Fully automated assay for the determination of sumatriptan in human serum using solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection

Development and Validation of Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method for Simple Analysis of Sumatriptan and its Application in Bioequivalence Study

This work demonstrated a sensitive, selective, and simple liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for quantitation of sumatriptan in human plasma samples. Terazosin was used as an internal standard to minimize the variability during sample processing and detection. Sample cleanup prior to chromatographic analysis was accomplished by liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) with tert-butyl methyl ether (t-BME). The separation was performed on a reversed-phase Symmetry^® C18 column (150 × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 µm) under a gradient mode, using a 0.2% formic acid aqueous solution and acetonitrile at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. Sumatriptan (m/z 296.26→251.05) and terazosin (m/z 388.10→290.25) were quantified using a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, operating in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) under the positive ion mode. The method was fully validated following US-FDA and EMA guidelines. The LC-MS/MS assay had a calibration range of 0.5–50.0 ng/mL. The assay was precise and accurate with a between-run precision of <9.51%, and between-run accuracy between −7.27 to 8.30%. The developed method was subsequently applied in the determination of plasma concentration-time profile of a sumatriptan 50-mg tablet following oral administration in healthy volunteers.

Utilization of N-bromosuccinimide as a brominating agent for the determination of sumatriptan succinate in bulk drug and tablets

One titrimetric and two spectrophotometric methods which are simple, sensitive, and economic are described for the determination of sumatriptan succinate (STS) in bulk drug and in tablet dosage form using N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) as a brominating agent. In titrimetry, aqueous solution of STS is treated with a measured excess of NBS in acetic acid medium, and after the bromination of STS is judged to be complete, the unreacted NBS is determined iodometrically (method A). Spectrophotometric methods entail addition of a known excess of NBS in acid medium followed by the determination of residual NBS by its reaction with excess iodide, and the liberated iodine (I3 (-)) is either measured at 370 nm (method B) or liberated iodine is reacted with starch followed by the measurement of the blue colored starch-iodine complex at 570 nm (method C). Titrimetric method is applicable over range 1.0-10.0 mg STS (method A), and the reaction stoichiometry is found to be 1 : 3 (STS : NBS). The spectrophotometric methods obey Beer's law for concentration range 0.6-15.0  μ g mL(-1) (method B) and 0.2-4.0  μ g mL(-1) (method C). The calculated apparent molar absorptivity values were found to be 2.10 × 10(4) and 7.44 × 10(4) L mol(-1) cm(-1), for method B and method C, respectively.

Development and Validation of a HPTLC Method for the Estimation of Sumatriptan in Tablet Dosage Forms

A simple, precise, accurate and rapid high performance thin layer chromatographic method has been developed and validated for the estimation of sumatriptan in tablet dosage forms. The stationary phase used was precoated silica gel 60F254. The mobile phase used was a mixture of methanol:water:glacial acetic acid (4.0:8.0:0.1, v/v/v). The detection of spots was carried out at 230 nm. The method was validated in terms of linearity, accuracy, precision and specificity. The calibration curve was found to be linear between 200 to 800 ng/spot. The limit of detection and the limit of quantification for the sumatriptan were found to be 63.87 and 193.54 ng/spot, respectively. The proposed method can be successfully used to determine the drug content of marketed formulation.

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of sumatriptan after in vitro transdermal diffusion studies

A simple, accurate, precise and rapid HPLC method with UV detection has been validated in order to determine the in vitro transdermal absorption of sumatriptan succinate. The HPLC method is a modification of that described by Nozal et al. [M.J. Nozal, J.L. Bernal, L. Toribio, M.T. Martin, F.J. Diez, J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal. 30 (2002) 285-291]. Separation was carried out on a 250 mm Kromasil C18 column at room temperature. The detector response, at 282.7 nm, was found to be linear in a concentration range between 0.145 and 145 microM. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.019 microM and the limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.145 microM.

Stability-indicating methods for the determination of sumatriptan succinate

Four stability-indicating methods were developed for the determination of sumatriptan succinate in the presence of its degradation products. The first method depends on the quantitative densitometric evaluation of thin-layer chromatography of sumatriptan succinate in the presence of its degradation products without any interference. Cyclohexane-dichloromethane-diethylamine (50:40:10 v/v/v) was used as a mobile phase and the chromatogram was scanned at 228 nm. This method determines sumatriptan succinate in the concentration range l-8 microg per spot with mean percentage recovery 100.52+/-1.23%. The second and third methods depend on the use of first-derivative (D(1)) and second-derivative (D(2)) spectrophotometry at 234 and 238 nm, respectively. These methods determine the drug in the concentration range 1.25-10 microg x ml(-1) with mean percentage recovery 99.91+/-1.01% and 99.96+/-1.13% for (D(1)) and (D(2)), respectively. The fourth method depends on the use of ratio derivative spectrophotometric technique. The amplitude in the first derivative of the ratio spectra at 235 nm was selected to determine the cited drug in the presence of its degradation products. Calibration graph is linear in the concentration range 1.25-10 microg x ml(-1) with mean percentage recovery 100.19+/-1.19%. The suggested methods were successfully applied for determining sumatriptan succinate in bulk powder, laboratory-prepared mixtures and pharmaceutical dosage forms (Imigran tablet) with good accuracy and precision. The results obtained by applying the proposed methods were statistically analyzed and compared with those obtained by the reported method.

Validation and application of a high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry assay for sumatriptan in human plasma

A sensitive and convenient high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(HPLC-MS/MS) assay is described for the (5-HT(lB/lD)) receptor agonist sumatriptan in human plasma. Sumatriptan was recovered from plasma (81.8 +/- 6.8%) by liquid-liquid extraction. The mobile phase flow rate was 0.3 mL/min and consisted of methanol:water:formic acid (90:10:0.1, v/v/v). The analytical column (4.6 x 100 mm) was packed with Partisil C(8) (5 micro m). The standard curve was linear from 0.7 to 70.4 ng/mL (r(2) > 0.99). The lower limit of quantitation was 0.7 ng/mL. The assay was specific, accurate (percentage deviation from nominal concentrations were <15%), precise and reproducible (within- and between-day coefficients of variation <10.3%). Sumatriptan in plasma was stable over three freeze/thaw cycles and at room temperature for one day. The utility of the assay was demonstrated by following sumatriptan plasma concentrations in two healthy subjects for 8-12 h following a single 20 mg intranasal dose.

Development and validation of an LC assay for sumatriptan succinate residues on surfaces in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals

A high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the assay of sumatriptan succinate residues in swabs collected from manufacturing equipment surfaces was developed and validated in order to control a cleaning procedure. The swabbing procedure using two cotton swabs moistened with water was validated applying a wipe-test and a HPLC method developed to determine low quantities of the drug. The HPLC method involves a C18 column at 25 degrees C, a mixture of ammonium phosphate monobasic (0.05 M)-acetonitrile (84:16, v/v) as a mobile phase and UV detection at 228 nm. Using the proposed method, the average recoveries obtained are of 88.5% for vinyl, 94.2% for glass and 95.2% for stainless steel plates with RSD of 5.5 (n=36), 2.3 (n=36), 2.2% (n=36), respectively. The method was successfully applied to the assay of real swab samples collected from the equipment surfaces.

Determination of degradation products of sumatriptan succinate using LC-MS and LC-MS-MS

Acid, base, heat, oxidation and UV irradiation stress methods were applied to study the stability of the bulk drug form of sumatriptan succinate. Liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS and LC-MS-MS) was used to analyze the degraded samples and tentative structural identifications were assigned based upon known reactivity of the drug, molecular weight measurements and MS-MS fragmentation patterns. Sumatriptan succinate was found to be stable to exposure of acid, base, oxidation and UV irradiation at ambient conditions, but was found to degrade under acidic, basic and oxidative conditions when heated to 90 degrees C.

Automating solid-phase extraction: current aspects and future prospects

This paper reviews current trends and techniques in automated solid-phase extraction. The area has shown a dramatic growth the number of manuscripts published over the last 10 years, including applications in environmental science, food science, clinical chemistry, pharmaceutical bioanalysis, forensics, analytical biochemistry and organic synthesis. This dramatic increase of more that 100% per year can be attributed to the commercial availability of higher throughput 96-well workstations and extraction plates that allow numerous samples to be processed simultaneously. These so-called parallel-processing workstations represent the highest throughput systems currently available. The advantages and limitations of other types of systems, including discrete column systems and on-line solid-phase extraction are also discussed. Discussions of how automated solid-phase extractions can be developed, generic approaches to automated solid-phase extraction, and three noteworthy examples of automated extractions are given. The last part of the review suggests possible near- and long-term directions of automated solid-phase extraction.

Determination of antimigraine compounds rizatriptan, zolmitriptan, naratriptan and sumatriptan in human serum by liquid chromatography/electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

Development of a rapid, sensitive and selective method for the determination of antimigraine drugs from human serum is essential for understanding the pharmacokinetics of these drugs when administered concurrently. Solid phase extraction (SPE) using Oasis HLB was used to extract the drugs (sumatriptan, naratriptan, zolmitriptan and rizatriptan) and the internal standard bufotenine from serum. A method based on liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) was developed and validated to simultaneously quantitate these antimigraine drugs from human serum. The precursor and major product ions of the analytes were monitored on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer with positive ion electrospray ionization (ESI) in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The base peak in all the analytes is formed by alpha cleavage associated with protonation of the secondary amine. Mechanisms for the formation of the collision-induced dissociation products of these antimigraine compounds are proposed. Linear calibration curves were generated from 1-100 ng/mL with all coefficients of determination greater than 0.99. The inter- and intraday precision (%RSD) were less than 9.3% and accuracy (%error) was less than 9.8% for all components. The limits of detection (LOD) for the method were 250 pg/mL for sumatriptan and 100 pg/mL for the remaining analytes based on a signal-to-noise ratio of 3.

On-line coupling of automated solid-phase extraction with high-performance liquid chromatography and electrochemical detection. Quantitation of oxidizable drugs of abuse and their metabolites in plasma and urine

The concentration effect of automated on-line solid-phase extraction (SPE) in combination with HPLC and very sensitive electrochemical detection was employed for the determination of N-ethyl-4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-amphetamine (HMEA, the main metabolite of the ecstasy analogue MDE), delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and 11-nor-delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol-carboxylic acid (THC-COOH) in plasma and urine in comparison to a previously published psilocin assay. For the SPE either CBA (functional group: carboxypropyl)- or CH (functional group: cyclohexyl)-sorbent was used. The following separation was carried out on a reversed-phase column (LiChroCart, Superspher 60 RP select B from Merck). Depending on the hydrodynamic voltammogram of the analyzed substance the oxidation potential varied from 920 mV up to 1.2 V. In spite of using high potentials, precision and accuracy were always within the accepted statistical requirements. The limits of quantitation were between 5 ng/ml (THC, THC-COOH in plasma) and 20 ng/ml (HMEA in plasma). Advantages of on-line SPE in comparison with off-line methods were less manual effort, evidently smaller volumes (< or = 400 microliters) of plasma or urine and almost always higher recovery rates (> 93%). The assays have been successfully proven with real biological samples and found suitable for use in routine analysis.

Validation of a liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric method for the determination of sumatriptan in human biological fluids

A liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric method for the quantitative determination of sumatriptan base in human plasma and urine has been developed and validated over the concentration range 0.2-20 ng base ml-1. Sumatriptan is a 5-HT1 receptor agonist which has found widespread use in the treatment of migraine. Sumatriptan and its internal standard (D3-sumatriptan) were extracted from human matrices using C2 solid phase cartridges. The extracts were chromatographed on a C18 column, ionised using a heated nebuliser assisted atmospheric pressure ionisation (API) interface and detected by MS/MS in the multiple reaction monitoring mode. The completed validation demonstrated the method to be robust, accurate, precise and specific for the direct quantification of sumatriptan in human fluids. The method was used on a routine basis to determine the levels of sumatriptan in human volunteers following the oral administration of a 25 mg dose of sumatriptan succinate.