Simultaneous determination of pancuronium, vecuronium and their related compounds using LC–ESI-MS

Nebulization Swab Assisted Photoionization Tandem Miniaturized Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry for On-Site Analysis of Nonvolatile Compounds

Nonvolatile compounds usually have a high molecular weight and exhibit a high boiling point, which poses great challenges to the ionization method of MS. Ambient ionization sources can efficiently analyze the nonvolatile compounds without complex pretreatment, but they generally require special media such as heating devices, laser optical devices, or corona needles. Acoustic nebulization assisted photoionization (ANPI) is a potential method for the analysis of nonvolatile compounds that uses nebulization as a prerequisite for photoionization and introduces many advantages of PI, including excellent ionization efficiency, a high yield of molecular ions, and simplified spectrum interpretation. However, the ANPI source can be limited in on-site applications by the complexity of the analytical devices and the high cost of the nebulization chip. To address this issue, in this paper, we explored cheap and commercially piezoelectric materials used in a mist sprayer and fabricated a nebulization swab assisted photoionization (NSAP) as an ambient ionization source. Some useful results are presented: numerical simulation was introduced successfully for optimizing the aerosol distribution in the NSAP source; nonvolatile muscle relaxants, drugs of abuse, antibiotics, phthalates, and cholesterol were detected mostly as their protonated molecular ions while some special acetone/water cluster ions were detected. In addition, the LOD for most of the target analytes ranged from 10.0 to 50.0 pg with RSD ≤ 9%. Finally, this method is implemented for Chinese baijiu spiked with phthalates. The experimental data shows the capability of a NSAP source in high sensitivity and on-site analysis of the nonvolatile compounds.

[Simultaneous determination of three quaternary ammonium muscle relaxants in blood by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry]

Vecuronium, rocuronium, and pancuronium are widely used as non-depolarizing muscle relaxants. There have been occasional cases of allergic reactions and even death when using such muscle relaxants. Rapid determination of the concentration of these muscle relaxants in blood can provide valuable information for early clinical diagnosis. As quaternary ammonium compounds, these muscle relaxants are highly polar. Hence, they cannot be retained effectively on reversed-phase chromatographic columns with conventional mobile phases. These quaternary ammonium muscle relaxants are mainly separated by ion-pair chromatography. Using an ion-pairing reagent can help improve the retention capabilities of quaternary ammonium muscle relaxants. Nevertheless, the sensitivity of MS detection is significantly decreased because of ionic inhibition caused by the ion-pairing reagent in the mobile phase. Furthermore, ion-pairing reagents can pollute the MS system. A method based on high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was established for the simultaneous determination of the three quaternary ammonium muscle relaxants in blood. The blood samples were diluted and subjected to high-speed centrifugation. The supernatant was purified on a Bond Elut AL-N solid phase extraction column and then filtered through a 0.45 μm microporous membrane. The quaternary ammonium muscle relaxants were separated on a ZIC-cHILIC analytical column (50 mm×2.1 mm, 3.0 μm) with gradient elution. Acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid aqueous solution were used as mobile phases. The separated compounds were analyzed by tandem MS with an electrospray ionization (ESI) source in positive and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) modes. The matrix effects of vecuronium, rocuronium, and pancuronium in blood were 88.1% to 95.4%. The calibration curves for vecuronium, rocuronium, and pancuronium showed good linear relationships in each range, and all correlation coefficients (R2) were > 0.996. The limits of detection of vecuronium, rocuronium, and pancuronium were 0.2-0.8 ng/mL, with the corresponding limits of quantification being 0.5-2.0 ng/mL. The recoveries of vecuronium, rocuronium, and pancuronium were 92.8% to 110.6%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 3.2%-9.4%. This method is sensitive, accurate, and easy to operate, and it can be used to rapidly determine vecuronium, rocuronium, and pancuronium in blood.

Stability indicating liquid chromatography method for the analysis of Vecuronium bromide: study of the degradation profile

Neuromuscular blocker agent namely; Vecuronium bromide (VEC) was quantified through developing a simple reversed phase liquid chromatographic (RP-LC) method, in drug substance and in drug product. The proposed method could quantify VEC in the presence of its degradation products produced from exposing VEC to different stress conditions as recommended by the International Conference on harmonization (ICH) guidelines. Acidic (2M HCl), basic (2MNaOH) hydrolysis, oxidation (3% H₂O₂), photolysis (UV light at 254nm), and thermal (135 °C) degradation were estimated by exposing the drug substances to different stress conditions. The separation of the drug from its degradation products was successfully conducted on Tracer Extrasil CN (150 × 4.6mm; 5μm) column using O-phosphoric acid (pH6; 0.05M)-acetonitrile (50:50v/v) as mobile phase. The detection and quantification was done with UV detection at210nm.The validation data were found to be acceptable over a concentration range10-120 μg/ml. The limit of quantification (LOQ) and detection (LOD) were 8.10 and 2.67 μg/ml, respectively. The proposed method met all criteria for validation in accordance with the International Conference on harmonization (ICH) guidelines. The presented work monitored the degradation profile for VEC under various stress conditions and provided a simple LC method for its routine analysis. The structures of the forced degradation products had been described in details using the MS data and the possible degradation pathways were outlined. Besides, the results obtained from the developed method compared statistically with that of the official method indicting high accuracy and precision.

Flow injection potentiometric determination of pancuronium bromide in pharmaceutical preparation and urine samples using modified carbon paste electrodes

Carbon paste electrodes for pancuronium bromide was prepared based on ion association complexes of pancuronium bromide with sodium tetraphenylborate (NaTPB) or ammonium reineckate using dibutyl phthalate as solvent mediator and tetradodecylammonium tetrakis-(4-chlorophenyl)borate (ETH 500) as lipophilic additive. The sensors showed a near-Nernstian slope of 28.1 mV concentration decade(-1) at 25°C within the concentration range 6.31×10(-6)-1.00×10(-2) M in case of pancuronium-tetraphenylborate electrode and 26.6 mV concentration decade(-1) in the concentration range 5.66×10(-5)-1.00×10(-2) M in case of pancuronium-reineckate electrode. The sensors were successfully applied for the potentiometric determination of pancuronium bromide in pharmaceutical preparation and biological fluids in batch and flow injection conditions.

A modification of the kinetic determination of pancuronium bromide based on its inhibitory effect on cholinesterase

A modification of the existing spectrophotometric kinetic method for the determination of pancuronium bromide (PCBr), based on pooled human serum cholinesterase (ChE, EC 3.1.1.8 acylcholine acylhydrolase) inhibition, was developed. Butyrylthiocholine iodide (concentration 1.667 mmol/L) was used as substrate and determination was performed at pH 7.6. Essential basic kinetic parameters were also determined: Michaelis-Menten's constant KM=0.33 mmol/L, maximal reaction rate Vmax=42.29 micromol/L min, inhibition constant KI=0.34 micromol/L, and IC50=0.235 micromol/L. Linear dependence between the reaction rate and the inhibitor concentration exists in PCBr concentration range 8.29-265.28 nmol/L, which corresponds to the real sample concentrations from 0.166 to 5.306 micromol/L. The method detection limit was established to be 1.86 nmol/L and the quantification limit was 6.18 nmol/L. Precision of the method was tested for three pancuronium concentrations (16.58, 99.48, and 198.96 nmol/L). The relative standard deviation (RSD) was in the range 0.78-5.13%. Accuracy was examined by the standard addition method. The influence of substances usually present in serum and urine on the reaction rate was determined. The method developed was applied for PCBr determination in spiked serum and urine samples and in the urine taken during surgery. The method was proven to have good sensitivity, accuracy, and precision and can be considered suitable for clinical practice.