Preparation and optimization of dummy molecularly imprinted polymer-based solid-phase extraction system for selective enrichment of p-toluene sulfonate esters genotoxic impurities.

Sulfonate esters, one class of genotoxic impurities (GTIs), have gained significant attention in recent years due to their potential to cause genetic mutations and cancer. In the current study, we employed the dummy template molecular imprinting technology with a dummy template molecule replacing the target molecule to establish a pretreatment method for samples containing p-toluene sulfonate esters. Through computer simulation and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy analysis, the optimal functional monomer acrylamide and polymerization solvent chloroform were selected. Subsequently, a dummy template molecularly imprinted polymer (DMIP) was prepared by the precipitation polymerization method, and the polymer was characterized in morphology, particle size, and composition. The results of the adsorption and enrichment study demonstrated that the DMIP has high adsorption capability (Q = 7.88 mg/g) and favorable imprinting effects (IF = 1.37); Further, it could simultaneously adsorb three p-toluene sulfonate esters. The optimal adsorption conditions were obtained by conditional optimization of solid-phase extraction (SPE). A pH 7 solution was selected as the loading condition, the methanol/1 % phosphoric acid solution (20:80, v/v) was selected as the washing solution, and acetonitrile containing 10 % acetic acid in 6 mL was selected as the elution solvent. Finally, we determined methyl p-toluene sulfonate alkyl esters, ethyl p-toluene sulfonate alkyl esters, and isopropyl p-toluene sulfonate alkyl esters in tosufloxacin toluene sulfonate and capecitabine at the 10 ppm level (relative to 1 mg/mL active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) samples) by using DMIP-based SPE coupled with HPLC. This approach facilitated the selective enrichment of p-toluene sulfonate esters GTIs from complex API samples.

A novel multi-hyphenated approach to screen and character the xanthine oxidase inhibitors from saffron floral bio-residues.

Recently, the incidence of hyperuricemia increased with patient rejuvenation, searching for new xanthine oxidase (XOD) inhibitors from natural products becomes important. In our previous work, a flavonoid extract of saffron floral bio-residues (SFB) was found to alleviate hyperuricemia via inhibiting XOD. In this study, an integrated approach combining two-dimensional liquid chromatography, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) was developed to online screen and character the potential XOD inhibitors from SFB. The two-dimensional liquid chromatography consisted of affinity chromatography and reverse phase chromatography (2D-AR), in which an XOD column, an inactive XOD column, and a control column were used in the first dimensional liquid chromatography to avoid phenomena of "false positive" and "missing screen of compounds with weak affinity to XOD" that often occur in the screening process, and a C18 column was used in the second dimensional liquid chromatography to separate the mixed XOD binders. Four flavonoid glycosides, i.e., quercetin-3-O-sophoroside (QS), kaempferol-3-O-sophoroside (KS), kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside (KR), and kaempferol-3-O-glucoside (KG), were thus successfully screened and identified from SFB extract by the 2D-AR method. The affinity of QS, KS, KR, KG, kaempferol (aglycone of KS, KR and KG), and quercetin (aglycone of QS) binding to XOD was investigated using SPR method, with KD ranged from 4.8 µM to 47.6 µM. The inhibitor constant (KI) of KS, KR, KG, quercetin and kaempferol were 4.92 mM, 1.11 mM, 0.294 mM, 4.93 µM and 3.27 µM, respectively, determined using ITC method. Finally, the anti-XOD activities of KS, the most abundant flavonoid in SFB extract, and kaempferol in hyperuricemia mice were verified, which suggested that the multi-hyphenated approach established herein can be applied for screen and character the XOD inhibitors in natural products.

Application of Transmission Raman Spectroscopy in Combination with Partial Least-Squares (PLS) for the Fast Quantification of Paracetamol.

In recent years, transmission Raman spectroscopy (TRS) has emerged as a potent new tool for rapid, nondestructive quantitation in pharmaceutical manufacturing. In order to expand the applicability of TRS and enhance its use in product quality monitoring during drug production, we aimed, in the present study, to apply partial least-squares (PLS) approaches to build a model consisting of 150 handmade tablets and covering 15 levels through the use of a multifactor orthogonal design of experiment (DOE), which was used to predict concentrations of validation tablets made by hand. The difference between results according to HPLC and TRS were negligible. The model was used to predict the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) content in four random commercial paracetamol tablets, and corrected with the spectra of the commercial tablets to obtain four corresponding models. The results show that the content relative error in the model's predictions after correction with commercially available tablets was significantly lower than that before correction. The corrected model was used to make predictions for 20 tablets from the brand Panadol. Compared with the HPLC results, the prediction relative error was basically less than 4.00%, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) of the content was 0.86%.

Separation of chiral and achiral impurities in paroxetine hydrochloride in a single run using supercritical fluid chromatography with a polysaccharide stationary phase.

Separating paroxetine hydrochloride and its impurities using conventional reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) is challenging due to their highly similar structures. In the present study, a rapid, simple, sensitive and environmentally friendly method was developed for the determination of chiral and achiral impurities in raw materials of paroxetine hydrochloride using chiral supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). The impacts of chiral stationary phases (CSPs), mobile phases, column temperature and back pressure on the retention and separation of analytes were comprehensively evaluated. After method optimization, a satisfying result was obtained on a cellulose tris-(3-chloro-4-methylphenylcarbamate) stationary phase in 4.0 min using 70% CO2 and 20 mM ammonium acetate in 30% methanol as the mobile phase. Molecular docking was further performed to understand the interactions between the analytes and CSP. The results suggested that hydrogen bonding and π-π interactions were the dominant interactions. The affinity given by the software was in good agreement with the elution order and free energy (△G) values obtained from van't Hoff equations. The results of molecular docking also provide insights into the different retentions of N-methylparoxetine at different temperatures. The results of method validation revealed that the method was sensitive with a limit of detection of approximately 0.05 µg·mL-1 (corresponding to approximately 0.005% paroxetine hydrochloride in the sample solution). The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of precision and intra-assay precision were all less than 2.0%, and the recoveries of the method were 93.8~105.3% with RSDs less than 3.0%. The chiral and achiral RPLC methods included in the Chinese pharmacopoeia and the SFC method proposed in this study were simultaneously used to determine the impurity content in the raw materials of paroxetine hydrochloride. The results showed that impurities that cannot be detected by the reference method can be accurately quantified using the SFC method. In addition, the SFC method has advantages in terms of throughput, analysis cost and simplicity. This study can provide a reference for further research of impurities in paroxetine hydrochloride and promote the application of chiral SFC in the rapid separation of structurally similar compounds.

Impurity profiling of Compound Amino Acid Injection (6AA) using ion-pair high performance liquid chromatography coupled with corona-charged aerosol detection and high resolution mass spectrometry.

The complex industrial production process of amino acids (AAs) leads to the existence of a certain amount of impurities in Compound Amino Acid Injection (6AA). It is difficult to obtain its comprehensive and systematic impurity profile using conventional ultraviolet (UV) detectors due to lack of a suitable chromophore in the structures of AAs and their impurities. In our study, a universal ion-pair high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method combined with high resolution mass spectrometer (HRMS) and charged aerosol detection (CAD) was developed to identify and determine the content of impurities in Compound Amino Acid Injection (6AA), respectively. After optimizing the content of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and heptafluorobutyric acid (HFBA) in the mobile phase on a C18 AQ column, HPLC-CAD method was developed and nine unknown impurities were detected. These impurities were successfully identified using HPLC coupled with orbitrap mass spectrometry and confirmed with their reference substances. The CAD parameters setting was optimized to improve the sensitivity and linearity of the methods before the developed method was validated. The results of validation reflected that the limit of detection (LOD) was approximately 2 ng (corresponding to approximately 0.02 % of L-isoleucine in injection). Under the optimized power function value (PFV) of CAD, the linear range of each impurity was 1 ∼ 200 µg mL-1 (the linear range of one of the impurities with higher content was 2 ∼ 400 µg mL-1) with coefficients of determination (R2) greater than 0.998. The recovery rates for nine impurities were 93.37 % ∼ 110.23 %. This study made full use of the qualitative functions of HRMS and the versatility of CAD, revealing possible impurities in the 6AA injection, which could provide reference for the safety research of it.

Blocking Effect of Demethylzeylasteral on the Interaction between Human ACE2 Protein and SARS-CoV-2 RBD Protein Discovered Using SPR Technology.

The novel coronavirus disease (2019-nCoV) has been affecting global health since the end of 2019, and there is no sign that the epidemic is abating. Targeting the interaction between the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein and the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor is a promising therapeutic strategy. In this study, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) was used as the primary method to screen a library of 960 compounds. A compound 02B05 (demethylzeylasteral, CAS number: 107316-88-1) that had high affinities for S-RBD and ACE2 was discovered, and binding affinities (KD, µM) of 02B05-ACE2 and 02B05-S-RBD were 1.736 and 1.039 µM, respectively. The results of a competition experiment showed that 02B05 could effectively block the binding of S-RBD to ACE2 protein. Furthermore, pseudovirus infection assay revealed that 02B05 could inhibit entry of SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus into 293T cells to a certain extent at nontoxic concentration. The compoundobtained in this study serve as references for the design of drugs which have potential in the treatment of COVID-19 and can thus accelerate the process of developing effective drugs to treat SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Discovery of indolyl-containing peptides as novel antibacterial agents targeting tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase.

Background: There is an urgent need for antibiotics with novel structures and unexploited targets to counteract bacterial resistance. Methodology & results: Novel tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase inhibitors were discovered based on virtual screening, surface plasmon resonance binding, enzymatic activity assay and antibacterial activity evaluation. Of the 29 peptide derivatives tested for antibacterial activity, some inhibited the growth of both Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. A13 and A15 exhibited antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant S. aureus NRS384 at an 8 µg/ml minimum inhibitory concentration. A13 snugly docked into the active site, explaining its improved inhibitory activity. Conclusion: Our results provide us with new structural clues to develop more potent tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase inhibitors and lay a solid foundation for future drug design efforts.

Determination of epoxide impurity in sarpogrelate hydrochloride intermediate by UHPLC and column-switching liquid chromatography.

The determination of genotoxic impurities, which is closely related to toxicological concern and daily dose, plays a key role in drug quality control. Epoxide impurity is a kind of genotoxic impurity with an epoxy ring structure during the synthesis process of sarpogrelate hydrochloride. According to the sarpogrelate hydrochloride daily dose, epoxide impurity is limited to the under 5 ppm level. The liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric (LC/MS/MS) or the gas chromatography-mass spectrometric (GC/MS) method is commonly used to characterize the epoxide impurity of sarpogrelate hydrochloride intermediates. However, these methods are not simple or economical enough to detect epoxide impurity. In this study, we resolved the problem by using the most common UV method with two ideas: one was to improve the absolute sensitivity, and the other was to reduce matrix effects. Both ultra high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC with high sensitivity LightPipe™ flow cells) and column-switching liquid chromatography methods were developed and validated for the quantitative determination of epoxide impurity in sarpogrelate hydrochloride intermediates. The limits of detection (LODs) of the UHPLC and column-switching liquid chromatography methods were 0.09 ppm (0.09 µg/g) and 0.33 ppm (0.33 µg/g), and the recovery rates of both methods were 87.2%-132.1% and 97.4%-100.1%, respectively. Both methods established and provided guidance for analysts to develop procedures for impurity control, especially for structures of impurity with similar matrices.

Adsorption of natural composite sandwich-like nanofibrous mats for heavy metals in aquatic environment.

Natural polymer cellulose acetate (CA) and natural rectorite (REC) were employed to fabricate nanofibrous mats and then immobilized with biosorbent saccharomyces cerevisiae (SCV) to construct a sandwich-like structure. The hydroxyl and carbonyl groups in the CA endowed the nanofibrous mats with a strong affinity for removing heavy metals, allowing them to act as an adsorbent for heavy metals. The REC, which was blended with CA to fabricate the CA/REC nanofibrous mats, increased the specific surface area of the nanofibers and provided ideal scaffolds for the attachment of SCV, resulting in more contact reactions between the nanofibrous mats and heavy metal ions. The adsorption equilibrium was reached within 30 min at the optimum pH of 7, and the saturated adsorption capacities of Zn (II) and Cd (II) were 104.31 and 99.33 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption for Zn (II) and Cd (II) decreased to 47.44 and 62.11 mg/g in the co-system, but the total amount of adsorption (111.36 mg/g) was remarkably higher than that for the single system, indicating that the all-natural composite mats had great potential to simultaneously adsorb multiple heavy metals. After three cycles adsorption-desorption, the composite mats maintained a high adsorption efficiency.

Fast simultaneous determination of main components and impurity sodium ion in PAMA injection by mixed-mode chromatography.

This study describes an analytical method to control the quality of potassium aspartate and magnesium aspartate (PAMA) injection based on the simultaneous detection of the main components (K+, Mg2+ and Asp) and impurities (Na+) using a mixed-mode chromatography coupled with charged aerosol detector. To obtain optimal chromatographic separation, the effects of organic content, column temperature, buffer types, pH and concentrations were evaluated. A Response Surface Methodology (RSM) optimal design was performed after single factor experiment. The mixed-mode HPLC method is proved to be a complementary approach to the conventional ion chromatography (IC). The optimized method was successfully validated and applied to the analysis of Asp, K+, Na+ and Mg2+ in PAMA injection with good specificity, linearity, accuracy, and repeatability. The method would be useful for quality control in PAMA injection and other similar drugs, which can provide references for the analysis of drug quality by enterprises and drug regulatory department.