Capillary electrophoresis method to determine siRNA complexation with cationic liposomes.

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) inducing gene silencing has great potential to treat many human diseases. To ensure effective siRNA delivery, it must be complexed with an appropriate vector, generally nanoparticles. The nanoparticulate complex requires an optimal physiochemical characterization and the complexation efficiency has to be precisely determined. The methods usually used to measure complexation in gel electrophoresis and RiboGreen® fluorescence-based assay. However, those approaches are not automated and present some drawbacks such as the low throughput and the use of carcinogenic reagents. The aim of this study is to develop a new simple and fast method to accurately quantify the complexation efficiency. In this study, capillary electrophoresis (CE) was used to determine the siRNA complexation with cationic liposomes. The short-end injection mode applied enabled siRNA detection in less than 5 min. Moreover, the CE technique offers many advantages compared with the other classical methods. It is automated, does not require sample preparation and expensive reagents. Moreover, no mutagenic risk is associated with the CE approach since no carcinogenic product is used. Finally, this methodology can also be extended for the characterization of other types of nanoparticles encapsulating siRNA, such as cationic polymeric nanoparticles.

Study of intact virus-like particles of human papillomavirus by capillary electrophoresis.

Virus-like particles of human papillomavirus (HPV-VLP), resulting from the self-assembly of the capsid proteins (L1 or L1 and L2), have been widely used to study HPV as they are similar to the native virion. Moreover, two prophylactic vaccines, Gardasil(®) and Cervarix(®), are based on HPV-VLP L1. Analytical techniques currently used to characterize HPV-VLP, such as SDS-PAGE, Western blot, ELISA, are time-consuming and semiquantitative. In this study, CE was evaluated for the analysis of intact HPV16-VLP. The usefulness of capillary inner wall coating as well as various BGEs, pH, and detergent additives were investigated. Reproducible HPV-VLP analysis in CE was achieved using poly(ethylene oxide)-coated capillary and a BGE containing high salt concentration and low SDS concentration. The developed method enables HPV-VLP detection in less than 10 min (migration times RSD: 1.6%). The identity of HPV-VLP peak was confirmed by comparison with a sample obtained from a wild-type baculovirus and with VLP-based vaccine, Gardasil(®) , after adjuvant dissolution. Finally, we applied the developed methodology to VLP-based vaccines, demonstrating that CE could be successfully used for vaccine quality control.

Optimization of the LC enantioseparation of chiral pharmaceuticals using cellulose tris(4-chloro-3-methylphenylcarbamate) as chiral selector and polar non-aqueous mobile phases.

The resolving power of a new commercial polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phase, Sepapak-4, with cellulose tris(4-chloro-3-methylphenylcarbamate) coated on silica microparticles as chiral selector, was evaluated toward the enantioseparation of ten basic drugs with widely different structures and hydrophobic properties, using ACN as the main component of the mobile phase. A multivariate approach (experimental design) was used to screen the factors (temperature, n-hexane content, acidic and basic additives) likely to influence enantioresolution. Then, the optimization was performed using a face-centered central composite design. Complete enantioseparation could be obtained for almost all tested chiral compounds, demonstrating the high chiral discrimination ability of this chiral stationary phase using polar organic mobile phases made up of ACN and containing an acidic additive (TFA or formic acid), 0.1% diethylamine and n-hexane. These results clearly illustrate the key role of the nature of the acidic additive in the mobile phase.

Stability of 90 mg/mL cefuroxime sodium solution for administration by continuous infusion.

Continuous infusions of ß-lactam antibiotics increase pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic target attainment. However, this way of administration brings about some practical issues such as stability. This study aims to determine the stability of a 90 mg/mL cefuroxime sodium solution. Cefuroxime sodium was reconstituted and mixed with 50-mL 0.9% saline to produce 90 mg/mL solution in polypropylene syringes which were stored at 4 °C, 25 °C and 40 °C. Cefuroxime sodium concentration was determined periodically over 14 days using a stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatographic method with ultra-violet detection. The loss in concentration was less than 10% after 2 days of storage at 25 °C and less than 5% after 14 days of storage at 4 °C. The concentration fell below 60% after 1 day at 40 °C. Solutions darken in appearance with time and heat. A 90 mg/mL cefuroxime sodium solution stored in polypropylene syringes is stable for 2 days at 25 °C and for at least 14 days at 4 °C.

Liquid chromatography separation of the chiral prodrug eslicarbazepine acetate and its main metabolites in polar organic mode. Application to their analysis after in vitro metabolism.

A LC method using a chiral stationary phase (CSP) with cellulose tris(3-chloro-4-methylphenylcarbamate) as chiral selector in polar organic mode (POM) was developed for the separation of the biopharmaceutic classification system (BCS) class II chiral prodrug eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) and its main metabolites, namely eslicarbazepine, its optical antipode, (R)-licarbazepine, and the achiral oxcarbazepine (OXC). The percentage of methanol (MeOH) in the mobile phase containing acetonitrile (ACN) as the main solvent was found to significantly influence analyte retention and resolution. A reversal of elution order of OXC and (R)-licarbazepine was observed, depending on the MeOH percentage in the mobile phase. The optimized mobile phase consisted of ACN/MeOH/acetic acid/diethylamine (95/5/0.2/0.07; v/v/v/v). The potential of this chemo- and enantioselective LC method combined with solid-phase extraction (SPE) was then evaluated for in vitro metabolism studies using ESL as a model case. Only eslicarbazepine could be detected after incubation of ESL in human liver microsome systems.

Development and validation of a liquid chromatographic method for the stability study of a pharmaceutical formulation containing voriconazole using cellulose tris(4-chloro-3-methylphenylcarbamate) as chiral selector and polar organic mobile phases.

The ophthalmic solution of voriconazole, i.e. (2R,3S)-2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-3-(5-fluoropyrimidin-4-yl)-1-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)butan-2-ol, made from an injection formulation which also contains sulfobutylether-ß-cyclodextrin sodium salt as an excipient (Vfend), is used for the treatment of fungal keratitis. A liquid chromatographic (LC) method using polar organic mobile phase and cellulose tris(4-chloro-3-methylphenylcarbamate) coated on silica as chiral stationary phase was successfully developed to evaluate the chiral stability of the ophthalmic solution. The percentage of methanol (MeOH) in the mobile phase containing acetonitrile (ACN) as the main solvent significantly influenced the retention and resolution of voriconazole and its enantiomer ((2S,3R)-2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-3-(5-fluoropyrimidin-4-yl)-1-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)butan-2-ol). The optimized mobile phase consisted of ACN/MeOH/diethylamine/trifluoroacetic acid (80/20/0.1/0.1; v/v/v/v). The method was found to be selective not only regarding the enantiomer of voriconazole but also regarding the specified impurities described in the monograph from the European Pharmacopoeia. The LC method was then fully validated applying the strategy based on total measurement error and accuracy profiles. Under the selected conditions, the determination of 0.1% of voriconazole enantiomer could be performed. Finally, a stability study of the ophthalmic solution was conducted using the validated LC method.

Enantioresolution of basic pharmaceuticals using cellulose tris(4-chloro-3-methylphenylcarbamate) as chiral stationary phase and polar organic mobile phases.

A polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phase (Sepapak-4), with cellulose tris(4-chloro-3-methylphenylcarbamate) as chiral selector, has been investigated in liquid chromatography (LC). Its enantioresolution power was evaluated towards 13 basic amino-drugs with widely different structures and polarities, using polar organic mobile phases. After preliminary experiments, acetonitrile was selected as the main mobile phase component, to which a low concentration of diethylamine (0.1%) was systematically added in order to obtain efficient and symmetrical peaks. Different organic solvents were first added in small proportions (5-10%) to acetonitrile to modulate analyte retention. Polar organic modifiers were found to decrease retention and enantioresolution while hexane had the opposite effect, indicating normal-phase behaviour under these conditions. The addition of an organic acid (formic, acetic or trifluoroacetic acid) was found to strongly influence the retention of the basic amino drugs in these nonaqueous systems. The nature and proportion of the acidic additive in the mobile phase had also deep impact on enantioresolution. Therefore, the studied compounds could be subdivided in three groups in respect to the acidic additive used. All analytes could be enantioseparated in relatively short analysis times (10-20 min) using these LC conditions.