Ramesh Mullangi

Antidiabetic and hypolipidemic activity of Helicteres isora in animal models

Helicteres isora (Sterculiaceae) root juice has been used in the treatment of diabetes by several ethnic groups in different parts of India. A program was initiated to elucidate the scientific basis for the antidiabetic activity of H. isora. Ethanolic extract of H. isora root caused significant reduction in plasma glucose, triglyceride and insulin levels at 300 mg/kg dose after 9 days of administration to insulin resistant and diabetic C57BL/KsJdb/db mice. In normoglycemic and mildly hypertriglyceridemic Swiss albino mice, the extract also showed significant reduction in plasma triglyceride and insulin levels, without affecting plasma glucose level. An ethanolic extract showed activity distinctly different from glybenclamide and acarbose but similar to troglitazone in these models. In high fat fed hamster model, the extract showed significant reduction in plasma lipid levels. In order to identify the active pharmacophore, the ethanolic extract was further subjected to sequential partitioning with low, medium and high polarity solvents, which yielded a semipurified fraction having both euglycemic and lipid-lowering activity. Our study suggests that the extract of H. isora has insulin-sensitizing and hypolipidemic activity and has the potential for use in the treatment of type-2 diabetes.

Simultaneous determination of atorvastatin, amlodipine, ramipril and benazepril in human plasma by LC‐MS/MS and its application to a human pharmacokinetic study

A rapid, simple, sensitive and specific LC-MS/MS method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous estimation of atorvastatin (ATO), amlodipine (AML), ramipril (RAM) and benazepril (BEN) using nevirapine as an internal standard (IS). The API-4000 LC-MS/MS was operated under the multiple-reaction monitoring mode using electrospray ionization. Analytes and IS were extracted from plasma by simple liquid-liquid extraction technique using ethyl acetate. The reconstituted samples were chromatographed on C(18) column by pumping 0.1% formic acid-acetonitrile (15:85, v/v) at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. A detailed validation of the method was performed as per the FDA guidelines and the standard curves were found to be linear in the range of 0.26-210 ng/mL for ATO; 0.05-20.5 ng/mL for AML; 0.25-208 ng/mL for RAM and 0.74-607 ng/mL for BEN with mean correlation coefficient of ≥0.99 for each analyte. The intra-day and inter-day precision and accuracy results were well with in the acceptable limits. A run time of 2.5 min for each sample made it possible to analyze more than 400 human plasma samples per day. The developed assay method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study in human male volunteers.

Development and validation of a sensitive LC-MS/MS method with electrospray ionization for quantitation of rhein in human plasma: Application to a pharmacokinetic study

A highly sensitive and specific LC-MS/MS method has been developed and validated for the estimation of rhein with 100 microL human plasma using celecoxib as an internal standard (IS). The API-4,000 Q-Trap LC-MS/MS was operated under multiple reaction-monitoring mode using the electrospray ionization technique. The assay procedure involved extraction of rhein and IS from human plasma with acetonitrile, which yielded consistent recoveries of 36.01 and 65.85% for rhein and IS, respectively. The total chromatographic run time was 5.0 min and the elution of rhein and IS occurred at approximately 1.60 and 3.96 min, respectively. The resolution of peaks was achieved with 0.01 m ammonium acetate (pH 6.0):acetonitrile:methanol (30:58:12, v/v) on an Inertsil ODS-3 column. The method was proved to be accurate and precise at a linearity range of 0.005-5.00 microg/mL with a correlation coefficient (r) of >or=0.995. The lower limit of quantitation was 0.005 microg/mL. The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy values were found to be within the assay variability limits as per the FDA guidelines. Rhein was found to be stable in the battery of stability studies. The application of the assay to pre-clinical pharmacokinetic studies confirmed the utility of the assay to derive pharmacokinetic parameters.

Development and validation of a highly sensitive and robust LC-ESI-MS/MS method for simultaneous quantitation of simvastatin acid, amlodipine and valsartan in human plasma: application to a clinical pharmacokinetic study†

A high-throughput, simple, highly sensitive and specific LC-MS/MS method has been developed for simultaneous estimation of simvastatin acid (SA), amlodipine (AD) and valsartan (VS) with 500 microL of human plasma using deuterated simvastatin acid as an internal standard (IS). The API-4000 LC-MS/MS was operated under the multiple reaction-monitoring mode (MRM) using electrospray ionization. The assay procedure involved precipitation of SA, AD, VS and IS from plasma with acetonitrile. The total run time was 2.8 min and the elution of SA, AD, VS and IS occurred at 1.81, 1.12, 1.14 and 1.81 min, respectively; this was achieved with a mobile phase consisting of 0.02 M ammonium formate (pH 4.5):acetonitrile (20:80, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.50 mL/min on an X-Terra C18 column. A linear response function was established for the range of concentrations 0.5-50 ng/mL (r > 0.994) for VS and 0.2-50 ng/mL (r > 0.996) for SA and AD. The method validation parameters for all three analytes met the acceptance as per FDA guidelines. This novel method has been applied to human pharmacokinetic study.

Clopidogrel: review of bioanalytical methods, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, and update on recent trends in drug–drug interaction studies

Clopidogrel, owing to its excellent inhibitory property of platelet aggregation, is used to reduce the cardiovascular risks in patients with multiple co-morbid conditions such as stroke, myocardial infarction and atherosclerosis. The current review focuses distinctly on three aspects: (a) an in-depth coverage on the bioanalytical methods for the quantification of clopidogrel and its inactive carboxylic acid metabolite as well as the active metabolite in pre-clinical and clinical samples; (b) an overview of the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic aspects of clopidogrel; and (c) enumerating the key findings from drug-drug interaction studies of clopidogrel with various co-substrates such as lanzoprazole, fluvastatin, atorvastatin, pravastatin, digoxin, ketoconazole, donezepil and theophylline.

Measurement of xenobiotics in saliva: is saliva an attractive alternative matrix? Case studies and analytical perspectives

The use of saliva for measuring xenobiotic concentrations has been practiced for a number of years. While the use of saliva has been generally reserved for the analysis of diagnostic and forensic/toxicology samples, attempts have been made to further enhance the value of saliva as an alternate matrix to those of plasma and serum. It is understood that saliva represents a handy tool for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) as it offers certain distinctive advantages. This scope of this review encompasses the following: (a) a comprehensive view of saliva as an alternate matrix for either plasma or serum to understand the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) characteristics; (b) an account of the factors contributing to the observed variability in salivary monitoring; (c) a tabular compilation of diverse case studies of xenobitoics belonging to different therapeutic classes with emphasis on assay methodology and applicable analytical/biopharmaceutical/pharmacokinetic findings; (d) relevant thoughts on assay procedures as they relate to salivary monitoring; and (e) some representative case studies highlighting the new thinking on the use of saliva outside of traditional TDM. Overall, based on the review, saliva represents a valuable TDM tool for a number of xenobiotics. While parent compound and phase I metabolite(s) for many xenobiotics have been generally quantifiable in saliva, phase II metabolites have not generally been detected in saliva. Therefore saliva samples could also be used to answer some specific PK/PD questions during the drug development process, if applicable. However, the development and validation of the assay in saliva needs to be carried out carefully with particular focus on proper sample collection, processing and storage to ensure the stability of the xenobiotics and with the same rigor as applied to plasma, serum and urine matrices.

Development and validation of a HPLC method for simultaneous quantitation of gatifloxacin, sparfloxacin and moxifloxacin using levofloxacin as internal standard in human plasma: application to a clinical pharmacokinetic study

A highly selective, sensitive and accurate HPLC method has been developed and validated for the estimation of three fluoroquinolones (FQs) viz., gatifloxacin (GFC), sparfloxacin (SFC) and moxifloxacin (MFC) with 500 microL human plasma using levofloxacin (LFC) as an internal standard (IS). The sample preparation involved simple liquid-liquid extraction of GFC, SFC, MFC and IS from human plasma with ethyl acetate. The resolution of peaks was achieved with phosphate buffer (pH 2.5)-acetonitrile (80:20, v/v) at a flow rate of 1 mL/min on a Kromasil C(18) column. The total chromatographic run time was 18.0 min and the simultaneous elution of GFC, SFC, MFC and IS occurred at approximately 10.8, 12.8, 17.0 and 6.0 min, respectively. The method proved to be accurate and precise at linearity range of 100-10,000 ng/mL with a correlation coefficient (r) of > or =0.999. The limit of quantitation for each of the FQs studied was 100 ng/mL. The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy values found to be within the assay variability limits as per the FDA guidelines. The developed assay method was applied to a pharmacokinetic study in human volunteers following oral administration of 400 mg GFC tablet.

Development and validation of a highly sensitive and robust LC-MS/MS with electrospray ionization method for simultaneous quantitation of itraconazole and hydroxyitraconazole in human plasma: application to a bioequivalence study.

A highly sensitive and specific LC-MS/MS method has been developed for simultaneous estimation of itraconazole (ITZ) and hydroxyitraconazole (OH-ITZ) with 500 microL of human plasma using fluconazole as an internal standard (IS). The API-4000 LC-MS/MS was operated under the multiple reaction-monitoring mode (MRM) using the electrospray ionization technique. Solid phase extraction process was used to extract ITZ, OH-ITZ and IS from human plasma. The total run time was 3.0 min and the elution of ITZ, OH-ITZ and IS occurred at 2.08 min, 1.85 min and 1.29 min, respectively; this was achieved with a mobile phase consisting of 0.2% (v/v) ammonia solution:acetonitrile (20:80, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.50 mL/min on a HyPurity C(18) (50 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 microm) column. The developed method was validated in human plasma with a lower limit of quantitation of 0.50 ng/mL for both ITZ and OH-ITZ. A linear response function was established for the range of concentrations 0.5-263 ng/mL (r>0.998) for both ITZ and OH-ITZ. The intra- and inter-day precision values for ITZ and OH-ITZ met the acceptance as per FDA guidelines. ITZ and OH-ITZ were stable in the battery of stability studies, viz., bench-top, auto-sampler, dry extract and freeze/thaw cycles. The developed assay method was applied to an oral bioequivalence study in humans.

Simultaneous estimation of four proton pump inhibitors—lansoprazole, omeprazole, pantoprazole and rabeprazole: development of a novel generic HPLC-UV method and its application to clinical pharmacokinetic study

A highly selective, sensitive and accurate HPLC method has been developed and validated for the estimation of four proton-pump inhibitors (PPI), lansoprazole (LPZ), omeprazole (OPZ), pantoprazole (PPZ) and rabeprazole (RPZ), with 500 microL human plasma using zonisamide as an internal standard (IS). The sample preparation involved simple liquid-liquid extraction of LPZ, OPZ, PPZ and RPZ and IS from human plasma with ethyl acetate. The baseline separation of all the peaks was achieved with 0.1% triethylamine (pH 6.0):acetonitrile (72:28, v/v) at a flow rate of 1 mL/min on a Zorbax C(8) column. The total chromatographic run time was 11.0 min and the simultaneous elution of IS, OPZ, RPZ, PPZ and LPZ occurred at approximately 2.42, 4.45, 5.02 and 9.37 min, respectively. The method was proved to be accurate and precise at linearity range of 20.61-1999.79 ng/mL with a correlation coefficient (r) of >or=0.999. The limit of quantitation for each of the PPI studied was 20.61 ng/mL. The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy values were found to be within the assay variability limits as per the FDA guidelines. The developed assay method was applied to a pharmacokinetic study in human volunteers.

Lack of Effect of Sucralfate on the Absorption and Pharmacokinetics of Rosiglitazone

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of sucralfate pretreatment on the pharmacokinetics of rosiglitazone following a single oral dose in healthy male volunteers. After an overnight fast, and according to a randomized schedule, each volunteer (n = 9) received a single oral dose of rosiglitazone 8 mg (Avandia® tablets, 4 mg × 2) with or without pretreatment of sucralfate 2 g (Recolfate® tablets, 1 g × 2) in an open‐label crossover study with a 2‐week washout period. Plasma samples were collected over a period of 24 hours at regular intervals. Safety assessment included monitoring of the vital signs, blood parameters, and ECG. No statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed for any of the calculated rosiglitazone pharmacokinetic parameters in the two treatment groups. The mean parameters, AUC0‐∞ and Cmax, following rosiglitazone administration alone were 3825.02 ng·h/ml and 664.47 ng/ml, respectively, and for rosiglitazone administered after pretreatment with sucralfate were 4848.19 ng·h/ml and 624.88 ng/ml, respectively. The tmax for rosiglitazone alone and for rosiglitazone after sucralfate treatments was 1.11 and 1.67 hours, respectively The mean elimination half‐life for rosiglitazone and rosiglitazone after sucralfate treatment was 4.35 and 4.51 hours, respectively. Fraction of rosiglitazone absorbed was calculated by the Wagner‐Nelson method, and no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) was observed for the two treatments. Since sucralfate pretreatment did not show any significant difference in the pharmacokinetics of rosiglitazone, no dose adjustment is warranted for rosiglitazone when it is administered with sucralfate.