues. We have developed an assay for urinary GHB that is based upon liquid–liquid extraction and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with indirect UV absorption detection. The background electrolyte is composed of 4 m M nicotinic acid (compound for indirect detection), 3 m M spermine (reversal of electroosmosis) and histidine (added to reach a pH of 6.2). Having a 50 μm I.D. capillary of 40 cm effective length, 1-octanesulfonic acid as internal standard, solute detection at 214 nm and a diluted urine with a conductivity of 2.4 mS/cm, GHB concentrations ≥2 μg/ml can be detected. Limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) were determined to be dependent on urine concentration and varied between 2–24 and 5–60 μg/ml, respectively. Data obtained suggest that LOD and LOQ (both in μg/ml) can be estimated with the relationships 0.83 κ and 2.1 κ , respectively, where κ is the conductivity of the urine in mS/cm. The assay was successfully applied to urines collected after administration of 25 mg sodium GHB/kg body mass. Negative electrospray ionization ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry was used to confirm the presence of GHB in the urinary extract via selected reaction monitoring of the m/z 103.1→ m/z 85.1 precursor–product ion transition. Independent of urine concentration, this approach meets the urinary cut-off level of 10 μg/ml that is required for recognition of the presence of exogenous GHB. Furthermore, data obtained with injection of plain or diluted urine indicate that CZE could be used to rapidly recognize GHB amounts (in μg/ml) that are ≥ 4 κ .