Selective detection of azelnidipine in pharmaceuticals via carbon dot mediated spectrofluorimetric method: A green approach.

A spectrofluorimetric method using fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) was developed for the selective detection of azelnidipine (AZEL) pharmaceutical in the presence of other drugs. In this study, N-doped CDs (N-CDs) were synthesized through a single-step hydrothermal process, using citric acid and urea as precursor materials. The prepared N-CDs showed a highly intense blue fluorescence emission at 447 nm, with a photoluminescence quantum yield of ~21.15% and a fluorescence lifetime of 0.47 ns. The N-CDs showed selective fluorescence quenching in the presence of all three antihypertensive drugs, which was used as a successful detection platform for the analysis of AZEL. The photophysical properties, UV-vis light absorbance, fluorescence emission, and lifetime measurements support the interaction between N-CDs and AZEL, leading to fluorescence quenching of N-CDs as a result of ground-state complex formation followed by a static fluorescence quenching phenomenon. The detection platform showed linearity in the range 10-200 µg/ml (R2 = 0.9837). The developed method was effectively utilized for the quantitative analysis of AZEL in commercially available pharmaceutical tablets, yielding results that closely align with those obtained from the standard method (UV spectroscopy). With a score of 0.76 on the 'Analytical GREEnness (AGREE)' scale, the developed analytical method, incorporating 12 distinct green analytical chemistry components, stands out as an important technique for estimating AZEL.

Dihydropyridine-coumarin-based fluorescent probe for imaging nitric oxide in living cells.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a messenger molecule in organisms, participating in the regulation of many biological processes. The abnormal expression of NO is often observed in a variety of diseases, including cerebral ischemia, atherosclerosis, and cancer. However, a suitable tool that can directly and sensitively detect NO in vitro and in vivo is important for understanding its various biological functions. In this report, a new fluorescent probe for nitric oxide, DHP-4, was prepared, based on dihydropyridine-coumarin. DHP-4 was able to greatly enhance the fluorescence of NO, but did not affect the fluorescence emissions of other reactive oxygen species and nitrogen species, demonstrating its highly selective and sensitive response to NO. The probe generated stable optical signals in a buffer solution at pH values ranging from 3 to 10. In addition, DHP-4 could detect NO directly, showed low cellular toxicity, and was successfully applied to determine NO in Raw 264.7 cells, indicating its great potential as a tool for investigating the biological roles of NO in vivo.

Pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution study of clevidipine and its primary metabolite H152/81 in rats.

This present study was designed to investigate the pharmacokinetic profiles and tissue distribution characteristics of clevidipine and its primary metabolite H152/81 in rats following a single intravenous administration of clevidipine butyrate injectable emulsion. For this study, a sensitive and selective liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was established and validated for the simultaneous quantitation of clevidipine and H152/81 in rat whole blood and various tissues. A Hedera ODS-2 column with two gradient elution programs was employed for the troubleshooting of matrix effect on the detection of analytes among different biological samples. The experimental data showed that clevidipine represented quick elimination from blood with a half-life of about 4.3 min and rapid distribution in all of the investigated tissues after administration; the highest concentration of clevidipine was found in the heart whereas the lowest concentration was detected in the liver. In addition, clevidipine was almost undetectable in most tissues except for heart and brain at 90 min post-dosing, suggesting that there was no apparent long-term accumulation in rat tissues. For H152/81, the peak concentration of 3714 ± 319 ng/mL occurred at 0.129 ± 0.048 h, the half-life was 10.08 ± 1.45 h and area under the concentration-time curve was 42091 ± 3812 ng h/mL after drug administration. In addition, H152/81 was found at significant concentration levels in all tissues, in descending order of lung, kidney, heart, liver, spleen and brain at each time point. The results of current study offer useful clues for better understanding the distribution and metabolism of clevidipine butyrate injectable emulsion in vivo.

Micelle-enhanced spectrofluorimetric method for determination of lacidipine in tablet form; application to content uniformity testing.

A highly sensitive, simple and rapid spectrofluorimetric method was developed for the determination of lacidipine (LCP) in tablets. The proposed method is based on the investigation of the fluorescence spectral behavior of LCP in both sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and the tween-80 micellar system. In aqueous solutions of acetate buffer (pH 4.5), the fluorescence intensities of LCP were greatly enhanced (ca. 2.4 and 4.3 folds) in the presence of either SDS or tween-80, respectively. The fluorescence intensity was measured at 444 nm after excitation at 277 nm using either SDS or tween-80 as a surfactant. The fluorescence-concentration plots were rectilinear over the ranges of 50.0-500.0 ng/ml and 5.0-200.0 ng/ml with lower detection limits of 5.11 and 2.06 ng/ml and lower quantification limits of 17 and 6.87 ng/ml using SDS and tween-80, respectively. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of LCP in commercial tablets and the results were in good agreement with those obtained with the comparison method. Furthermore, content uniformity testing of pharmaceutical tablets was also conducted.

Flow injection chemiluminescence determination of lercanidipine based on N-chlorosuccinimide-eosin Y post-chemiluminescence reaction.

A novel post-chemiluminescence (PCL) reaction was discovered when lercanidipine was injected into the CL reaction mixture of N-chlorosuccinimide with alkaline eosin Y in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), where eosin Y was used as the CL reagent and CTAB as the surfactant. Based on this observation, a simple and highly sensitive PCL method combined with a flow injection (FI) technique was developed for the assay of lercanidipine. Under optimum conditions, the CL signal was linearly related to the concentration of lercanidipine in the range 7.0 × 10(-10) to 3.0 × 10(-6) g/mL with a detection limit of 2.3 × 10(-10) g/mL (3σ). The relative standard deviation (RSD) was 2.1% for 1.0 × 10(-8) g/mL lercanidipine (n = 13). The proposed method had been applied to the estimation of lercanidipine in tablets and human serum samples with satisfactory results. The possible CL mechanism is also discussed briefly.

First-order derivative UV spectrophotometric method for simultaneous measurement of delapril and manidipine in tablets.

A first-order derivative spectrophotometric (1D-UV) method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of delapril (DEL) and manidipine (MAN) in tablets. The 1D-UV spectra were obtained using change lambda = 4.0 nm and wavelength set at 228 nm for DEL and 246 nm for MAN. The method was validated in accordance with the ICH requirements, involving the specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, robustness and limits of detection and quantitation. The method showed high specificity in the presence of two drugs and formulation excipients and was linear over the concentration range of 18-54 microg mL(-1) (r2 = 0.9994) for DEL and 6-18 microg mL(-1) (r2 = 0.9981) for MAN with adequate results for the precision (< or = 1.47%) and accuracy (98.98% for DEL and 100.50% for MAN). Moreover, the method proved to be robust by a Plackett-Burman experimental design evaluation. The proposed 'D-UV method was successfully applied for simultaneous analysis of DEL and MAN in tablets and can be used as alternative green method to separation techniques. The results were compared with the validated liquid chromatography, capillary electrophoresis and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methods, showing non-significant difference.

Development and validation of a reversed-phase ultra-performance liquid chromatographic method for assay of lacidipine and related substances.

A simple isocratic, RP-ultra-performance LC method was developed and validated for the determination of lacidipine, three process impurities formed during synthesis, and three degradation products present in drug substance and the drug product. An efficient chromatographic separation was achieved on an Acquity BEH C18 column using pH 4.5 ammonium acetate-acetic acid buffer-methanol (70 + 30, v/v) mobile phase. The monitoring wavelength was 240 nm, and the flow rate 0.25 mL/min. Forced degradation studies using acid, alkali, peroxide, water, heat, and light were conducted, and all impurities were separated. The method was validated successfully for specificity, precision, linearity, accuracy, LOD, LOQ, and robustness, according to International Conference on Harmonization guidelines. The linearity of the calibration curve for lacidipine and each impurity was found to be very good (r2 > 0.999). This method is shown to be suitable for analysis of lacidipine to evaluate the quality of drug substance and a drug product.

An Investigative Review for Pharmaceutical Analysis of 1,4-Dihydropyridine-3,5-Dicarboxylic Acid Derivative: Cilnidipine.

Hypertension is commonly a quiet condition, and it expands the risk of heart diseases and stroke. Calcium delivers a substantial role in cardiovascular functions and hence is essential for cardiac automaticity and functioning. Calcium channel antagonists are the choice of drugs for the management of cardiovascular diseases; they precisely stop the introduction of calcium through L-type calcium channels are existing channels in the heart. Cilnidipine belongs to the class 4th generation calcium channel blockers as a foremost therapeutic agent used in the treatment of hypertension and heart diseases. This review article focuses on an inclusive account of crucial analytical methodologies used for the pharmaceutical analysis of cilnidipine in pure forms, biological samples and pharmaceuticals. According to literature reports several analytical techniques such as hyphenated techniques, high-performance thin-layer chromatography, high-performance liquid-chromatography, capillary electrophoresis, voltammetry, UV/Vis-spectrophotometry, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy approaches have been used for determination of cilnidipine alone or in the combined dosage form. We have also discussed the pharmacopeial assay methods, physicochemical properties, and also depict the stacked column chart for year wise publication count for cilnidipine. From literature, concluded that the high-performance liquid-chromatography and UV/Vis-spectrophotometry methods are the most prevailing methods for the analysis of cilnidipine. The data presented in this review may provide a very significant base for further studies on cilnidipine in the area of drug analysis.

Analysis of dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers using negative ion photoionization mass spectrometry.

The fragmentation of dihydropyridine calcium-channel antagonists are compared by electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure photonization (APPI). The results demonstrate that in ESI the preferred ionization process is in positive mode, with the mass spectra of [M+H]+ showing base peak ions probably formed by loss of alcohols from carboxyl groups. Conversely, in APPI, a high intense peak is observed in negative mode due to deprotonated molecule [M-H]- after two serial 1, 2-hydride shifts leading to a rearranged deprotonated molecule [M-H]-. These ions undergo another 1,2-hydride shifts to produce a nitro-phenyl product ion of m/z 122. The APPI is also used to develop a method for the quantitation of dihydropyridines (e.g., nifedipine) in human plasma.

Determination of azelnidipine by LC-ESI-MS and its application to a pharmacokinetic study in healthy Chinese volunteers.

A simple, rapid and sensitive high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS) assay for determination of azelnidipine in human plasma using perospirone as the internal standard (IS) was established. After adjustment to a basic pH with sodium hydroxide solution, plasma samples were extracted with diethyl ether and separated on a C18 column with a mobile phase of methanol-5 mM ammonium acetate solution (90:10, v/v). The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was 0.20 ng/ml. After administration of a single dose of azelnidipine 8mg and 16 mg, respectively; the area under the plasma concentration versus time curve from time 0 h to 96 h (AUC(0-96) were (186 +/- 47) ng ml(-1) h, (429 +/- 145) ng ml(-1) h, respectively; clearance rate (CL/F) were (45.94 +/- 11.61), (42.11 +/- 14.23) L/h, respectively; peak plasma concentration Cmax were (8.66 +/- 1.15), (19.17 +/- 4.13) ng/ml, respectively; apparent volume of distribution (Vd) were (1749 +/- 964), (2480 +/- 2212) L, respectively; time to Cmax (Tmax) were (2.8 +/- 1.2), (3.0 +/- 0.9) h, respectively; elimination half-life (t(1/2beta)) were (22.8 +/- 2.4), (23.5 +/- 4.2) h, respectively; and MRT were (25.7 +/- 1.3), (26.2 +/- 2.2) h, respectively; The essential pharmacokinetic parameters after oral multiple doses (8 mg, q.d.) were as follows: (Cmax) ss, (15.04 +/- 2.27) ng/ml; (Tmax) ss, (2.38 +/- 0.92) h; (Cmin) ss, (3.83 +/- 0.94) ng/ml; C(av), (7.05 +/- 1.54) ng/ml; DF, (1.62 +/- 0.26); AUCss, (169.19 +/- 36.87) ng ml(-1) h.

[Obtaining antibodies to 1,4-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers].

Immunization of rabbits with amlodipine conjugated with horseradish peroxidase resulted in raising polyclonal antibodies that allowed group determination of 1,4-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers in aqueous solutions by ELISA with a sensitivity of 0.1 to 1.0 ng/ml for amlodipine, felodipine, nifedipine, and isradipine.

Microwave Mediated Synthesis and Analytical Method Development for the Estimation of Novel 1,4-Dihydropyridines in Bulk by RP-HPLC.

The present work describes a rapid and green microwave mediated method for the synthesis and a simple and precise isocratic reverse phase HPLC method for the estimation of the biologically significant dihydropyridines. The conventional synthesis of these dihydropyridines has been previously reported from our lab. The analysis of a standard solution (1 mg/ml) was accomplished on a symmetry (4.6 mm I.D x 250 mm) C-18 column using mobile phase acetonitrile:water:triethylamine (TEA) (70:30:0.1 v/v/v) at a flow rate of 0.7 ml/min. Detection was monitored at 354 nm. The retention time for all the compounds was accomplished as less than 10 min. The compounds showed the linear response over the concentration range 10-100 µg/ml. The study is aimed to develop a rapid method for the quantification of these potent molecules. Various parameters like linearity (10-100 µg/ml), USP tailing and plate count were found to be satisfactory. The investigated parameters were studied with the freshly prepared solutions.

Evaluation of supercritical fluid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry for pesticide residues in food.

Supercritical fluid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry has been evaluated for pesticide residues in food. In order to check its advantages and limitations it was developed a method to identify and quantify 164 pesticides in three different matrices (tomato, orange and leek). A carbon dioxide gradient with methanol (containing 1 mM ammonium formate) was used allowing a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min that made the total run time of 12 min without any problem of overpressure. Addition of a post column flow 150 µL/min of Methanol with ammonium formate/formic acid was necessary to improve the ionization. The matrix effect study revealed that the percentages of pesticides with irrelevant matrix effect (suppression lower than 20%) was 99% in tomato, 87% in orange and 62% in leek, whereas significant suppression (higher than 50%) was not found in tomato and only 1% of the compounds in orange and 3% in leek.These results compare favorably with that typically obtained in LC-MS/MS. The absence of water in the mobile phase, also provided some important advantages regarding LC-MS/MS as (i) higher retention of polar compounds in the column, which elute with high sensitivity and good peak shape and (ii) a general increase of the sensitivity of the analysis, consequence of the high ionization and ion extraction efficiency. Pesticides evaluated were identified following the SANTE/11813/2017. At the spiking concentration of 5 µg/kg, 98% of the pesticides were identified in tomato, 98% in orange and 94% in leek, whereas for the concentration of 10 µg/kg all the compounds were identified in tomato and only spiromesifen was not identified in orange and leek. At the concentration of 20 µg/kg, spiromesifen was also identified in these two matrices. The linearity and reproducibility of the method were evaluated with results which guarantee high quality in the analytical measurements. Even though only 2 µL of final extract were injected, the sensitivity of the SFC method was enough to achieve stringent LOQs.Real samples, including 6 different fruits and vegetables, were analyzed by the SFC-MS/MS proposed method, the results being similar to those obtained by LC-MS/MS. The method was also applied to a proficiency test of fipronil in eggs with good results in all the cases. Carbon dioxide as mobile phase with methanol as modifier can represent a good alternative to LC-MS/MS with reduction of matrix effects and shorter run times.

Analyses by GC-MS and GC-MS-MS of the Hantzsch synthesis products using hydroxy- and methoxy-aromatic aldehydes.

EI mass spectra of products of the dihydropyridine Hantzsch synthesis using hydroxy and methoxy aldehydes as starting materials are reported. The reaction products (C-4 hydroxy- and methoxyphenyl-1,4-dihydropyridines and chromeno[3,4,c]-pyridines) were derivatized with N-methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)-trifluoracetamide to be analyzed by gas chromatographic techniques. Fragmentation pathways for 1,4-dihydropyridines and chromeno-pyridines are proposed. The study provides (mainly through MS-MS technique) useful data for the confirmation of the structure of the compounds and also is a valuable tool for further analytical purposes to follow both photostability and reactivity studies with free radicals for these types of compounds.

Enantioselective behaviour of the herbicide fluazifop-butyl in vegetables and soil.

The enantioselective dissipation of the enantiomers of fluazifop-butyl in tomato, cucumber, pakchoi, rape and soil under field condition was investigated to elucidate the enantioselective environmental behaviours and chiral stability of the optical pure product. Fluazifop, the major chiral metabolite of fluazifop-butyl, was also detected. Fluazifop-butyl dissipated rapidly in the vegetables and soil with the half-lives of the enantiomers ranging from 1.62 to 2.84days. Enantioselective degradations of fluazifop-butyl were found. In tomato and cucumber, S-fluazifop-butyl dissipated faster than R-enantiomer, while R-fluazifop-butyl showed a faster degradation in pakchoi, rape and soil. Fluazifop was found almost immediately after the application of fluazifop-butyl and had relatively longer persistent time. When the optical pure product fluazifop-P-butyl was applied, rapid degradation to R-fluazifop was found with half-lives from 1.24 to 2.28days, and no S-fluazifop-butyl or S-fluazifop was detected showing the herbicidally active fluazifop-P-butyl and R-fluazifop were configurationally stable.

Mass spectrometric studies on 4-aryl-1-cyclopropyl-1,2-dihydropyridinyl derivatives: an examination of a novel fragmentation pathway.

Examination of the electrospray ionization product ion spectra of 1,2-dihydropyridinyl and 4-aryl-1,2-dihydropyridinyl derivatives bearing a 1-cyclopropyl or 1-trans-2-phenylcyclopropyl group has led to the characterization of unexpected fragment ions. For example, the base peak at m/z 156 present in the product ion spectrum of trans-1-(2-phenylcyclopropyl)-4-phenyl-1,2-dihydropyridine proved not to be the expected 4-phenylpyridinium species but rather the isomeric 3-phenyl-5-azoniafulvenyl species. The results of studies with a series of structural and isotopically labeled analogs require a novel fragmentation pathway to account for the formation of this and related fragment ions. One possible pathway is based on an initial 1,5-sigmatropic shift of a cyclopropylmethylene hydrogen atom that is accompanied by opening of the cyclopropyl ring. The resulting eniminium intermediates then fragment to yield the 5-azoniafulvenyl species.

Investigation on the photochemical stability of lercanidipine and its determination in tablets by HPLC-UV and LC-ESI-MS/MS.

The photostability of lercanidipine, a dihydropyridine calcium-channel blocker used in the treatment of the hypertension, was studied. Drug substance and its solutions and formulations were exposed to UV-A radiations (solar simulator) and the photodegradation process was monitored by UV spectrophotometry, HPLC and HPLC-mass spectrometry. The effect of the solvent (ethanol and ethanol/PBS 1:1 v/v) on the photodegradation pathway and kinetic was evaluated. Lercanidipine and its photodegradation products were separated by a selective reversed-phase HPLC method and the main photoproducts were characterized by HPLC-MS/MS analysis, using an electrospray ionization source (ESI) and an ion trap analyzer. Photochemical reactions, involved in the photodegradation of lercanidipine, include aromatisation of the dihydropyridine moiety, formation of nitrosoderivatives and N-dealkylation in the side chain. The developed stability-indicating HPLC method was then applied to the quality control of commercially available lercanidipine formulations (tablets).

Fractional wavelet analysis for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of lacidipine and its photodegradation product by continuous wavelet transform and multilinear regression calibration.

Fractional wavelet transform (FWT) was applied to the original absorption spectra of lacidipine (LAC) and its photodegradation product (LACD), and the resulting FWT spectra were processed by continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and multilinear regression calibration (MLRC) for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of both products in their binary mixtures. These methods do not require any chemical separation step and chemical complex reaction to obtain a detectable signal for the degradation product. By using the Mexican hat function, 2 calibration functions for LAC and LACD were obtained by measuring the CWT transformed signals at 416.1 nm for LAC and 414.6 nm for LACD, after FWT processing of the original absorption spectra. The calibration graphs were linear in the concentration range of 5.08-40.64 microg/mL for LAC and 0.51-8.16 microg/mL for LACD. The limit of detection and the limit of quantitation were found to be 0.289 and 0.956 microg/mL for LAC and 0.036 and 0.118 microg/mL for LACD, respectively. For comparison, the MLRC algorithm was applied to the linear regression functions for the individual drug and its photoproduct. In this approach, a set of linear regression functions was obtained from the relationship between concentrations and FWT signals in the wavelength range 411.0-412.4 nm. Both methods were applied to the quantitative evaluation of LAC and LACD in laboratory and pharmaceutical samples, and produced very satisfactory results.

Comparison and evaluation of pesticide monitoring programs using a process-based mixture model.

A number of European countries run large-scale pesticide monitoring schemes in watersheds aimed at identifying and evaluating the presence of pesticide residues in the environment. These schemes provide national and regional scale assessments of pesticide concentrations within the context of environmental quality assessment, aiming to ensure some degree of ecological protection. The present study is aimed at evaluating the joint effects of the pesticide mixtures detected in monitoring programs, using a process-based mixture model that was parameterized for Daphnia magna. In total, over 15 000 samples containing over 1 million individual measurements were evaluated for effects. It was found that there are only a small number of places where one can expect to have effects on daphnids, based on measured concentrations. The most polluted samples would cause extinction of a daphnid population within only 30 h. The results show that effects are mostly triggered by a limited number of pesticide residues at locations with high emissions. It was also shown that the analytical detection limits are basically too high to exclude mixture effects. So, despite all the effort that is put into chemical monitoring programs, it remains a challenge to make statements on whether or not the environment is protected. Recommendations are offered for a different setup of monitoring programs to improve this situation. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:3113-3123. © 2016 SETAC.