Microliquid/Liquid Interfacial Sensors: Biomimetic Investigation of Transmembrane Mechanisms and Real-Time Determinations of Clemastine, Cyproheptadine, Epinastine, Cetirizine, and Desloratadine.

Antihistamines relieve allergic symptoms by inhibiting the action of histamine. Further understanding of antihistamine transmembrane mechanisms and optimizing the selectivity and real-time monitoring capabilities of drug sensors is necessary. In this study, a micrometer liquid/liquid (L/L) interfacial sensor has served as a biomimetic membrane to investigate the mechanism of interfacial transfer of five antihistamines, i.e., clemastine (CLE), cyproheptadine (CYP), epinastine (EPI), desloratadine (DSL), and cetirizine (CET), and realize the real-time determinations. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) techniques have been used to uncover the electrochemical transfer behavior of the five antihistamines at the L/L interface. Additionally, finite element simulations (FEMs) have been employed to reveal the thermodynamics and kinetics of the process. Visualization of antihistamine partitioning in two phases at different pH values can be realized by ion partition diagrams (IPDs). The IPDs also reveal the transfer mechanism at the L/L interface and provide effective lipophilicity at different pH values. Real-time determinations of these antihistamines have been achieved through potentiostatic chronoamperometry (I-t), exhibiting good selectivity with the addition of nine common organic or inorganic compounds in living organisms and revealing the potential for in vivo pharmacokinetics. Besides providing a satisfactory surrogate for studying the transmembrane mechanism of antihistamines, this work also sheds light on micro- and nano L/L interfacial sensors for in vivo analysis of pharmacokinetics at a single-cell or single-organelle level.

Development and Validation of Stability Indicating High-Performance Liquid Chromatographic Method for Determination of Cyproheptadine Hydrochloride, its Impurity And Degradation Product.

This work presents a sensitive, accurate and selective RP-HPLC method for simultaneous determination of cyproheptadine HCl (CPH), its impurity B (dibenzosuberone) and CPH oxidative degradation product (10,11-dihydroxy-dibenzosuberone) in bulk powder and in pharmaceutical formulation. The RP-HPLC method depends on isocratic elution using C8 column and mobile phase consisting of 0.05 M KH2PO4 buffer:methanol (35:65, v/v, pH = 4.5) at a flow rate of 2 mL/min, and the eluant was monitored at 245 nm. Good resolution was obtained with tR values of 3.05, 7.54 and 6.17 min for CPH, impurity and oxidative degradate, respectively. The proposed method has been validated as per ICH guidelines using pure forms of CPH, its impurity and degradation product in pharmaceutical formulation with an accuracy of 100.48, 100.16 and 100.11, respectively. Additional spiking experiments yielded an accuracy of 100 ± 1.6%. Repeatability and intermediate precision results indicated acceptable low <2% RSD values. Moreover, the developed method's statistical results were favorably compared to the previously reported method results regarding both accuracy and precision. The developed method can be applied for analysis of the three components in quality control laboratories.

IDENTIFICATION AND DETERMINATION OF RUPATADINE AND FEXOFENADINE BY DENSITOMETRIC METHOD.

Simple, precise and accurate densitometric methods were developed for the determination of two antihistamine drugs. rupatadine and fexofenadine. Silica gel 60 F254 HPTLC plates were used as stationary phase, while mixtures of acetonitrile - water - 25% ammonia (90 : 10 : 1, v/v/v) and acetonitrile - methanol -acetate buffer at pH 5.5 (3 : 2 : 5, v/v/v) were used as mobile phases for rupatadine and fexofenadine, respectively. The detection of rupatadine and fexofenadine was conducted out at 256 and 210 nm, respectively. The limit of detection and the limit of quantification for rupatadine were found to be 0.3 and 0.1 µg/spot, respectively, and for fexofenadine, 5 and 2 µg/spot, respectively.

Determination of cyproheptadine in feeds using molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction coupled with HPLC.

A novel method was developed for the determination of cyproheptadine in feeds using molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography. The polymers were prepared using cyproheptadine as a template molecule, methacrylic acid as a functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as a cross-linking agent, and dichloromethane as a solvent by bulk polymerization. Under the optimum solid-phase extraction conditions, the molecular imprinting cartridge can selectively extract and enrich cyproheptadine from a variety of feeds. Mean recoveries of cyproheptadine from four kinds of feeds spiked at 0.1, 1.0 and 10mgkg(-1) ranged from 85.5% to 96.2%, with intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviation less than 10%. The calibration curve of cyproheptadine was good linear relationship (r>0.9993) within the range of 0.1-50µgmL(-1). The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.04 and 0.1mgkg(-1), respectively.

Micelle-enhanced spectrofluorimetric method for determination of cyproheptadine hydrochloride in tablets: application to in-vitro drug release and content uniformity test.

A highly sensitive and simple spectrofluorimetric method was developed for the determination of cyproheptadine hydrochloride (CYP) in its pharmaceutical formulations. The proposed method is based on the investigation of the fluorescence spectral behaviour of CYP in a sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) micellar system. In aqueous solution, the fluorescence intensity of CYP was greatly enhanced (150 %) in the presence of SDS. The fluorescence intensity was measured at 410 nm after excitation at 280 nm. The fluorescence-concentration plot was rectilinear over the range 0.2-2.0 µg/mL, with lower detection limit of 0.06 µg/mL. The proposed method was successfully applied to the assay of commercial tablets as well as content uniformity testing. The application of the proposed method was extended to test the in-vitro drug release of CYP tablets, according to USP guidelines. The results were statistically compared with those obtained by official USP method and were found to be in good agreement.

A fatality due to cyproheptadine and citalopram.

Cyproheptadine (Periactin) is a first-generation antihistamine available in over-the-counter cold medications and is used to treat allergic-type symptoms. Although antihistamines in general have long been known to cause serious side effects, especially when taken in overdose, few reports that specifically address cyproheptadine-related fatalities exist. A 42-year-old healthy female was found dead at her home with no anatomic cause of death and a recent history of suicidal ideations. Toxicology revealed cyproheptadine and citalopram in the femoral postmortem blood at concentrations of 0.49 and 2.3 mg/L, respectively. Vitreous, urine, and bile analysis were also performed, yielding concentrations of < 0.04 and 0.80 mg/L in the vitreous for cyproheptadine and citalopram, respectively; 0.23 and 8.2 mg/L in the urine; and 30.7 and 9.0 mg/L in the bile. The cause of death was determined to be cyproheptadine and citalopram intoxication, and the manner was ruled a suicide. Although cyproheptadine is widely available in the United States and Europe, there are only two published fatalities due to this antihistamine and only one that specifically cites blood and tissue concentrations. Therefore, this case study will be beneficial to the forensic toxicology community by providing additional information regarding postmortem interpretation.

Development and validation of LC-MS/MS method for the determination of cyproheptadine in several pharmaceutical syrup formulations.

A rapid and sensitive liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the qualitative and quantitative assay of cyproheptadine (CP) in pharmaceutical samples. Diphenylpyraline hydrochloride (DPP) was used as an internal standard (IS). Two multiple reaction-monitoring (MRM) transitions for each analyte were observed: 288.1/96.1 and 288.1/191.2 for CP and 282.1/167.2 and 282.1/116.3 for DPP. The retention time of the drug was 7.29 min. The analytical method was successfully validated for linearity (1-100 ng/ml), intra-day precision, inter-day precision, and accuracy. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.86 and 0.98 ng/ml, respectively. The proposed method was applied to analyse the cyproheptadine content from seven different syrup formulations.

Syntheses of molecularly imprinted polymers: Molecular recognition of cyproheptadine using original print molecules and azatadine as dummy templates.

The use of custom-made polymeric materials with high selectivities as target molecules in solid-phase extraction (SPE), known as molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE), is becoming an increasingly important sample preparation technique. However, the potential risk of leakage of the imprinting molecules during the desorption phase has limited application. The use of a mimicking template, called a dummy molecular imprinting polymer (DMIP), that bears the structure of a related molecule and acts as a putative imprinting molecule may provide a useful solution to this problem. In the current study, cyproheptadine (CPH) and azatadine (AZA) were used as templates in the development of an MIP and DMIP for acrylic acid and methacrylic acid monomers. Our results indicate that DMIPs have equal recognition of CPH, avoiding the problem of leakage of original template during the desorption phase relative to MIPs synthesized in presence of the print molecule CPH. Examination of the surface structure of the two polymer products by SEM shows appreciable differences in structural morphology and function of the monomers employed. These results are well supplemented by data obtained for swelling ratios and solvent uptake. Molecular modelling of CPH and AZA suggests that both substrates are similar in shape and volume.

Determination of rupatadine in pharmaceutical formulations by a validated stability-indicating MEKC method.

A stability-indicating MEKC was developed and validated for the analysis of rupatadine in tablet dosage forms, using nimesulide as internal standard. The MEKC method was performed on a fused-silica capillary (50 microm id; effective length, 40 cm). The BGE consisted of 15 mM borate buffer and 25 mM anionic detergent SDS solution at pH 10. The capillary temperature was maintained at 35 degrees C and the applied voltage was 25 kV. The injection was performed using the hydrodynamic mode at 50 mbar for 5 s, with detection by photodiode array detector set at 205 nm. The method was linear in the range of 0.5-150 microg/mL (r2=0.9996). The specificity and stability-indicating capability of the method were proven through degradation studies inclusive by MS, and showing also that there was no interference of the excipients and no increase of the cytotoxicity. The accuracy was 99.98% with bias lower than 1.06%. The LOD and LOQ were 0.1 and 0.5 microg/mL, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for the quantitative analysis of rupatadine in pharmaceutical formulations, and the results were compared to a validated RP-LC method, showing non-significant difference (p>0.05).

[Studies for analyzing the prohibited ingredients such as cyproheptadine hydrochloride in cosmetics].

Cyproheptadine hydrochloride (CH) is nominated as the prohibited ingredients in cosmetics in Japanese Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. So the analytical method for CH was investigated by HPLC. The lotion or milky lotion of 0.5 g was put into a 10-ml volumetric flask. After adding 1.0ml of CH solution at 50 microg/ml into the volumetric flask, the mixture was made up to 10ml with methanol as the test solution. Creams were procedured as follows; 0.5 g of cream was put into a 10-ml volumetric flask. After adding 1.0 ml of tetrahydrofuran into the volumetric flask, the mixture was stirred for several minutes and the ingredients of the creams were dissolved. After adding 1.0 ml of CH solution at 50 microg/ml into the volumetric flask, the mixture was made up to 10ml with methanol. This mixture was transferred to a centrifuging tube with a cap and then the tube was centrifuged for 5 minutes at 3000 rpm. The supernatant was used as the test solution. The test solution of 20 microl was analyzed by HPLC using the ODS column (CAPCELL PAK C18 column, 4.6 x 250 mm), the mixture of 1% acetic acid with 10 mmol/l sodium octanesulfonate and acetonitrile (11:9) and the detection wavelength of 286 nm. The working curve from 0.5 to 6.0 microg/ml showed a linear line between the concentrations of CH and the peak areas. There was no interference of peak of CH with the ingredients such as methylparaben, ethylparaben in the lotions, milky lotion and creams.

HPLC and chemometric methods for the simultaneous determination of cyproheptadine hydrochloride, multivitamins, and sorbic acid.

Three methods are presented for the simultaneous determination of cyproheptadine hydrochloride (CP), thiamine hydrochloride (B1), riboflavin-5-phosphate sodium dihydrate (B2), nicotinamide (B3), pyridoxine hydrochloride (B6), and sorbic acid (SO). The chromatographic method depends on a high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) separation on a reversed-phase, RP 18 column. Elution was carried out with 0.1% methanolic hexane sulphonic acid sodium salt (solvent A) and 0.01 M phosphate buffer containing 0.1% hexane sulphonic acid sodium salt, adjusted to an apparent pH of 2.7 (solvent B). Gradient HPLC was used with the solvent ratio changed from 20:80 to 70:30 (over 9 min), then to 80:20 (over 11 min) for solvent A:B, respectively. Quantitation was achieved with UV detection at 220 and 288 nm based on peak area. The other two chemometric methods applied were principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS). These approaches were successfully applied to quantify each drug in the mixture using the information included in the UV absorption spectra of appropriate solutions in the range 250-290 nm with the intervals Deltalambda = 0.4 nm at 100 wavelengths. The chemometric methods do not require any separation step. The three methods were successfully applied to a pharmaceutical formulation and the results were compared with each other.

Evaluation of tricyclic antidepressant false positivity in a pediatric case of cyproheptadine (periactin) overdose.

CASE REPORT: The authors report a case of pediatric cyproheptadine toxicity, initially misdiagnosed as tricyclic toxicity based on the results of a preliminary rapid toxicological serum screen. Although such cross-reactivity has been reported, the chemical basis of this observation has not yet been evaluated. By GC/MS methods and HPLC assays adapted for the detection of tricyclic compounds, the authors confirmed that cyproheptadine was indeed responsible for this patient's toxicity. In addition, the authors identified the presence of a cyproheptadine metabolite in the patient's serum. Further testing in an immunoassay-based toxicologic screen demonstrated some cross-reactivity exhibited by the patient's serum, but not the parent compound. These findings showed that the cross-reactivity correlated with the presence of the cyproheptadine metabolite, highlighting the value of confirmatory toxicologic testing of routine rapid toxicologic screens.

LC-MS and NMR determination of a dichloromethane artifact adduct, cyproheptadine chloromethochloride.

The British Pharmacopoeia (BP) monograph for cyproheptadine HCl tablets requires a 'Related substances' thin-layer chromatography (TLC) test. This test revealed an extraneous spot with an R(f) of 0.1 in certain cyproheptadine HCl tablets that were under ambient retention conditions as well as those on stability programs. An investigation utilizing LC-MS, direct infusion MS, NMR, and organic synthesis has identified that the spot results from the N-oxide of cyproheptadine (a genuine degradate) and a co-eluting cyproheptadine-dichloromethane adduct, an artifact formed during the sample extraction step in which dichloromethane is used in the extracting solvent.

A cyproheptadine fatality.

A 28-year-old man was found dead by his girlfriend. No anatomic cause of death was identified at autopsy. The heart-blood ethanol concentration was 0.09 g/dL. Comprehensive testing for abused and therapeutic drugs in the blood and urine identified cyproheptadine, a serotonin and histamine antagonist. This was one of the medications prescribed for the girlfriend, who admitted that several tablets were missing from the vial. The heart blood contained 0.46 mg/L of cyproheptadine. A review of the literature indicated that only trace amounts of parent drug are identified in the blood following therapeutic use of cyproheptadine. Therefore, the medical examiner concluded that the cause of death in this case was ethanol and cyproheptadine intoxication.

Fungal transformations of antihistamines: metabolism of cyproheptadine hydrochloride by Cunninghamella elegans.

1. Metabolites formed during incubation of the antihistamine cyproheptadine hydrochloride with the zygomycete fungus Cunninghamella elegans in liquid culture were determined. The metabolites were isolated by hple and identified by mass spectrometric and proton nmr spectroscopic analysis. Two C elegans strains, ATCC 9245 and ATCC 36112, were screened and both produced essentially identical metabolites. 2. Within 72 h cyproheptadine was extensively biotransformed to at least eight oxidative phase-I metabolites primarily via aromatic hydroxylation metabolic pathways. Cyproheptadine was biotransformed predominantly to 2-hydroxycyproheptadine. Other metabolites identified were 1- and 3-hydroxycyproheptadine, cyproheptadine 10,11-epoxide, N-desmethylcyproheptadine, N-desmethyl-2-hydroxycyproheptadine, cyproheptadine N-oxide, and 2-hydroxycyproheptadine N-oxide. Although a minor fungal metabolite, cyproheptadine 10,11-epoxide represents the first stable epoxide isolated from the microbial biotransformation of drugs. 3. The enzymatic mechanism for the formation of the major fungal metabolite, 2-hydroxycyproheptadine, was investigated. The oxygen atom was derived from molecular oxygen as determined from 18O-labelling experiments. The formation of 2-hydroxycyproheptadine was inhibited 35, 70 and 97% by cytochrome P450 inhibitors metyrapone, proadifen and 1-aminobenzotriazole respectively. Cytochrome P450 was detected in the microsomal fractions of C. elegans. In addition, 2-hydroxylase activity was found in cell-free extracts of C. elegans. This activity was inhibited by proadifen and CO, and was inducible by naphthalene. These results are consistent with the fungal epoxidation and hydroxylation reactions being catalysed by cytochrome P450 monooxygenases. 4. The effects of types of media on the biotransformation of cyproheptadine were investigated. It appears that the glucose level significantly affects the biotransformation rates of cyproheptadine; however it did not change the relative ratios between metabolites produced.

Photoirradiation products of cyproheptadine and carbamazepine.

Cyclobutyl dimer and 10,11-epoxide photoirradiation products of cyproheptadine and carbamazepine have been isolated by preparative tlc and identified by tlc, uv, pmr and mass spectroscopy.

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of cyproheptadine hydrochloride in tablet formulations.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method is described which determines cyproheptadine hydrochloride in tablet formulations. Tablets were dissolved in water-acetonitrile (50:50) and analyzed using an octadecylsilane column with a mobile phase of 85% acetonitrile and 15% of an aqueous solution of 0.01 M 1-octanesulfonic acid, 0.5% triethylamine, and 1% acetic acid using UV absorbance detection at 280 nm.

Determination of cyproheptadine in plasma and urine by GLC with a nitrogen-sensitive detector.

A method for the determination of cyproheptadine in plasma and urine was developed using the N -ethyl homologue as an internal standard. After extraction of the drug from an alkalinized sample into petroleum ether-isoamyl alcohol, back-extraction into 0.1 N HCl, washing the aqueous phase with fresh solvent, re-extraction into petroleum ether after alkalinization, the solvent was evaporated. The reconstituted residue was analyzed by GLC using a SP-2250 column and nitrogen-sensitive detector. Concentrations as low as 3 ng/ml could be determined. Plots of peak area of cyproheptadine-peak area of internal standard versus cyproheptadine concentration were linear over the range studied with correlation coefficients of 0.9945 and 0.9924 for plasma and urine, respectively. The method was used to determine the peak time (0.5 hr), peak concentration (33 ng/ml average), and apparent half-life (3 hr) in two dogs after oral administration of 1 mg of cyproheptadine/kg.