Green Solid-Phase (Micro)Extraction of Andrographolides’ from Human Plasma Samples Followed by UHPLC-DAD-QqQ-MS/MS Analysis

Since inflammatory bowel disease is a progressive disease, optimal treatment early in the disease course is paramount. Still, the use of conventional drugs is accompanied by side effects. The herbal therapies for gastrointestinal disorders are traditionally widespread in Asia, while in Western countries have been adopted in recent years. Andrographis paniculata is a herbaceous plant used in anti-inflammatory treatment. To improve its clinical application, an analytical method with the potential to define a relationship between dose and plasma concentration of active ingredients is prerequisite. Considering the increasing demand for eco-friendly bioanalytical methods, our research aimed to implement new sample preparation technique microextraction by packed sorbent for extraction of marker compounds of A. paniculata from plasma. This green procedure using polymeric sorbent based on the poly (styrene-divinylbenzene) allowed miniaturization of sample volume (100 µL), decrease in consumption of solvents, and high recovery (92–98%). A highly selective and sensitive reversed-phase ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography method has been developed and validated. The newest greenness assessment software AGREE calculator was used for evaluation of the method’s environmental performance. It suggests that our method conforms to the eco-friendly conditions (score 0.8). The sample preparation was identified as weak point of the bioanalytical methods which highlights the importance of microextraction.

Andrographolide: A Herbal-Chemosynthetic Approach for Enhancing Immunity, Combating Viral Infections, and Its Implication on Human Health

Plants consistently synthesize and accumulate medically valuable secondary metabolites which can be isolated and clinically tested under in vitro conditions. An advancement with such important phytochemical production has been recognized and utilized as herbal drugs. Bioactive andrographolide (AGL; C20H30O5) isolated from Andrographis paniculate (AP) (Kalmegh) is a diterpenoid lactones having multifunctional medicinal properties including anti-manic, anti-inflammatory, liver, and lung protective. AGL is known for its immunostimulant activity against a variety of microbial infections thereby, regulating classical and alternative macrophage activation, Ag-specific antibody production during immune disorder therapy. In vitro studies with AGL found it to be effective against multiple tumors, neuronal disorders, diabetes, pneumonia, fibrosis, and other diverse therapeutic misadventures. Generally, virus-based diseases like ZIKA, influenza A virus subtype (H1NI), Ebola (EBOV), Dengue (DENV), and coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemics have greatly increased scientific interest and demands to develop more effective and economical immunomodulating drugs with minimal side effects. Trials and in vitro pharmacological studies with AGL and medicinally beneficial herbs might contribute to benefit the human population without using chemical-based synthetic drugs. In this review, we have discussed the possible role of AGL as a promising herbal-chemo remedy during human diseases, viral infections and as an immunity booster.

Andrographolide: A Review of Analytical Methods

Bicyclic diterpenoid lactone andrographolide is regarded as a "natural antibiotic" as it is known to exhibit a range of bioactivities including anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antipyretic, antineoplastic, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective and hypoglycaemic, and is present in Andrographis paniculata. The aim of this article is to review the information on analytical methods for andrographolide in biological samples, pharmaceutical formulations and plant materials. This article includes various techniques such as Spectrophotometry, Chemiluminescence method, Electroanalytical method, Chromatography and various hyphenated techniques.

Cloud Point Extraction in the Determination of Drugs in Biological Matrices

Cloud point extraction (CPE) is a simple, safe and environment-friendly technique used in the preparation of various samples. It was primarily developed for the assessment of environmental samples, especially analyzed for metals. Recently, this technique has been used in the extraction and determination of various chemical compounds (e.g., drugs, pesticides and vitamins), in various matrices (e.g., human plasma, human serum, milk and urine). In this review, we show that CPE is a reliable method of extraction and can be used in analytical laboratories in combination with other techniques that can be used in the determination of drugs and other chemicals in the human biological matrix. According to the literature, a combination of different methods provides good recovery and can be used in the simultaneous determination of many drugs in a single analysis. CPE can be optimized by changing its conditions (e.g., type of surfactant used, incubation temperature, pH and the addition of salts). In this review, we present the optimized CPE methods used in the determination of various pharmaceuticals and describe how the conditions affect the performance of extraction. This data might support future designing of the new CPE applications that are simple and more accurate. We compared CPE with other extraction methods and also showed the advantages and disadvantages of various extraction techniques along with a discussion on their environmental impact. According to the publications reviewed, it is obvious that CPE is an easy, safe, rapid and inexpensive method of extraction.

Determination of Antidepressants in Human Plasma by Modified Cloud-Point Extraction Coupled with Mass Spectrometry

Cloud-point extraction (CPE) is rarely combined with liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) in drug determination due to the matrix effect (ME). However, we have recently shown that ME is not a limiting factor in CPE. Low extraction efficiency may be improved by salt addition, but none of the salts used in CPE are suitable for LC-MS. It is the first time that the influences of a volatile salt-ammonium acetate (AA)-on the CPE extraction efficiency and ME have been studied. Our modification of CPE included also the use of ethanol instead of acetonitrile to reduce the sample viscosity and make the method more environmentally friendly. We developed and validated CPE-LC-MS for the simultaneous determination of 21 antidepressants in plasma that can be useful for clinical and forensic toxicology. The selected parameters included Triton X-114 concentration (1.5 and 6%, w/v), concentration of AA (0, 10, 20 and 30%, w/v), and pH (3.5, 6.8 and 10.2). The addition of 10% of AA increased recovery twice. For 20 and 30% (w/v) of AA, three phases were formed that prolonged the extraction process. The developed CPE method (6% Triton X-114, 10% AA, pH 10.2) was successfully validated through LC-MS/MS simultaneous determination of 21 antidepressants in human plasma. The linearity was in the range of 10-750 ng/mL (r2 > 0.990).

Andrographis paniculata: Dissolution investigation and pharmacokinetic studies of four major active diterpenoids after multiple oral dose administration in healthy Thai volunteers

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Andrographis paniculata is included in 'The National List of Essential Herbal Drugs A.D. 1999' of Thailand as an herbal drug for the treatment of common cold symptoms and non-infectious diarrhea. The therapeutic activities of A. paniculata are attributed to four major active diterpenoids: andrographolide (1), 14-deoxy-11, 12-didehydroandrographolide (2), neoandrographolide (3), and 14-deoxyandrographolide (4). However, the pharmacokinetic studies in humans of this plant were performed after a single oral dose administration and reported the parameters related to be of only 1.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This study aims to determine the pharmacokinetic parameters of four major active diterpenoids after multiple oral dose administration of A. paniculata capsules in healthy volunteers. The dissolution testing of these four diterpenoids was also performed.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

The dissolution testing of four major active diterpenoids was conducted in pH 1.2, pH 4.5, and pH 6.8 for 10-100min. The pharmacokinetic study of these active diterpenoids was designed as an open-label, multiple oral dose administration of A. paniculata capsules in 20 healthy Thai volunteers at 1:1 ratio of female and male. Each volunteer was given four A. paniculata capsules each time which contained 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the quantities of 32.64, 5.40, 3.60, and 3.84mg, respectively, three times a day for three consecutive days. On the fourth day, after the first dose of the day was administered, blood samples were collected at the predefined time points. The validated LC-MS/MS method was used to simultaneously determine the concentrations of these diterpenoids in the human plasma samples. The pharmacokinetic parameters of each active diterpenoid were determined.

RESULTS

All four major active diterpenoids have been completely dissolved in the simulated pH of gastrointestinal tract within 60min of dissolution. The dissolution profiles were found to be highest in pH 6.8 and lowest in pH 1.2, especially for 3. In the pharmacokinetic study, although 1 was administered at the highest dose among these four diterpenoids, 2 exhibited the highest maximum concentrations (C_max) of 44.89ng/mL and area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) of 128.17h×ng/mL. Compound 1 had the second highest C_max and AUC as 32.41ng/mL and 55.23h×ng/mL, respectively. The relative systemic exposure, represented by the dose normalized AUC [(h×ng/mL)/(mg/kg)], of 2 was approximately 14 times higher than that of 1, while those of 3 and 4 were approximately 1.5 and 1.6 times higher, respectively. C_max, AUC, apparent volume of distribution, and apparent clearance of 2 were found to be significant difference between female and male. However, when these parameters were calculated as dose normalized basis, no statistically significant difference was found.

CONCLUSION

The four major active diterpenoids in the A. paniculata capsules were soluble in all studied dissolution media. The pharmacokinetic parameters of these active diterpenoids in the present study could be applied for dose optimization of A. paniculata product in order to obtain good therapeutic efficacy and reduce the possible side effects that may occur from different active diterpenoids in this medicinal plant.