Quadruple isotope dilution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after simultaneous derivatization and spraying based fine droplet formation liquid phase microextraction method for the accurate and sensitive quantification of chloroquine phosphate in human serum, urine and saliva samples at trace levels.

This study presents an accurate and precise analytical strategy for the determination of chloroquine phosphate at trace levels in human body fluids (urine, serum, and saliva). Simultaneous derivatization-spraying based fine droplet formation-liquid phase microextraction (SD-SFDF-LPME) method was used to derivatize and preconcentrate the analyte prior to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) measurements. Acetic anhydride was employed as derivatizing agent in this study. After optimizing the SD-SFDF-LPME method, the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) were found to be 0.16 and 0.53 mg/kg, respectively. Quadruple isotope dilution (ID4) was coupled to the SD-SFDF-LPME method in order to alleviate matrix effects and promote accuracy/precision of the method. Chloroquine acetamide-d3 was firstly synthesized in our research laboratory and used as the isotopic analogue of the analyte in the ID4 experiments. Superior percent recovery results (99.4% - 101.0%) with low standard deviation values were obtained for the spiked samples. This validated the developed SD-SFDF-LPME-ID4-GC-MS method as highly accurate and precise for the determination of chloroquine phosphate at trace levels. In addition, the isotopic analogue of the analyte was obtained via the acetamide derivative of the analyte, which is an alternative to obtain isotopic analogues of organic compounds that are not accessible or commercially available.

Role of traditional antimalarial plants in the battle against the global malaria burden.

Malaria continues to be a major global public health problem with 3.3 billion people at risk in 106 endemic countries. Globally, over 1000 plants have been used as potential antimalarials in resource-poor settings due to fragile health-care systems and lack of accessibility and affordability of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs). Although many believe that the use of medicinal plants that have folklore reputations for antimalarial properties is relatively safe, many herbs may be potentially toxic due to their intrinsic adverse side effects. Therefore, herbal-derived remedies require powerful and deep assessment of their pharmacological qualities to establish their mode of action, safety, quality, and efficacy. In addition, the evolution of drug resistance also demands new antimalarial agents. This can be achieved by forming a vibrant antimalarial discovery pipeline among all stakeholders, including traditional healers, ethnobotanists, scientists, entomologists, pharmacists, and research institutions, for the isolation and characterization of the bioactive compounds with the ultimate objective of finding novel modes of action antimalarial compounds that can be used to fight against drug-resistant malarial parasites.

Yeast sensors for novel drugs: chloroquine and others revealed.

In this study the mitochondrion is regarded as a target to reveal compounds that may be used to combat various diseases. Consequently, the sexual structures of yeasts (with high mitochondrial activity) were identified as sensors to screen for various anti-mitochondrial drugs that may be toxic to humans and that are directed, amongst others, against fungal diseases and cancer. Strikingly, these sensors indicated that chloroquine is a potent pro-mitochondrial drug which stimulated yeast sexual reproduction. In addition, these sensors also showed that some Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), anti-malarial drugs, antifungal and anticancer drugs are anti-mitochondrial. These yeast sensor bio-assays may fast track studies aimed at discovering new drugs as well as their mechanisms and should now be further evaluated for selectivity towards anti-/ pro-mitochondrials, fertility drugs and contraceptives, using in vitro, in vivo, in silico and omics research.

Electrically assisted capillary liquid chromatography using a silica monolithic column.

A silica monolithic capillary column was linked to an open capillary of the same internal diameter via a Teflon sleeve to form a duplex column to investigate the combination of chromatography and electrophoresis in the mode of electrically assisted capillary liquid chromatography (eCLC). Using a commercial CE instrument with an 8.5 cm long, 100 microm i.d. reversed phase silica monolithic section and a window 1.5 cm beyond the end of this in a 21.5 cm open section, a minimum plate height of 9 microm was obtained in capillary liquid chromatography (CLC) mode at a low driving pressure of 50 psi. In eCLC mode, high speed and high resolution separations of acidic and basic compounds were achieved with selectivity tuning based on the flexible combination of pressure (0-100 psi) and voltage. Taking advantage of the excellent permeability of silica monolithic columns, use of a step flow gradient enabled elution of compounds with different charge state.

Capillary electrophoresis with end-column electrochemiluminescence for the analysis of chloroquine phosphate and the study on its interaction with human serum albumin.

This paper describes a novel and sensitive method for the estimation of chloroquine phosphate (CQ) using capillary electrophoresis with end-column electrochemiluminescence (ECL) detection. Under the optimized condition, linear calibration curve was obtained for the system over two orders of magnitude with a detection limit of 3x10(-7) M (S/N=3). The relative standard deviations of the ECL intensity and the migration time were 1.4% and 0.05%, respectively (n=6, 5x10(-5) M CQ). Successful separation of chloroquine phosphate, difenidol hydrochloride and clomifene citrate was obtained at pH 7.0. Using the proposed electrochemiluminescence system, a simple method was proposed to study the interaction between chloroquine phosphate and human serum albumin (HSA), and the number of binding sites and binding constant were estimated to be 32.6 and 7.7x10(3) M(-1), respectively.

Triterpenic acids and flavonoids from Satureja parvifolia. Evaluation of their antiprotozoal activity.

Bioassay-guided fractionation of a Satureja parvifolia MeOH extract led to the isolation of eriodictyol, luteolin and ursolic and oleanolic acids as its active components against Plasmodium falciparum K1. This is the first time these compounds are reported as constituents of S. parvifolia. Ursolic acid showed an IC50 of 4.9 microg/ml, luteolin 6.4 microg/ml, oleanolic acid 9.3 microg/ml and eriodictyol 17.2 microg/ml. Antiplasmodial activity of eriodictyol and luteolin is reported here for the first time. Besides, the four compounds showed activity against P. falciparum 3D7 strain and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense. Eriodictyol showed moderate activity on all the parasites but was the most selective compound as a result of its rather low cytotoxicity (IC50 174.2 microg/ml) on the mammalian KB cell line.

Semisynthetic chondroitins as chiral buffer additives in capillary electrophoresis.

Chemically oversulfated galactosaminoglycans with potential as therapeutic agents (inhibitors of human leukocyte elastase) were tested as chiral selectors in capillary electrophoresis of basic racemates. The high anionic character of these compounds provides them with anodic mobility in acidic buffer; using uncoated capillaries, the enantioresolution of racemic basic drugs was obtained at pH 2.5. Dimethindene, chloroquine and chlorpheniramine were enantioresolved applying negative voltage (-15 kV) while the other analytes (propranolol, pindolol, tetrahydrozoline and cloperastine) exhibited catodic migration. The addition of organic solvents to the running buffer was evaluated in order to increase the resolution; methanol provides the best results and in general, baseline separation of the analytes was reached. The studied oversulfated mucopolysaccharide, shows the same ionic character of heparin but presents different stereochemistry and sites of sulfation. A comparison with heparin, used in the same acidic conditions, may underline the role of ionic, spatial and steric features of glycosaminoglycans in the enantiorecognition.

Separation of enantiomers on anion exchangers modified with heparin in liquid chromatography.

The separation of enantiomers of chloroquine and other amine derivatives has been investigated by liquid chromatography using anion exchangers modified with heparin as the stationary phase. Modification and mobile phase conditions affected the separation of analytes. Separation of the chloroquine enantiomers could be achieved by using a buffer solution containing acetonitrile as the mobile phase.

Comparison of chiral recognition capabilities of cyclodextrins for the separation of basic drugs in capillary zone electrophoresis.

The enantiomeric separation of some racemic anti-histamines and anti-malarials, namely (+/-)-pheniramine, (+/-)-brompheniramine, (+/-)-chlorpheniramine, (+/-)-doxylamine, and (+/-)-chloroquine, was investigated by capillary zone electrophoresis. The enantiomeric separation of five compounds was obtained by addition of approximately 7 mM (1%, w/v) sulfated-beta-cyclodextrin into the buffer as a chiral selector. The effects of sulfated-beta-cyclodextrin concentration and buffer pH on migration and resolution are discussed. Two other cyclodextrins, carboxyethylated-beta-cyclodextrin and hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin were also investigated. Four of the racemic compounds were resolved using 14 mM (2%, w/v) carboxyethylated-beta-cyclodextrin while 28 mM (4%, w/v) hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin resolved only two of them. It was found that the type of substituent and the degree of substitution on the rim of the CD structure played an important role in enhancing the chiral recognition. Cyclodextrins with negatively charged substituents and higher degree of substitution on the rim of the structure proved to give better resolution to the cationic racemic compounds compared with cyclodextrin with neutral substituents. This is due to the countercurrent mobility of the negatively charged cyclodextrin relative to the cationic analytes thus allowing for a smaller difference in interaction constants to achieve a successful resolution of enantiomers. Furthermore, lower concentrations of negatively charged cyclodextrins were necessary to achieve the equivalent resolutions as compared with the neutral ones.

Analysis of basic antimalarial drugs by CZE; Part 2. Validation and application to bioanalysis.

This report describes some of the quantitative aspects of the CZE separation of proguanil, chloroquine and their respective metabolites, the separations of which, by CE and MEKC, were reported in Part 1. Results obtained on the precision of migration time and peak areas using the alternative injection methods of vacuum and electrokinetic are described and discussed. The increase in concentration sensitivity using electrokinetic injection with an organic injection solvent reported in Part 1 is confirmed and the resultant limits of detection in urine reported. An assay method for these compounds in urine is described which incorporates a pretreatment stage of solid phase extraction and the main analytical parameters used in the validation of such an assay are reported. The limitation of the sample pretreatment used when applied to matrices of plasma and saliva are reported and discussed in the context of the electrokinetic injection method used.

Metabolites of chloroquine: some observations on desethylchloroquine and N-acetyldesethylchloroquine.

The major metabolite of chloroquine, (+)-desethylchloroquine, produced by stereoselective N-dealkylation of the drug, was obtained in 81.5% enantiomeric purity by resolution of racemic desethylchloroquine using an atropisomeric resolving agent and was shown by circular dichroism to have the absolute (S)-configuration. The minor metabolite N-acetyldesethylchloroquine was prepared in both the racemic and the (S)-(+)-form.

Determination of chloroquine and its major metabolite in blood using perfluoroacylation followed by fused-silica capillary gas chromatography with nitrogen-sensitive detection.

Tandem fused-silica capillary gas chromatographic methods for the determination of chloroquine and its major metabolite, desethylchloroquine, are described. Method A employs a single extraction step and internal standardization to permit rapid, precise analyses for chloroquine in whole blood. Method B, employing derivatization with pentafluoropropionic anhydride, can then be applied to the extract to allow qualitative and quantitative confirmation of chloroquine and sensitive, precise quantification for desethylchloroquine. The detection limit for chloroquine in blood is 5 ng/ml by both methods; the limit for desethylchloroquine is 15 ng/ml. Excellent precision is achieved by the methodology, partly due to the use of separate internal standards for the two analytes, each internal standard being a close analogue of the corresponding analyte. Data are presented which demonstrate the increase over time of metabolite relative to unchanged chloroquine found in the blood of a volunteer undergoing a chemoprophylactic regimen of chloroquine.