Modeling large-volume subcutaneous injection of monoclonal antibodies with anisotropic porohyperelastic models and data-driven tissue layer geometries

Subcutaneous injection of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) has become one of the fastest-growing fields in the pharmaceutical industry. The transport and mechanical processes behind large volume injections are poorly understood. Here, we leverage a large-deformation poroelastic model to study high-dose, high-speed subcutaneous injection. We account for the anisotropy of subcutaneous tissue using of a fibril-reinforced porohyperelastic model. We also incorporate the multi-layer structure of the skin tissue, generating data-driven geometrical models of the tissue layers using histological data. We analyze the impact of handheld autoinjectors on the injection dynamics for different patient forces. Our simulations show the importance of considering the large deformation approach to model large injection volumes. This work opens opportunities to better understand the mechanics and transport processes that occur in large-volume subcutaneous injections of mAbs.

Suspect and non-target screening of reuse water by large-volume injection liquid chromatography and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Eight samples were obtained to characterize the chemical loads in water recycled for reuse applications. The sources included stormwater, rooftop runoff, wastewater, mixed water, and drinking water as a comparison. The water was reused for irrigation, cleaning, toilet flushing, and cooling purposes. Large-volume injection (650 μL) high-performance liquid chromatography and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry were employed to separate and detect features by suspect and non-target screening. The instrumental method had the advantage that no sample extractions were required prior to analysis. Two chromatographic methods were developed to separate positive- and negative-ionizing compounds and retention time models were developed for both. Retention time models provide an additional measure of confidence for probable and tentative identifications. The two models had predictive R²-which indicates how well the models predicts new observations-of 0.87. After data-reduction, the number of features detected in the samples ranged from 304 to 1513. Feature metrics such as the average response-per-feature provided a simple method to characterize similarities and differences between samples. Additionally, a statistical comparison was performed by principal component analysis. Of the 97 suspect-screening compounds, 20 were positively identified. Benzotriazole/benzothiazole-derivatives and per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances were the most frequently detectedcompounds during suspect screening. Other compounds detected included pharmaceuticals, drug metabolites, and sucralose. Features were prioritized for non-target analysis based on in-house library matches, magnitude of response, and frequency of occurrence. Fifty-five unique compounds were positively identified via non-target analysis. The identified compounds included 17 pharmaceuticals, 17 pesticides, 13 industrial compounds, four personal-use compounds, and four biological compounds.

Vacuum-assisted evaporative concentration combined with LC-HRMS/MS for ultra-trace-level screening of organic micropollutants in environmental water samples

Vacuum-assisted evaporative concentration (VEC) was successfully applied and validated for the enrichment of 590 organic substances from river water and wastewater. Different volumes of water samples (6 mL wastewater influent, 15 mL wastewater effluent, and 60 mL river water) were evaporated to 0.3 mL and finally adjusted to 0.4 mL. 0.1 mL of the concentrate were injected into a polar reversed-phase C18 liquid chromatography column coupled with electrospray ionization to high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry. Analyte recoveries were determined for VEC and compared against a mixed-bed multilayer solid-phase extraction (SPE). Both approaches performed equally well (≥ 70% recovery) for a vast number of analytes (n = 327), whereas certain substances were especially amenable to enrichment by either SPE (e.g., 4-chlorobenzophenone, logD_ow,pH7 4) or VEC (e.g., TRIS, logD_ow,pH7 − 4.6). Overall, VEC was more suitable for the enrichment of polar analytes, albeit considerable signal suppression (up to 74% in river water) was observed for the VEC-enriched sample matrix. Nevertheless, VEC allowed for accurate and precise quantification down to the sub-nanogram per liter level and required no more than 60 mL of the sample, as demonstrated by its application to several environmental water matrices. By contrast, SPE is typically constrained by high sample volumes ranging from 100 mL (wastewater influent) to 1000 mL (river water). The developed VEC workflow not only requires low labor cost and minimum supervision but is also a rapid, convenient, and environmentally safe alternative to SPE and highly suitable for target and non-target analysis.

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with spiral large-volume injection for determination of fluoridated phosphonates produced by fluoride-mediated regeneration of nerve agent adduct in human serum

A sensitive method for determination of fluoridated phosphonates produced by fluoride-mediated regeneration of nerve agent adduct in human serum was developed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) with large-volume injection. The GC injection was administered using stomach-type spiral injector (LVI, AiSTI SCIENCE) enabling introduction of only target compounds from 50 μL ethyl acetate extract after purging the solvent. For GCMS analysis of sarin (GB), 670 times higher sensitivity, based on limit of detection (LOD, S/N = 3, on extracted ion chromatogram (EIC) at m/z 99), was achieved using this injection (50 μL) compared to that achieved using 1 μL split injection (ratio 20:1). Ethyl (EtGB), isopropyl (GB), n-propyl (nPrGB), isobutyl (iBuGB), pinacolyl (GD), cyclohexyl (GF) methylphosphonofluoridates, and O-ethyl N, N-dimethylphosphoramidofluoridate (GAF) were detected with low LOD (15-75 pg/mL) and sharp peak shapes (high practical plate number (defined as 5.54 x (t_R/W_h)², where t_R is the retention time and W_h is the bandwidth at half-height): 1100000-2400000) in GCMS using a polar separation column, electron ionization, and quadruple mass analyzer. During the analysis of fluoridated phosphonate-spiked ethyl acetate extract of solid phase extraction (SPE, Bond Elut NEXUS) from fluoride-mediated regeneration of blank human plasma, LOD (on EIC at m/z 99 except for GAF (m/z 126)) were 25-140 pg/mL with sharp peak shapes. The reaction recoveries in fluoride-mediated regeneration of plasma, which was inhibited by GB, GD, GA, GF, VX, and Russian VX (10 ng/mL), were 49-114% except for GD (10%). The concentration levels of 0.3-1 ng/mL of nerve agents in plasma could be determined.

Direct determination of acrylamide in food by gas chromatography with nitrogen chemiluminescence detection

A method of gas chromatography with nitrogen chemiluminescence detection and using standard addition is described for the determination of acrylamide in heat-processed foods. Using a modified QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) sample preparation method removes the acrylamide precursors completely, and the risk of overestimating acrylamide concentration due to additional analyte formation in the hot gas chromatograph inlet is also avoided. Sample preparation is rapid and inexpensive. A Deans switch device is utilized to heart-cut acrylamide and to prevent interferences from the solvent and matrix from reaching the detector. The pre-column is backflushed at high temperature to maintain a clean baseline and shorten the cycle time compared to baking out the column. Quantitation using standard addition is employed for compensation of potential variability in the acrylamide extraction efficiency in acetonitrile. The limit of detection and the limit of the quantification obtained for this method are 27 and 81 μg/kg, respectively, in food samples (equivalent to 3.5 and 10.6 μg/L in acetonitrile, respectively), and the linear range is 76-9697 μg/kg in food samples (equivalent to 10-1280 μg/L in acetonitrile) with an R(2) value of 0.9999.

Eco-friendly microextraction method for the quantitative speciation of 13 haloacetic acids in water

This paper describes the first micro liquid-liquid extraction (MLLE) gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for the speciation of emerging iodinated acetic acids, along with conventional chlorinated and brominated acids in water. The haloacetic acids (HAAs) were derivatised using 3 reagents for their methylation, both in aqueous and organic media. The acidic methanol derivatisation in aqueous medium provided the best efficiency, requiring minimal sample manipulation. The derivatisation yield was improved through the use of microwave energy that drastically reduced reaction time (2 min). The HAA methyl esters were finally extracted using 250 μL of methyl tert-butyl ether. This MLLE combined with the use of a large-volume sample injection coupled to a programmed temperature vaporiser-GC-MS improved the sensitivity of the method and minimised the generation of hazardous residues in accordance with the principles of "Green Chemistry". Detection and quantification limits (excepting tribromoacetic acid) within the range of 0.01-0.15 μg/L and 0.03-0.5 μg/L, respectively, were obtained and the relative standard deviation was lower than 10%. The eco-friendly method was applied to the speciation of the 13 HAAs in treated (chlorinated and chloraminated water) and untreated water. Up to 8 HAAs were found at detectable levels in treated water. The highly toxic monoiodoacetic acid was detected in almost all the chloraminated water.

Determination of cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes in water, sediment, soil, biota, and biosolid using large-volume injection-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Several methods were developed to detect the cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes (cVMSs) including octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5), and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6) in water, sediment, soil, biota, and biosolid samples. Analytical techniques employed to optimize measurement of this compound class in various matrices included membrane-assisted solvent extraction in water, liquid-solid extraction for sediment, soil, biota, and biosolid samples. A subsequent analysis of the extract was conducted by large-volume injection-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (LVI-GC-MS). These methods employed no evaporative techniques to avoid potential losses and contamination of the volatile siloxanes. To compensate for the inability to improve detection limits by concentrating final sample extract volumes we used a LVI-GC-MS. Contamination during analysis was minimized by using a septumless GC configuration to avoid cVMS's associated with septum bleed. These methods performed well achieving good linearity, low limits of detection, good precision, recovery, and a wide dynamic range. In addition, stability of cVMS in water and sediment was assessed under various storage conditions. D4 and D5 in Type-I (Milli-Q) water stored at 4°C were stable within 29d; however, significant depletion of D6 (60-70%) occurred only after 3d. Whereas cVMS in sewage influent and effluent were stable at 4°C within 21d. cVMS in sediment sealed in amber glass jars at -20°C and in pentane extracts in vials at -15°C were stable during 1month under both storage conditions.