Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography quantification of cytosine arabinoside and its metabolite, uracil arabinoside, in human serum

"Off/On" Fluorescent Probe based on Aggregation-Induced Quenching of ZnO-Quantum dots for Determination of Ara-C: Pharmacokinetic Applications, Adsorption Kinetics & Green Profile Assessment

Herein, a turn "Off/On" fluorescence probe based on ZnO quantum dots (ZnO-QDs) has been proposed and successfully utilized for the determination of Ara-C (cytarabine) using ceric ions (Ce4+) as quencher and ethylenediamine (ED) as a linker. The probe is based initially on the quenching effect of Ce4+ ions on the strong native fluorescence of ZnO-QDs forming the Turn Off system (Ce@ZnO-QDs) that believed to occur due to the aggregation-induced quenching (AIQ) mechanism. The second step is the addition of Ara-C in the presence of ethylenediamine (ED) that encourages the formation of Ara-C/ED/Ce4+ as well as the release of the free ZnO-QDs, leading to the recovery of the fluorescence intensity. The developed sensing platform shows a linear response towards Ara-C over the range of 10 to 1000 ng mL-1 giving a limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 1.22 ng mL-1 and 3.70 ng mL-1, respectively. A dispersive magnetic solid phase micro-extraction (dMSPE) method was developed and optimized for the extraction of Ara-C in spiked human plasma using thiol-modified magnetite nanoparticles (S-MNPs). The proposed platform exhibits good sensitivity toward Ara-C in the presence of different interfering substances. Excellent recoveries are obtained after spiking different concentrations of Ara-C into rabbit plasma samples. The validated experimental parameters have been successfully applied to monitor the pharmacokinetic profile of Ara-C in rabbit plasma. A detailed adsorption kinetics study has been carried out to provide a deep insight into the adsorption behavior of Ara-C on the thiol-doped-magnetite nanoparticles. The greenness assessment of the proposed method was achieved and compared with other reported methods using two tools of greenness; the green analytical procedure index (GAPI) and the analytical greenness calculator AGREE.

Validation of a Novel Potentiometric Method Based on a Polymeric PVC Membrane Sensor Integrated with Tailored Receptors for the Antileukemia Drug Cytarabine

A simple, rapid and easy method is proposed for the detection of a cytostatic therapeutic drug, cytarabine, in real samples. The method is based on potentiometric transduction using prepared and characterized new ion-selective electrodes for cytarabine. The electrodes were integrated with novel man-tailored imprinted polymers and used as a sensory element for recognition. The electrodes revealed a remarkable potentiometric response for cytarabine over the linearity range 1.0 × 10⁻⁶–1.0 × 10⁻³ M at pH 2.8–4 with a detection limit of 5.5 × 10⁻⁷ M. The potentiometric response was near-Nernstian, with average slopes of 52.3 ± 1.2 mV/decade. The effect of lipophilic salts and plasticizer types on the potentiometric response was also examined. The electrodes exhibited an enhanced selectivity towards cytarabine over various foreign common ions. Validation and verification of the presented assay method are demonstrated by evaluating the method ruggedness and calculating the detection limit, range of linearity, accuracy (trueness), precision, repeatability (within-day) and reproducibility (between-days). The proposed ion-selective electrodes revealed good performance characteristics and possible application of these electrodes for cytarabine monitoring in different matrices. The electrodes are successfully applied to cytarabine determination in spiked biological fluid samples and in pharmaceutical formulations.

Antineoplastic drugs and their analysis: a state of the art review

We provide an overview of the analytical methods available for the quantification of antineoplastic drugs in pharmaceutical formulations, biological and environmental samples.

Analysis of anticancer drugs: a review

In the last decades, the number of patients receiving chemotherapy has considerably increased. Given the toxicity of cytotoxic agents to humans (not only for patients but also for healthcare professionals), the development of reliable analytical methods to analyse these compounds became necessary. From the discovery of new substances to patient administration, all pharmaceutical fields are concerned with the analysis of cytotoxic drugs. In this review, the use of methods to analyse cytotoxic agents in various matrices, such as pharmaceutical formulations and biological and environmental samples, is discussed. Thus, an overview of reported analytical methods for the determination of the most commonly used anticancer drugs is given.

Challenge of high polarity and low concentrations in analysis of cytostatics and metabolites in wastewater by hydrophilic interaction chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

A method for solid phase extraction and HPLC-MS/MS of the cytostatics 5-fluorouracil, cytarabine, and gemcitabine and human metabolites uracil 1-beta-d-arabinofuranoside and 2',2'-difluorodeoxyuridine in wastewater was established. Wastewater samples from a Swiss hospital were analyzed for 5-fluorouracil, gemcitabine and 2',2'-difluorodeoxyuridine. The limits of quantification were 5.0, 0.9, and 9.0ng/L and the maximum concentrations detected were 27, 38, and 840ng/L, respectively. Along with the method development, retention mechanisms on the hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) stationary phase were studied. Both partitioning and adsorption play a role in the retention on the tested sulfoalkylbetaine modified silica HILIC column material. The contribution of these two processes is changing over the 1.6-40% range water in the mobile phase. Although the specific break point is difficult to determine, adsorption becomes more significant as the fraction of water in the mobile phase decreases below approximately 16%.

Simultaneous separation and determination of Tarabine PFS and Adriblastine using micellar electrokinetic chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography. Application to some biological fluids

The simultaneous determination of Tarabine PFS and Adriblastine by two independent techniques, viz. micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), has been studied. For MEKC analysis, separations and identifications were accomplished using uncoated fused-silica capillaries and injections were performed in the hydrodynamic mode. The running buffer consisted of 0.05 M borate/phosphate pH 8.70, with 0.10 M SDS at an operating voltage of 15.0 kV and the temperature held at 25.0 degrees C. Under these conditions, the migration times of Tarabine PFS and Adriblastine were 2.70 and 6.40 min, respectively. Calibration curves were established for 0.010-0.300 microg/mL (r = 0.99) Tarabine PFS and 8.000-120.0 microg/mL (r = 0.99) Adriblastine. The limit of detection (LOD) was estimated and found to be 0.003 and 3.000 microg/mL of Tarabine PFS and Adriblastine, respectively. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) was found to be 0.009 and 8.000 microg/mL of Tarabine PFS and Adriblastine, respectively. For HPLC analysis, separations and determinations were performed on teicoplanin stationary phase with reversed mobile phase containing methanol:buffer pH 4.05 (20.0:80.0%, v/v) at 285 nm. Calibration curves were established for 3.000-90.00 microg/mL (r = 0.99) Tarabine PFS and for 10.00-120.0 microg/mL (r = 0.99) Adriblastine. LOD and LOQ were estimated and found to be 0.950 and 2.050 microg/mL of Tarabine PFS and 3.130 and 9.250 microg/mL of Adriblastine, respectively. Both MEKC and HPLC methods were applied for the simultaneous determination of analytes in urine samples. It was found that 8.00-10.0% (Tarabine PFS) and 13.0-15.0% (Adriblastine) of the injected dose was recovered in urine samples with 99.5-102% recovery.