Determination of vinca alkaloids in plasma and urine using ion-exchange chromatography on silica gel and fluorescence detection

Validated HILIC-MS/MS assay for determination of vindesine in human plasma: Application to a population pharmacokinetic study

The first HILIC-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) method for determination of vindesine (VDS) in human plasma using vinorelbine as an internal standard (IS) has been developed and validated. Plasma samples clean-up consisted of solid phase extraction with a strata™-X column. The compounds were separated on a HILIC column with an isocratic mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and 15mM ammonium acetate buffer containing 0.15% formic acid (80:20, v/v). The detection was performed on a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer via electrospray positive ionization (ESI(+)). The ion transitions recorded in multiple reaction monitoring mode were m/z 754.6→123.8 for VDS and 779.4→323.3 for IS, respectively. Linear calibration curves were obtained in the concentration range of 0.3-28ng/ml and the lower limit of quantification for VDS was 0.3ng/ml. The coefficient of variation of the assay precision was less than 13%, and the accuracy exceeded 96%. The developed assay method was successfully applied for the evaluation of population pharmacokinetics of VDS after intravenous infusion of Xi Ai Ke Vial(®) (3mg of Vindesine Sulfate for Injection) to Chinese Han subjects with hematological malignant disorders.

A high performance liquid chromatography method for vinorelbine and 4-O-deacetyl vinorelbine: A decade of routine analysis in human blood

A sensitive high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of vinorelbine and its active metabolite, 4-O-deacetyl vinorelbine, in human biological fluids. These two compounds together with vinblastine, used as internal standard, were extracted from blood and urine by a liquid-liquid process using diethyl ether, and followed by a back-extraction in acidic conditions. Then, they were analysed through a cyano column and detected in ultraviolet at 268 nm. The assay linearity was validated up to 2000 ng/ml. The lower limit of quantification was set at 2.5 ng/ml. The between-run precision and accuracy were always higher than 94%. Biological samples were stable when stored at -80 degrees C over 2 years. The long-term reproducibility and the suitability of this analytical method were demonstrated within the last decade through the analysis of about 7000 samples during the clinical development of i.v. and oral formulations of vinorelbine. Because vinorelbine binds mainly to platelets and blood cells and because this binding is rapidly reversible and highly influenced by environmental conditions, drug concentration in plasma may be highly influenced by the sampling conditions and the centrifugation process used to separate blood cells from plasma. Therefore, this method was developed in blood and then used for sample analyses in routine. The major benefit was that it was easy for nurses to directly collect blood instead of plasma and that reduced volume of sampling could be withdrawn from frail patients. Furthermore, the analysis in blood enabled to quantify vinorelbine and 4-O-deacetyl vinorelbine concentrations for a longer period of time, which resulted in a more accurate evaluation of pharmacokinetic parameters.

Analytical approaches for traditional chinese medicines exhibiting antineoplastic activity

Traditional Chinese medicines have attracted great interest in recent researchers as alternative antineoplastic therapies. This review focuses on analytical approaches to various aspects of the antineoplastic ingredients of traditional Chinese medicines. Emphasis will be put on the processes of biological sample extraction, separation, clean-up steps and the detection. The problems of the extraction solvent selection and different types of column chromatography are also discussed. The instruments considered are gas chromatography, capillary electrophoresis (CE) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) connected with various detectors (ultraviolet, fluorescence, electrochemistry, mass, etc.). In addition, determinations of antineoplastic herbal ingredients, including camptothecin, taxol (paclitaxel), vinblastine. vincristine, podophyllotoxin, colchicine, and their related compounds, such as irinotecan, SN-38, topotecan, 9-aminocamptothecin, docetaxel (taxotere) and etoposide, are briefly summarized. These drugs are structurally based on the herbal ingredients, and some of them are in trials for clinical use. Evaluation of potential antineoplastic herbal ingredients, such as harringtonine, berberine, emodin, genistein, berbamine, daphnoretin, and irisquinone, are currently investigated in laboratories. Other folk medicines are excluded from this paper because their antineoplastic ingredients are unknown.

New sensitive liquid chromatography method coupled with tandem mass spectrometric detection for the clinical analysis of vinorelbine and its metabolites in blood, plasma, urine and faeces

A new sensitive and specific liquid chromatographic method coupled with tandem mass spectrometric detection was set up and validated for the simultaneous quantitation of vinorelbine, its main metabolite, 4-O-deacetylvinorelbine and two other minor metabolites, 20'-hydroxyvinorelbine and vinorelbine 6'-oxide. All these compounds, including vinblastine (used as internal standard) were deproteinised from blood, plasma and faeces (only diluted in urine), analysed on a cyano column and detected on a Micromass Quattro II system in the positive ion mode after ionisation, using an electrospray ion source. Under tandem mass spectrometry conditions, the specific product ions led one to accurately quantify vinorelbine and its metabolites in all biological fluids. In whole blood, linearity was assessed up to 200 ng/ml for vinorelbine and up to 50 ng/ml for the metabolites. The limit of quantitation was validated at 250 pg/ml for both vinorelbine and 4-O-deacetylvinorelbine. In the other biological media, the linearity was assessed within a same range and the limit of quantitation was adjusted according to the expected concentrations of each compound. This method was initially developed in order to identify the metabolite structures and to elucidate the metabolic pathway of vinorelbine. Thanks to its high sensitivity, this method has enabled the quantitation of vinorelbine and all its metabolites in whole blood over 168 h (i.e., 4-5 elimination half lives) whilst the previous liquid chromatographic methods allowed their measurement for a maximum of 48-72 h. Therefore, using this method has improved the reliability of the pharmacokinetic data analysis of vinorelbine.

Determination of vinorelbine (Navelbine) in tumour cells by high-performance liquid chromatography

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination within tumour cells of a new vinca alkaloid, vinorelbine. Extractions of vinorelbine from cells were carried out using absolute ethanol. The extracts were injected into a reversed-phase system consisting of two Novapak C18 columns connected in series. The mobile phase was acetonitrile-phosphate buffer, pH 2.7 (60:40, v/v). Using a fluorescence detection, the limit of determination was 8 pmol injected. This method would be suitable for studying the cellular pharmacokinetics of vinorelbine in patients.

Determination of vinca alkaloids in mouse tissues by high-performance liquid chromatography

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method is described for the determination of vinblastine in various normal mouse tissues, such as lung, heart, liver, kidney and muscles, and in implanted MO4 tumours. Vincristine was used as the internal standard. Freshly obtained mouse tissue or tumour tissue was frozen at -20 degrees C and then lyophilized. After lyophilisation, the dry tissues were pulverized and homogeneously mixed, and an aliquot was suspended in 0.1 M hydrochloric acid. The drugs of interest were then isolated from this suspension using ion-pair extraction at pH 3 with octylsulphate as counter-ion. The obtained extracts were analysed on a reversed-phase system with a cyanopropyl stationary phase. The detection limit was 1 ng/l in plasma and 10 ng/g in tissue. The extraction recoveries of vincristine and vinblastine were between 45 and 67%, and there were no interferences from blank components. Preliminary pharmacokinetic data for different mouse tissues and tumour implanted in muscle tissue are presented.

Biodetermination of N-(deacetyl-O-4-vinblastoyl-23)-L-tryptophan, a metabolite of vintriptol, by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

The determination of N-(deacetyl-O-4-vinblastoyl-23)-L-tryptophan (vintriptol acid, VtrpA), a metabolite of the investigational semi-synthetic vinca alkaloid vintriptol [N-(deacetyl-O-4-vinblastoyl-23)-L-ethyltryptophan, VtrpE], in plasma and urine samples is described. Sample pretreatment included liquid-liquid extraction of the buffered (pH 5.0) biological samples with chloroform-2-propanol (95:5, v/v). The analyses were performed by ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography on normal-phase silica with fluorescence detection. The assay was applied to the analysis of samples from cancer patients who had been treated with VtrpE in a phase I clinical study. VtrpA was found to be a principal metabolite of VtrpE with up to 1.2% of the administered dose excreted in the urine.

Bio-analysis of vinorelbine by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

A simple and selective procedure for the determination of vinorelbine, a new semi-synthetic vinca alkaloid, is presented. The method is based on ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography on normal-phase silica with fluorescence detection, combined with liquid-liquid extraction using diethyl ether for sample clean-up. The absence of endogenous interferences and the excellent chromatographic behaviour of vinca alkaloids provides accurate results even at low concentrations. The limit of determination in plasma is 1.5 micrograms/l (500-microliters sample). Reproducible recoveries in urine were obtained if 10-50 microliters of sample were processed supplemented with 500 microliters of blank plasma.

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of vinblastine, 4-O-deacetylvinblastine and the potential metabolite 4-O-deacetylvinblastine-3-oic acid in biological fluids

Procedures for the determination of vinblastine (VBL), 4-O-deacetylvinblastine (DVBL) and 4-O-deacetylvinblastine-3-oic acid (DVBLA) in biological samples using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) combined with selective sample clean-up are presented. VBL and DVBL were determined in plasma and urine using ion-exchange normal-phase HPLC with fluorescence detection. The limit of detection was 1 microgram/l for both compounds using a 500-microliter sample. Successful chromatographic analyses of DVBLA were achieved by using a glass column packed with 5-microns Hypersil ODS and acetonitrile-0.05 M phosphate buffer (pH 2.7) (23:77, v/v). Positive identification was supported by the use of diode-array detection. The limit of detection (at 270 nm) was 10 micrograms/l using 1-ml samples.

Analytical methods for the determination of vinca alkaloids in biological specimens: a survey of the literature

The bio-analysis and pharmacokinetics of vinca alkaloids have been the subject of many investigations. In most cases radiolabelled compounds have been used for quantification purposes. Although this method lacks selectivity, it has provided valuable information on tissue distribution of unchanged drug and metabolites in an early stage of clinical and preclinical investigations. During the last few years, methods based on high-performance liquid chromatography have been presented. This paper reviews the methods described in the literature for the bio-analysis of vinca alkaloids, supplemented with our own experience in this field. Special attention is paid to the problems that may arise during the analytical processes.

Chromatographic analysis of anticancer drugs

The present review on the methods for the analysis of anticancer drugs should be seen as an addition to the excellent work of Eksborg and Ehrsson published half a decade ago in this journal (Vol. 340, p.31). The style and format have been followed closely, with the focus again on chromatographic techniques. We felt it important to add a list of compound (group) structures as a service to the reader. Methods have been reviewed for alkylating agents, platinum compounds, antitumour antibiotics, antimetabolites, alkaloids, suramin, 1-hydroxy-3-amino-propylidene-1,1-bisphosphonate and tamoxifen.