Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for simultaneous determination of spironolactone and canrenone in plasma samples

Abstract n our study, we aimed to validate a method based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to quantify spironolactone (SPI) and its active metabolite canrenone (CAN) simultaneously in plasma samples to support in vivo experiments. Compounds were separated by using a C18 column with the isocratic elution of a mobile phase composed of 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in methanol-water (60:40 v/v) at a flow rate of 0.4 mL min−1. SPI and CAN were detected in na electrospray interface operating in a positive ionization mode and quantified using the selective ion mode monitoring of mass-charge ratios (m/z) of 439.0 for SPI and 363.1 for CAN. After calculating the matrix effect using theoretical equations, we observed the strong interference of plasma in the equipment-generated signal, which required creating analytical curves using the matrix as a solvent. The method was nevertheless linear (r 2 > 0.999) in a concentration range of 0.4-5.0 µg mL−1, as well as precise, with a coefficient of variation less than 5%. SPI's and CAN's recovery rates from the plasma ranged from 87.4% to 112.1%, while their limits of detection (i.e., 0.07 µg mL−1 and 0.03 µg mL−1, respectively) and quantification (i.e., 0.20 µg mL−1 and 0.08 µg mL−1, respectively) in the presence of plasma contaminants were low. Therefore, the bioanalytical method seems to be feasible for quantifying SPI and CAN in plasma

Stability-indicating analytical method of quantifying spironolactone and canrenone in dermatological formulations and iontophoretic skin permeation experiments.

A simple, stability-indicating, chromatographic method of quantifying spironolactone (SPI) and its metabolite, canrenone (CAN), in the presence of excipients typical in dermatological formulations and skin matrices in studies of passive and iontophoretic permeation was proposed and validated here. SPI and CAN were separated using a reversed-phase column with a mobile phase of methanol-water (60:40, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. Data were collected with a UV detector at 238 and 280 nm, with retention times of 6.2 and 7.9 min for SPI and CAN, respectively. The method was precise, accurate and linear (r2 > 0.99) in a concentration range of 1-30 µg/mL, and recovery rates of SPI and CAN from the different skin layers exceeded 85%. The method was not only sensitive (LOD of 0.05 and 0.375 µg/mL and LOQ of 0.157 and 1.139 µg/mL for SPI and CAN, respectively) but also selective against skin matrices and highly representative components of topical formulations. The method moreover demonstrated SPI's degradation in iontophoresis by applying Pt-AgCl electrodes and its continued drug stability using Ag-AgCl electrodes. Altogether, the method proved valuable for quantifying SPI and CAN and may be applied in developing and controlling the quality of dermatological products.

Exploring the exocellular fungal biopolymer botryosphaeran for laccase-biosensor architecture and application to determine dopamine and spironolactone.

Laccase was immobilized on a glassy carbon electrode layered with multi-walled carbon nanotubes using a film of botryosphaeran, a fungal (1 → 3)(1 → 6)-ß-D-glucan. This novel biosensing platform was characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and applied for the determination of dopamine. Experimental variables such as enzyme concentration, pH value and operational parameters of the electroanalytical technique were optimized. Using square-wave voltammetry, there was a linear dependence of peak current and dopamine concentration within the range of 2.99-38.5 µmol L-1 with a limit of detection of 0.127 µmol L-1. The biosensor was successfully applied in the determination of dopamine in pharmaceutical injection and synthetic biological samples, and presented good selectivity even in the presence of uric acid and ascorbic acid, as well as other phenolic compounds. The different aspects regarding the operational stability of the laccase biosensor were evaluated, demonstrating good intra-day and inter-day repeatability, and long-storage stability. Furthermore, this biosensor was evaluated in the indirect determination of spironolactone by using the analytical signal of dopamine, presenting a limit of detection of 0.94 µmol L-1. The results obtained in the analysis of spironolactone in commercial pharmaceutical samples were satisfactory.

Development and validation of a fast and sensitive UHPLC-ESI-MS method for the simultaneous quantification of spironolactone and its metabolites in ocular tissues.

Glucocorticoids are a mainstay for the treatment of immune-mediated conditions and inflammatory diseases. However, their chronic use causes numerous side-effects including delays in corneal and cutaneous wound healing. This is attributed to off-target agonism of the mineralocorticoid receptor, which can be reduced by co-administration of a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist such as spironolactone. The aim of this study was to develop a fast, selective and sensitive UHPLC-ESI-MS method for the simultaneous quantification of spironolactone, its active metabolites (7α-thiomethylspironolactone and canrenone), the latter's water-soluble prodrug potassium canrenoate and the synthetic glucocorticoid, dexamethasone, in corneal samples (17α-methyltestosterone served as an internal standard). A one-step extraction procedure using MeOH-H2 O (1:1) was validated and employed to recover the analytes from the corneal tissue. Extracts were centrifuged and the supernatant analyzed under isocratic conditions. Compounds were detected using selected ion recording mode. The method satisfied US Food and Drug Administration guidelines with respect to selectivity, precision and accuracy and displayed linearity from 5 to 1000 ng/mL for all of the analytes. The lower limit of quantitation of the method was 5 ng/mL, making it sufficiently sensitive for quantification of the analytes in samples from in vivo studies.

Successive ratio subtraction as a novel manipulation of ratio spectra for quantitative determination of a mixture of furosemide, spironolactone and canrenone.

Furosemide and spironolactone are commonly prescribed antihypertensive drugs. Canrenone is the main degradation product and main metabolite of spironolactone. Ratio subtraction and extended ratio subtraction spectrophotometric methods were previously applied for quantitation of only binary mixtures. An extension of the above mentioned methods; successive ratio subtraction, is introduced in the presented work for quantitative determination of ternary mixtures exemplified by furosemide, spironolactone and canrenone. Manipulating the ratio spectra of the ternary mixture allowed their determination at 273.6nm, 285nm and 240nm and in the concentration ranges of (2-16µgmL-1), (4-32µgmL-1) and (1-18µgmL-1) for furosemide, spironolactone and canrenone, respectively. Method specificity was ensured by the application to laboratory prepared mixtures. The introduced method was ensured to be accurate and precise. Validation of the developed method was done with respect to ICH guidelines and its validity was further ensured by the application to the pharmaceutical formulation. Statistical comparison between the obtained results and those obtained from the reported HPLC method was achieved concerning student's t-test and F ratio test where no significant difference was observed.

Analysis of spironolactone polymorphs in active pharmaceutical ingredients and their effect on tablet dissolution profiles

ABSTRACT Spironolactone (SPR) is a steroidal drug administered as a potassium-sparing diuretic for high blood pressure treatment. The drug shows incomplete gastrointestinal absorption due to its poor aqueous solubility. The physicochemical properties of SPR in crystal forms I and II suggest that differences in their aqueous solubility may lead to a lack of bioequivalence between solid-state formulations. In this study, SPR polymorphs in five batches of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from three manufacturers were characterized using powder X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, thermal analysis, and solubility measurements. SPR tablets (50 mg) were manufactured in our laboratory using API in pure form II, and API in form II contaminated with form I, which was found in a commercial batch. Physicochemical quality evaluations of the manufactured tablets, along with five SPR tablets marketed in Brazil, were performed, and results indicated differences in their dissolution profiles. In the manufactured tablets, differences were associated with the increased solubility of API in form II contaminated with form I compared to API in pure form II. In the marketed SPR tablets, the formulation composition demonstrated an important role in the dissolution rate of the drug, leading to lack of pharmaceutical equivalence among the drug products.

A validated stability-indicating ultra performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of potential process-related impurities in eplerenone.

A simple, sensitive, and accurate stability-indicating analytical method has been developed and validated using ultra high performance liquid chromatography. The developed method is used to evaluate the related substances of eplerenone (EP). The degradation behavior of EP under stress conditions was determined, and the major degradants were identified by ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. The chromatographic conditions were optimized using an impurity-spiked solution, and the samples, generated from forced degradation studies. The resolution of EP, its potential impurities, and its degradation products was performed on a Waters UPLC BEH C18 column (50 × 2.1 mm, 1.7 µm) by linear gradient elution using a mobile phase consisting of 10 mmol/L ammonium acetate adjusted to pH 4.5, methanol and acetonitrile. A photo-diode array detector set at 245 nm was used for detection. The flow rate was set at 0.3 mL/min. The procedure had good specificity, linearity (0.02-3.14 µg/mL), recovery (96.1-103.9%), limit of detection (0.01-0.02 µg/mL), limit of quantitation (0.03-0.05 µg/mL), and robustness. The correction factors of the process-related substances were calculated.

Development and validation of a stability-indicating HPLC assay method for simultaneous determination of spironolactone and furosemide in tablet formulation.

The objective of the current study was to develop and validate a simple, precise and accurate isocratic stability-indicating reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) assay method for the determination of spironolactone and furosemide in solid pharmaceutical dosage forms. Isocratic RP-HPLC separation was achieved on an SGE 150 × 4.6 mm SS Wakosil II 5C8RS 5-µm column using a mobile phase of acetonitrile-ammonium acetate buffer (50:50, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The detection was carried out at 254 nm using a photodiode array detector. The drug was subject to oxidation, hydrolysis, photolysis and heat to apply stress conditions. The method was validated for specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, robustness and solution stability. The method was found to be linear in the drug concentration range of 40-160 µg/mL with correlation coefficients of 0.9977 and 0.9953 for spironolactone and furosemide, respectively. The precision (relative standard deviation; RSD) among a six-sample preparation was 0.87% and 1.1% for spironolactone and furosemide, respectively. Repeatability and intermediate precision (RSD) among a six-sample preparation were 0.46% and 0.20% for spironolactone and furosemide, respectively. The accuracy (recovery) was between 98.05 and 100.17% and 99.07 and 100.58% for spironolactone and furosemide, respectively. Degradation products produced as a result of stress studies did not interfere with the detection of spironolactone and furosemide; therefore, the assay can be considered to be stability-indicating.

Use of conventional surfactant media as surrogates for FaSSIF in simulating in vivo dissolution of BCS class II drugs.

The usefulness of selected conventional surfactant media to enhance dissolution of BCS class II drugs similarly to fasted state simulated intestinal fluid (FaSSIF) and to predict the absorption of drugs in vivo was evaluated. Dissolution behavior of danazol (Danol), spironolactone (Spiridon) and N74 (phase I compound) was compared between FaSSIF, containing physiological levels of sodium taurocholate (STC) and lecithin, and dissolution media containing various concentrations of anionic surfactant, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) or non-ionic surfactant, polysorbate (Tween) 80. Although these media differed largely in their solubilization ability, micelle size, diffusivity and surface tension, similar dissolution enhancing levels were achieved between FaSSIF and drug-specific concentrations of conventional surfactants. The dissolution enhancement was shown, however, to be important only for danazol and N74, molecules that are characterized by high hydrophobicity. An in vivo pharmacokinetic dog study was carried out with N74. Comparison of observed plasma profiles with simulated profiles obtained using compartmental absorption and transit model (CAT) indicated that 0.1% SLS medium was the best to predict in vivo plasma profiles and pharmacokinetic parameters (C(max) and AUC). This study demonstrates the potential of substituting FaSSIF with more simple and cost-effective conventional surfactant media. Use of in vivo prognostic amounts of synthetic surfactants in dissolution testing could largely assist in industrial drug development as well as in quality control purposes.

Validated chromatographic methods for determination of hydrochlorothiazide and spironolactone in pharmaceutical formulation in presence of impurities and degradants.

Two specific, sensitive, and precise stability indicating chromatographic methods have been developed, optimized, and validated for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) and Spironolactone (SPR) determination in their mixtures and in presence of their impurities and degradation products. The first method was based on thin layer chromatographic (TLC) combined with densitometric determination of the separated spots. The separation was achieved using silica gel 60 F(254) TLC plates and ethyl acetate-chloroform-formic acid-triethyl amine (7:3:0.1:0.1, by volume) as a developing system. Good correlations were obtained between the integrated peak area of the studied drugs and their corresponding concentrations in different ranges. The second method was based on the high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection, by which the proposed components were separated on a reversed phase C(18) analytical column using gradient elution system with deionized water-acetonitrile (97:3, v/v) for 8 min. Then acetonitrile was successively increased to 35% in the next 2 min, and kept constant in the following 10 min, finally 3% acetonitrile was regained again to stabilize the chromatographic system. The flow rate was maintained at 2 mL/min and the detection wavelength was at 230 nm. Linear regressions were obtained in the range of 4.0-50 µg/mL and 5.0-50 µg/mL for both HCT and SPR, respectively. Different parameters affecting the suggested methods were optimized for maximum separation of the cited components. System suitability parameters of the two developed methods were also tested. The suggested methods were validated in compliance with the ICH guidelines and were successfully applied for determination of HCT and SPR in their commercial tablets. Both methods were also statistically compared to each other and to the reported method with no significant difference in performance.

Spectrophotometric and chemometric determination of hydrochlorothiazide and spironolactone in binary mixture in the presence of their impurities and degradants.

Hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) and spironolactone (SPR) are mostly co-formulated in antihypertensive formulations. Several methods have been developed and validated for their determination; these methods include spectrophotometric and chemometric-assisted spectrophotometric methods. The developed spectrophotometric methods were isosbestic point (ISO) and ratio subtraction (RS) methods. The absorbance values at 232.4 (lambda(iso1)) and 257.6 nm (lambda(iso2)) were used for determination of the total mixture concentration, while HCT could be directly determined at 317.2 nm (lambda(max)) and by subtraction SPR concentration could be obtained. Also SPR concentration could be calculated by RS method using the absorbance at 243.8 nm (lambda(max)). A wavelength selection method based on genetic algorithm (GAs) was developed and compared to the conventional partial least squares method (PLS). In this method, several parameters were adjusted and the optimum parameter settings were determined using experimental design. The developed chemometric methods were successfully applied for the determination of the HCT and SPR, as well as for determination of their impurities and degradation products. The proposed methods were successfully applied for determination of HCT and SPR in commercial tablets and they were statistically compared to each other and to the reported method. No significant difference was found, providing their accuracy and precision.

Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometric analysis of ent-6,7-seco-kaurane diterpenoids from the Isodon species.

Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS(n)) using an ion trap instrument and accurate mass measurement on a quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-TOF) mass spectrometer has aided the structural characterization and differentiation of the enmein and spiro-lactone types of ent-6,7-seco-kaurane diterpenoids from Isodon species. The mass spectral fragmentation data from both techniques was compared to obtain the mass spectrometric fragmentation pathways of the ent-6,7-seco-kaurane diterpenoids with high confidence. The analysis revealed that losses of CH(2)O and CO(2) are the predominant process for the enmein type of ent-kauranes in negative ion mode, and the loss of CO(2) is typical for the spiro-lactone type in positive ion mode. In addition, compounds of the spiro-lactone type with a conserved core structure but different substituent groups, such as acetyl, hydroxyl, and aldehyde moiety, resulted in diagnostic product ions by means of successive losses of AcOH, H(2)O, and CO, respectively. The fragmentation knowledge will facilitate the analysis and identification of the ent-6,7-seco-kauranes in future plant research.

A new enzyme-linked chemiluminescent immunosorbent digoxin assay is virtually free from interference of spironolactone, potassium canrenoate, and their common metabolite canrenone.

Spironolactone and potassium canrenoate (aldosterone antagonist diuretics) are sometimes used in conjunction with digoxin for patient management. Spironolactone, potassium canrenoate, and their common metabolite canrenone interfere with serum digoxin measurement using various immunoassays. Recently a new enzyme-linked chemiluminescent immunosorbent digoxin assay (ECLIA-Digoxin) became commercially available for application on the ADVIA IMS 800i modular system (Bayer HealthCare, Tarrytown, NY). We investigated the potential interference of spironolactone and related compounds in this assay by comparing the results with the fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA), which is known to have significant cross-reactivity with these compounds as well as a turbidimetric assay for digoxin with no known cross-reactivity with spironolactone and related compounds. Aliquots of drug free serum were supplemented with therapeutic and above therapeutic concentrations of spironolactone, canrenone, and potassium canrenoate, and apparent digoxin concentrations were measured. No apparent digoxin concentration was observed using the ECLIA-Digoxin or turbidimetric assay. When serum pools prepared from patients receiving digoxin were further supplemented with these compounds, we observed no significant change in digoxin concentrations in the presence of these compounds with the ECLIA-Digoxin. We conclude that this assay is virtually free from interferences from spironolactone, potassium canrenoate and their common metabolite canrenone.

[Simultaneous determination of inhibitive components in anti-acne cosmetics by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography].

The inhibitive components in anti-acne cosmetics including spironolactone, benzoyl peroxide, and tretinoin were simultaneously determined by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The cosmetics were extracted with methanol by microwave and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. The HPLC conditions were as follows: Kromasil C18 column (4.6 mm i. d. x 250 mm, 5 microm), methanol and phosphate buffer as mobile phase with gradient elution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min, UV detection at 265 nm. Three components were separated completely within 11 min. The calibration curves of the three compounds were linear (nu > 0.999 9) between 1 and 200 mg/L. The average recoveries were from 88.2% to 106.7% with relative standard deviations lower than 3. 1%. The detection limits (S/N = 3) were 0.101 mmicrog for spironolactone, 0.100 microg for benzoyl peroxide, and 0. 107 microg for tretinoin. The method is simple and rapid with high accuracy, and suitable for the determination of the 3 inhibitive components in anti-acne cosmetics.

Ratio spectra derivative spectrophotometry for the determination of furosemide and spironolactone in a capsule formulation.

The determination of furosemide and spironolactone in a capsule formulation has been investigated using techniques such as Vierordt's method and derivative spectroscopy dA/d lambda and d2A/d lambda2 applying the zero-crossing technique following reported methods. In our hands, using standard mixtures, these methods gave unreliable results. We have therefore investigated the use of ratio spectra derivative spectrophotometry for this determination. The technique of ratio spectra derivative spectrophotometry was developed in 1990, and has recently been used for a number of analyses of co-formulated products. The method was applied to the analysis of standard mixtures of the two drugs and the combined contents of 20 capsules resulting in values (mean +/- standard deviation) of 102.1 +/- 1.9% and 101.4 +/- 4.0% of the stated content for furosemide and spironolactone, respectively. Similarly, the analysis of individual capsules resulted in values of 101.5 +/- 1.6% and 102.2 +/- 1.4% of the stated content for furosemide and spironolactone, respectively.

Continuous wavelet transformation applied to the simultaneous quantitative analysis of two-component mixtures.

In this paper we developed a graphical method based on Haar (HA) and Mexican (MEX) one-dimensional continuous wavelet transforms and we applied it to a mixture of hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) and spironolactone (SP) in the presence of strongly overlapping signals. Keeping in mind to obtain an appropriately transformed spectrum, we tested several values of the scaling parameter a and the point number of the analysed spectrum in the concentration range of 2-22 microg/ml for both active compounds. The optimal values of the scale parameters and the corresponding frequencies were found to be a = 32 and 0.031 for HA and a = 30 and 0.008 for MEX corresponding to 400 points. HA and MEX methods based on a zero crossing technique were applied to the analysed signal and their regression lines at the selected points were obtained. The validation of the above methods was carried out by analysing different synthetic mixtures containing HCT and SP. MATLAB 6.5 software was used for one-dimensional wavelet analysis and the basic concepts about wavelet method were briefly explained. The method developed in this paper is rapid, easy to apply, inexpensive and is suitable for analysing the overlapping signals of compounds in their mixtures without any chemical pre-treatment.

Spectophotometric quantitative resolution of hydrochlorothiazide and spironolactone in tablets by chemometric analysis methods.

Spectrophotometric simultaneous determination of hydrochlorothiazide and spironolactone in tablets was performed by classical least-squares (CLS), inverse least-squares (ILS), principal component regression (PCR) and partial least-squares (PLS). The methods of the chemometric analysis do not require sample pretreatment procedure. A training set of 25 standard mixture containing both drugs was prepared in the concentration range of 2-20 mug/ml according to mixture design. The multivarate calibrations were obtained by measuring the zero-order and first-derivative absorbances at 15 points from 220 to 290 nm using the training set. The validation of the multivariate methods was realised by analysing the synthetic mixtures of hydrochlorothiazide and spironolactone. The result obtained on the synthetic mixture and tablets were statistically compared by the one-way ANOVA test. The chemometrics analysis methods were satisfactorily applied to the simultaneous determination of hydrochlorothiazide and spironolactone in the pharmaceutical tablet formulation.

[Simultaneous analysis of four diuretic drugs by HPLC and its application to health food supplements advertising weight reduction].

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the simultaneous analysis of triamterene, trichlormethiazide, furosemide and spironolactone is presented for application in the examination of health food supplements advertising weight reduction and in the analysis of pharmaceuticals. The HPLC assay was performed under gradient conditions using a Wakosil ODS 5C18 column (5 microns, 150 x 4.6 mm i.d.). The mobile phase consisted of a gradient program with a mixture of water and acetonitrile containing 0.1% triethylamine adjusted with phosphoric acid to pH 3.0: from 0 to 6 min, 15% acetonitrile; from 6 to 20 min, linear gradient from 15 to 50% acetonitrile; and from 20 to 40 min, 50% acetonitrile. The column effluent was monitored from 0 to 20 min at 260 nm and from 20 to 40 min at 235 nm. The calibration curves of the four drugs showed good linearity and the correlation coefficients were better than 0.999 in all cases. The lower limits of detection were approximately 40 ng for each drug. Commercially available health food supplements and pharmaceuticals were analyzed after extraction with a mixture of methanol and acetic acid (99:1). The procedure described here is suitable for the screening of four diuretic drugs in adulterated supplements and for the quality control of pharmaceuticals with minimal sample preparation.