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Oxygen is critical for a multitude of metabolic processes that are essential for human life. Biological processes can be identified by treating cells with 18 O 2 or other isotopically labelled gases and systematically identifying biomolecules incorporating labeled atoms. Here we labelled cell lines of distinct tissue origins with 18 O 2 to identify the polar oxy-metabolome, defined as polar metabolites labelled with 18 O under different physiological O 2 tensions. The most highly 18 O-labelled feature was 4-hydroxymandelate (4-HMA). We demonstrate that 4-HMA is produced by hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase-like (HPDL), a protein of previously unknown function in human cells. We identify 4-HMA as an intermediate involved in the biosynthesis of the coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) headgroup in human cells. The connection of HPDL to CoQ10 biosynthesis provides crucial insights into the mechanisms underlying recently described neurological diseases related to HPDL deficiencies 1-4 and cancers with HPDL overexpression 5 ., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Objective: To discuss calculation method of detection limit and quantitative limit of occupational health biological monitoring. Methods: The detection limit and the quantitative limit of phenyl glyoxylic acid and Mandelic acid were calculated by using three different methods of IUPAC, NIOSH and OSHA respectively. Results: The IUPAC, NIOSH and OSHA methods were used to calculate the detection limit and the quantitative limit of the phenyl glyoxylic acid and Mandelic acid, and the results are different. Conclusion: To calculate the detection limit and quantitative limit of occupational health biological monitoring methods, the standard curve method is adopted to ensure that the rate of detection in the vicinity of detection limit and more than 75% of the quantitative limits are used.

A chiral biosensing platform was developed using betamethasone (BMZ) as chiral recognition element through multilayered electrochemical deposition of BMZ, overoxidized polypyrrole, and nanosheets of graphene (OPPy-BMZ/GR), for enantio-recognition of mandelic acid (MA) enantiomers. The deposited film was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, differential pulse voltammetry, cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. It was shown that the chiral sensing platform can discriminate R- and S-MA differential pulse voltammetry signals, at the voltages of 1.35 and 1.33 V (vs Ag/AgCl), respectively. To tackle the problem of highly overlapping peaks of these enantiomers, the partial least squares (PLS) regression and genetic algorithm-PLS (GA-PLS) were used for simultaneous quantification of MA enantiomers. Generally, variable selection by genetic algorithm provided an improvement in prediction results when compared to full-voltammogram PLS. Good analytical performances were obtained despite the inherent complexity of the simultaneous determination., (Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Purification of many pharmaceutical compounds by supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) has always been challenging because of degradation of compound during the isolation step in the presence of acidic or basic modifiers in the mobile phase. Stability of such acid or base-sensitive compounds could be improved by post-column addition of a solvent containing base or acid modifier as counter ion through a make-up pump respectively to neutralize the compound fraction without affecting the resolution. One such case study has been presented in this work where the stability of a base-sensitive compound was addressed by the addition of acidic co-solvent through the make-up pump. Details of this setup and the investigation of degradation of the in-house base-sensitive compound are discussed in this paper. In addition, poor retentivity and low recovery of many non-polar compounds in SFC eluting under low co-solvent percentage is another major concern. Even though the desired separation could be achieved with low percentage of co-solvent, it's difficult to get the proper recovery after purification due to precipitation of the sample and significant aerosol formation inside the cyclone. We have demonstrated the first-time use of a post-column make-up pump on SFC 350 system to introduce additional solvent prior to cyclone to avoid the precipitation, reduce the aerosol formation and thus improve the recovery of non-polar compounds eluting under less than 10% of co-solvent., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: 4-Hydroxymandelic acid (4-HMA) is a valuable aromatic fine chemical and widely used for production of pharmaceuticals and food additives. 4-HMA is conventionally synthesized by chemical condensation of glyoxylic acid with excessive phenol, and the process is environmentally unfriendly. Microbial cell factory would be an attractive approach for 4-HMA production from renewable and sustainable resources., Results: In this study, a biosynthetic pathway for 4-HMA production was constructed by heterologously expressing the fully synthetic 4-hydroxymandelic acid synthase (shmaS) in our L-tyrosine-overproducing Escherichia coli BKT5. The expression level of shmaS was optimized to improve 4-HMA production by fine tuning of four promoters of different strength combined with three plasmids of different copy number. Furthermore, two genes aspC and tyrB in the competitive pathway were deleted to block the formation of byproduct to enhance 4-HMA biosynthesis. The final engineered E. coli strain HMA15 utilized glucose and xylose simultaneously and produced 15.8 g/L of 4-HMA by fed-batch fermentation in 60 h., Conclusions: Metabolically engineered E. coli strain for 4-HMA production was designed and constructed, and efficiently co-fermented glucose and xylose, the major components in the hydrolysate mixture of agricultural biomass. Our research provided a promising biomanufacturing route to produce 4-HMA from lignocellulosic biomass.

The chromatographic retention mechanism describing relationship between retention factor and concentration of Cu(2+) (l-phenylalanine)2 using chiral ligand mobile phase was investigated and eight mandelic acid derivatives were enantioseparated by chiral ligand exchange chromatography. The relationship between retention factor and concentration of the Cu(2+) (l-phenylalanine)2 complex was proven to be in conformity with chromatographic retention mechanism in which chiral discrimination occurred both in mobile and stationary phase. Different copper(II) salts, chiral ligands, organic modifier, pH of aqueous phase, and conventional temperature on retention behavior were optimized. Eight racemates were successfully enantioseparated on a common reversed-phase column with an optimized mobile phase composed of 6 mmol/L of l-phenylalanine or N,N-dimethyl-l-phenylalanine and 3 mmol/Lof copper(II) acetate or copper(II) sulfate aqueous solution and methanol., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A pair of chiral compounds S-1 and R-1 derived from (1S, 2S) or (1R, 2R)-1, 2-diphenylethane-1, 2-diamine were designed and synthesized, the interactions of S-1 and R-1 with mandelate were studied in H2O (0.01 M HEPES buffer, pH=7.4) by fluorescence titration experiments. The sensors S-1 and R-1 were found to present enantioselective fluorescent sensing ability to mandelate. The results indicated that the sensors S-1 and R-1 were very promising to be used as fluorescent sensors in determining the enantiomeric composition of mandelate in H2O., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Twelve chiral compounds were enantiomerically resolved on bovine serum albumin chiral stationary phase (BSA-CSP) by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in reversed-phase modes. Chromatographic conditions such as mobile phase pH, the percentage of organic modifier, and concentration of analyte were optimized for separation of enantiomers. For N-(2, 4-dinitrophenyl)-serine (DNP-ser), the retention factors (k) greatly increase from 0.81 to 6.23 as the pH decreasing from 7.21 to 5.14, and the resolution factor (R(s)) exhibited a similar increasing trend (from 0 to 1.34). More interestingly, the retention factors for N-(2, 4-dinitrophenyl)-proline (DNP-pro) decrease along with increasing 1-propanol in mobile phase (3%, 5%, 7% and 9% by volume), whereas the resolution factor shows an upward trend (from 0.96 to 2.04). Moreover, chiral recognition mechanisms for chiral analytes were further investigated through thermodynamic methods., (© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

A new liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the chiral separation of the enantiomers of mandelic acid and their derivatives 2-chloromandelic acid, 4-hydroxymandelic acid, 4-methoxymandelic acid, and 3,4,5-trismethoxymandelic acid. The enantiomers were separated by a CHIRALPAK(®) IC (250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm). Mandelic acid, 4-methoxymandelic acid, and 3,4,5-trismethoxymandelic acid were baseline resolved (resolution factor (RS)=2.21, RS=2.14, and RS=3.70, respectively). In contrast, the enantioselectivities between CHIRALPAK(®) IC and 2-chloromandelic acid and 4-hydroxymandelic acid investigated were low. By comparing the chromatographs of mandelic acid enantiomers and mandelic acid spiked with (R)-mandelic acid, it was determined that the first effluent was (R)-mandelic acid.

A chiral interface has been designed for specific recognition of carboxylic acids using multilayer architectures of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and methylene blue/reduce-graphene (MB@rGO) on glassy carbon electrodes. The advantages of β-CD as a chiral selector and MB@rGO composite as an electrochemical indicator were perfectly presented in this novel interface. It displayed good redox signal for sensing chiral target with high sensitivity and conductivity. Enormous signal differences were obtained after adsorption of target L isomer, due to strong blocking of the electron transfer process of methylene blue. Meanwhile mandelic acid was found to be the best chiral guest and obtained more effective chiral recognition.

A new chiral biosensor has been fabricated by immobilizing γ-globulin on gold nanoparticles modified glassy carbon electrodes, which could recognize and detect mandelic acid (MA) enantiomers. Differential pulse voltammetry, quartz crystal microbalance, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy were used to characterize the enantioselectivity. The results exhibited that γ-globulin modified electrode could enantioselectively recognize MA enantiomers, and larger response signals were obtained from R-MA. The factors influencing the performance of the resulting biosensor were investigated. The enantiomeric composition of R- and S-MA enantiomer mixtures could be determined by measuring the current responses of the sample. The developed electrodes have the advantages of simple preparation, good stability, and rapid detection., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

We have prepared chiral fluorescent bisboronic acid sensors with 3,6-dithiophen-2-yl-9H-carbazole as the fluorophore. The thiophene moiety was used to extend the π-conjugation framework of the fluorophore in order to red-shift the fluorescence emission and, at the same time, to enhance the novel process where the fluorophore serves as the electron donor of the photoinduced electron transfer process (d-PET) of the boronic acid sensors; i.e., the background fluorescence of the sensor 1 at acidic pH is weaker compared to that at neutral or basic pH, in stark contrast to the typical a-PET boronic acid sensors (where the fluorophore serves as the electron acceptor of the photoinduced electron transfer process). The benefit of the d-PET boronic acid sensors is that the recognition of the hydroxylic acids can be achieved at acidic pH. We found that the thiophene moiety is an efficient π-conjugation linker and electron donor; as a result, the d-PET contrast ratio of the sensors upon variation of the pH is improved 10-fold when compared to the previously reported d-PET sensors without the thiophene moiety. Enantioselective recognition of tartaric acid was achieved at acid pH, and the enantioselectivity (total response K(D)I(F)(D)/K(L)I(F)(L)) is 3.3. The fluorescence enhancement (I(F)(Sample)/I(F)(Blank)) of sensor 1 upon binding with tartaric acid is 3.5-fold at pH 3.0. With the fluorescent bisboronic acid sensor 1, enantioselective recognition of mandelic acid was achieved for the first time. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the mandelic acid has been enantioselectively recognized using a chiral fluorescent boronic acid sensor. Chiral monoboronic acid sensor 2 and bisboronic acid sensor 3 without the thiophene moiety failed to enantioselectively recognize mandelic acid. Our findings with the thiophene-incorporated boronic acid sensors will be important for the design of d-PET fluorescent sensors for the enantioselective recognition of α-hydroxylic acids such as mandelic acid, given that it is currently a challenge to recognize these analytes with boronic acid fluorescent molecular sensors.

Sensitive and simple spectrophotometric (Method I) and spectrofluorimetric (Method II) methods were developed and validated for the determination of oxybutynin HCl (OXB) in its dosage forms. The method was based on the reaction of OXB with malonic acid anhydride in acetic acid anhydride to form a highly yellow colored product that was measured at 375 nm spectrophotometrically. The same reaction product exihibits strong fluorescence that was measured at 440 nm after excitation at 390 nm. The factors affecting formation and stability of the reaction product were carefully studied and optimized, and the reaction mechanism was postulated. The absorbance-concentration plot is rectilinear over the range 4-40 μg/mL with LOD of 1.12 μg/mL and LOQ of 3.39 μg/mL. The fluorescence-concentration plot is rectilinear over the range 0.5-6 μg/mL with LOD of 0.11 μg/mL and LOQ of 0.33 μg/mL. The method was applied to the analysis of commercial tablets Detronin® and Uripan®. Statistical comparison of the results with those of the reference method revealed good agreement and proved that there were no significant difference in the accuracy and precision between the two methods respectively. The study was extended to content uniformity testing., (© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010)

Simple, accurate, sensitive and validated UV spectrophotometric, chemometric and HPTLC-densitometric methods were developed for determination of oxybutynin hydrochloride (OX) in presence of its degradation product and additives in its pharmaceutical formulations. Method A is the first derivative of ratio spectra (DD(1)) which allows the determination of OX in presence of its degradate in pure form and tablets by measuring the peaks amplitude at 216 nm. Method B and C are principal component regression (PCR) and partial least-squares (PLS) for determination of OX in presence of its degradate in pure form, tablets and syrup. While, the developed high performance thin layer chromatography HPTLC-densitometric method was based on the separation of OX from its degradation product, methylparaben and propylparaben followed by densitometric measurement at 220 nm which allows the determination of OX in pure form, tablets and syrup. The separation was achieved using HPTLC silica gel F(254) plates and chloroform:methanol:ammonia solution:triethylamine (100:3:0.5:0.2, v/v/v/v) as the developing system. The accuracy, precision and linearity ranges of the developed methods were determined. The results obtained were statistically compared with each other and to that of a reported HPLC method, and there was no significant difference between the proposed methods and the reported method regarding both accuracy and precision., (Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In the current work a racemate of (R)- and (S)-benzylmandelate was separated with a stereoselective polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phase by HPLC. To elucidate the occurring chiral molecular recognition processes in the heterogeneous system used, NMR spectroscopy was chosen under high resolution/magic angle spinning (HR/MAS) NMR conditions in the suspended state. Therefore, and as a proof of concept, a combination of several NMR methods such as spin-lattice relaxation time (T(1)) measurements (T(1)), the saturation transfer difference, and the 2D experiment of the transferred nuclear overhauser enhancement spectroscopy technique were applied. With HR/MAS NMR it is feasible to combine NMR and chromatography to achieve further insights into the separation process., (Copyright 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Two ion-selective sensors of the plastic membrane type were prepared for the determination of oxybutynin hydrochloride (OxCl). They depend on the incorporation of the ion-associates with phosphotungestic acid or phosphomolybdic acid in a PVC matrix. A comparative study is made between their performance characteristics in batch and FIA conditions. The sensors have nearly the same usable concentration, temperature and pH range. They have a wide range of selectivity and can be applied for the determination of the relevant drug with nearly the same precision and accuracy in vitro. Dissolution testing was applied using the sensors; this offers a simple, rapid, cheap way out of sophisticated and high cost instruments used in the pharmacopeial method using HPLC. The investigated drug was determined in its pure and pharmaceutical preparations. The results were accurate and precise, as indicated by the recovery values and coefficients of variation.

The development of a cyclodextrin-MEEKC method for the analysis of oxybutynin and five related impurities is described. Experimental design strategies were applied in order to reach baseline separation of the compounds in a short analysis time. Mixture design made it possible to find the best composition for the microemulsion acting as pseudostationary phase, which was constituted by 89.1% 10 mM borate buffer pH 9.2, 1.7% n-heptane, 9.2% SDS/n-butanol in 1:2 ratio. The addition of (2-hydroxypropyl)-beta-cyclodextrin to the background electrolyte was found to improve analysis performance. A Doehlert design, for the factors cyclodextrin concentration and voltage, was carried out and Derringer desirability function led to the identification of 18 mM and 29 kV as the optimal values. Applying the optimum conditions, separation of all the compounds, including the enantiomers of impurity 1, was obtained in less than 12 min. The method was validated according to ICH guidelines for drug assay and determination of impurities and was applied to oxybutynin tablet analysis.

A new enantioselective potentiometric sensor containing chiral salen Mn(III) as the chiral selector was designed for the assay of L-mandelic acid (L-MA). Optimized membrane electrodes displayed linear dynamic range from 1x10(-5) to 1x10(-1) mol L(-1) with a detection limit of 7.2x10(-6) mol L(-1) and a Nernstian response of -58.1+/-0.5 mV decade(-1) towards L-MA within pH range 7.0-10.2. The potentiometric enantioselectivity coefficient (logK(L,D)(Pot)) of this sensor was -4.0, indicating that the chiral salen Mn(III) complex-based electrode exhibited fairly good discrimination toward L-MA over counter isomer D-MA. The mechanism of chiral recognition for L-MA is discussed by using HF/STO-3G calculation method simulation.

This study presents a new method for the highly selective recognition of chiral mandelic acid (MA) using L-phenylalanine (L-Phe) as the selector. The proposed method is based on quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) detection, integrated with a vapor diffused molecular assembly (VDMA) reaction technique. The construction of the L-Phe-modified QCM sensor involved a two-step assembly procedure. The chiral recognizability of L- and D-MA on the L-Phe-modified surface was then examined using the VDMA method and QCM. The chiral discrimination factor between L- and D-MA detected by QCM, alpha(L-MA/D-MA), was found to be about 8. The VDMA selective sensing of L-MA on the L-Phe-modified surface was also confirmed by the contact angle measurements. The L-Phe-modified QCM sensor showed good stability and reusability. The present chiral recognition results suggest that L-phe is an excellent resolving agent for the resolution of chiral mandelic acid.

This study presents a new approach for the highly selective recognition of chiral L/D-mandelic acid (MA) using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) with L-phenylalanine (L-Phe) as the selector. The immobilization of L-Phe on the gold surface of the QCM sensor was performed using a four steps layer-by-layer assembling procedure. The modification of the gold surface of the QCM sensor after each modification step was verified by the cyclic voltammetry, contact angle, FTIR, and QCM detection. The chiral recognition ability of L- and D-MA on the chiral surface was checked by sensing using the vapor diffused molecular assembly (VDMA) method with the QCM. The chiral discrimination factor between L- and D-MA, aplha(L-MA/D-MA), was found to be about 9. The L-Phe-modified QCM gold sensor also showed good stability and reusability. The high chiral discrimination ability of the modified surface might be the result of the different hydrogen bonding force between L- or D-MA and L-Phe.

Chromatographic behavior of nonracemic mixtures, viz., mandelic acid and stilbene oxide as analytes has been studied in detailed by enantiomer self-disproportionation on achiral ordered mesoporous material M41S and regular silica gel as stationary phases. Enantiomer self-disproportionation gave enhanced separation of analytes. The extent and magnitude of enantiomer self-disproportionation is dependent on the optical purity of the starting non-racemic molecules, presence of intermolecular hydrogen bonding/pi-pi interactions and the nature of eluents used. The present study and previous literature data suggest that percentage ee of a nonracemic mixture needs to be determined before any chromatographic purification is taken up as enantiomer self-disproportionation phenomenon could occur during purification. The data show that enantiomer self-disproportionation of nonracemic mixtures can be harnessed for its enantioenrichment on inexpensive achiral stationary phases., ((c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Chiral recognition is considered to be the most important, fundamental basis in the development of separation technology for chiral isomers in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields. However, the selective detection of individual enantiomers is still one of the most difficult analytical tasks because of the close similarity of the molecular configurations between chiral isomers. This study presents a versatile vapor-diffused molecular assembly (VDMA) reaction approach for chiral recognition by the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). Chiral L/D-mandelic acid (MA) was used as the detection model, and L-phenylalanine (L-Phe) was used as the selector. The construction of the L-Phe-modified QCM sensor involved a four-step layer-by-layer assembly procedure. Each modification step was analyzed by cyclic voltammetry, the contact angle, and a resonance frequency measurement. The chiral recognizability of the L-Phe-modified QCM sensor to L-mandelic acid was then examined by resonance frequency measurement using the novel VDMA technique and also investigated by atomic force microscope (AFM) measurements. A chiral discrimination factor of up to approximately 9 between L- and d-MA on the L-Phe-modified QCM sensor was obtained by using this gaseous-phase reaction technique. AFM results also showed obvious selective aggregation of L-MA on the L-Phe-modified surface but no noticeable aggregation of D-MA during the VDMA reaction. Both of the QCM and AFM results confirmed the usefulness of this proposed VDMA technique for the study of chiral recognition. The main advantage of the proposed method is that it offers a universal simple application scheme for the QCM detection of small resonance frequency changes due to chiral molecular recognition by a chiral selector immobilized on the QCM sensor surface.

An enantioselective method using liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) followed by HPLC analysis was developed for the determination of oxybutynin (OXY) and its major metabolite N-desethyloxybutynin (DEO) in rat liver microsomal fraction. The LPME procedure was optimized using multifactorial experiments. Under the optimal extraction conditions, the mean recoveries were 61 and 55% for (R)-OXY and (S)-OXY, respectively, and 70 and 76% for (R)-DEO and (S)-DEO, respectively. The validated method was employed to an in vitro biotransformation study using rat liver microsomal fraction. The results demonstrated the enantioselective biotransformation of OXY.

Four polyvinyl chloride (PVC) matrix membrane electrodes responsive to 2 drugs affecting the urogenital system--oxybutynin hydrochloride (OX) and flavoxate hydrochloride (FX)--were developed, described, and characterized. A precipitation-based technique with tungstophosphate (TP) and ammonium reineckate (R) anions as electroactive materials in a PVC matrix with an OX cation was used for electrode 1 and 2 fabrication, respectively. Electrode 3 and 4 fabrication was based on use of the precipitation technique of FX cation with tetrakis (4-chlorophenyl) borate and R anions as electroactive materials. Fast and stable Nernstian responses in the range 1 x 10(-2)-1 x 10(-6) M for the 2 drugs over the pH range 5-8 revealed the performance characteristics of these electrodes, which were evaluated according to International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry recommendations. The method was applied to FX and OX in their pharmaceutical formulations and in human plasma samples. The 4 proposed sensors were found to be specific for the drugs in the presence of up to 60% of their degradation products. Validation of the method according to the quality assurance standards showed suitability of the proposed electrodes for use in the quality control assessment of these drugs. The recoveries for determination of the drugs by the 4 proposed selective electrodes were 99.5 +/- 0.5, 100.0 +/- 0.4, 99.9 +/- 0.4, and 100.1 +/- 0.4% for sensors 1-4, respectively. Statistical comparison between the results obtained by this method and the official method of the drugs was done, and no significant difference found.

The use of inverse method for the determination of competitive adsorption isotherm of mandelic acid enantiomers on cellulose tris(3,5-diethylphenyl carbamate) stationary phase is proposed in this work. Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm with jumping genes (NSGA-II-JG) was applied to acquire the isotherm parameters by minimizing the sum of square deviations of the model predictions from the measured elution profiles. Three different competitive isotherm models, i.e., Langmuir, biLangmuir and Tóth, combined with transport-dispersive chromatographic model were used in predicting the elution profiles. Orthogonal collocation on finite element (OCFE) method was applied to obtain the calculated elution profiles. Results indicate that biLangmuir isotherm and Tóth isotherm give remarkably similar equilibrium isotherms within the investigated liquid concentration range. Band profiles calculated from both isotherm models are in good agreement with the experimental data. The validity of the determined parameters was verified by comparing the model predictions with experimental elution profiles at various experimental conditions.

A simple HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of phenylglyoxylic acid (PGA), mandelic acid (MA), styrene glycol (SG) and hippuric acid (HA) in cell culture medium was developed. Analysis was performed on a C(18) column with a mobile phase composed of methanol-potassium dihydrogen phosphate (pH 2.5; 10 mM; 10:90, v/v) at 220 nm. The flow-rate of mobile phase was set at 0.5 mL/min. The mean absolute recoveries of PGA, MA, SG and HA were 95.9, 98.4, 98.0 and 97.1%, respectively. The inter-day and intra-day precisions, determined at three concentration levels, were less than 10% of RSD. The limits of quantification for PGA, MA, SG and HA were 13.2, 13.1, 14.5 and 11.2 microM with RSD less than 20%. The limits of detection for PGA, MA, SG and HA were 4.6, 4.6, 5.1 and 3.9 microM, respectively. The method was successfully applied to study the stereoselective metabolism of SG and MA in primary culture of rat hepatocytes. The results show that there is stereoselective metabolism for both of MA and SG in primary culture of rat hepatocytes. The extent of biotransformation from S-MA to PGA is significantly greater than that from the R enantiomer and the main metabolites are PGA and HA for S-SG and R-SG, respectively., ((c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

The present feasibility study was designed to obtain a monolayer patch containing oxybutynin (OXY) avoiding chemical permeation enhancers. The highest flux was obtained with a polydimethylsiloxane matrix patch. Because OXY crystals were detected in the matrix within a week, two amino methylmethacrylate copolymers (Eudragit E or Eudragit RS) were used as OXY crystallization inhibitors. A preliminary in vivo study indicated that flux from the stabilized patches had to be increased about 30-40%. This goal was reached by occlusion with a polyethylene layer.

An ion-exchange column high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed for the determination of methenamine in methenamine and methenamine hippurate pharmaceutical preparations. The HPLC method uses a Zorbax SCX-300 column with acetonitrile-0.1M sodium perchlorate monohydrate (pH 5.8) (70:30, v/v) as the mobile phase at the flow rate of 1 mL/min. UV-detection was at 212 nm. The linear concentration plots for methenamine were linear over the concentration range of 0.25-50mM for methenamine and methenamine mandelate standards. The intra-day RSD precision was <1.25%, and for inter-day, <1.85%. The peaks for mandelic acid, hippuric acid and the other ingredients from placebo tablets do not interfere with the analysis for methenamine. The accuracy of this method was shown to be 99-101% by measuring the recovery of methenamine from spiked placebo tablets. The assay of methenamine from methenamine hippurate tablets and from a urinary antiseptic tablet containing methenamine were in the range of 98-102%. This HPLC method is a fast, simple and straightforward method for the analysis of methenamine in pharmaceutical preparations.

A validated GC-MS method for the analysis of urinary metabolites of alkyl benzenes is reported. Metabolites for exposure to toluene, xylene and ethylbenzene were analyzed simultaneously using stable isotope substituted internal standards. The method entailed acidic deconjugation of urine samples followed by extractive alkylation with pentafluorobenzyl bromide as alkylating agent. The resulting pentafluorobenzyl derivatives of ortho-, meta-, para-cresol, mandelic acid (MA), hippuric acid (HA) and ortho-, meta-, para-methylhippuric acid (MHA) were then quantified by SIM. Optimized reaction conditions for the extractive alkylation step are reported. The derivatives were found to be sufficiently stable for overnight batch analysis. The LODs were below 0.1 micromol/L for the cresols and below 1 micromol/L for MA and the HAs. Within-batch precision for o-MHA was 7%, for m-MHA 5%, for p-MHA 5.2% and below 5% for the rest of the analytes.

Here we report on the development and validation of a sensitive and rapid reversed-phase liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the quantitative determination of propiverine in human plasma. After adding an internal standard (oxybutynin chloride) to human plasma, samples were extracted using n-hexane/ethylacetate (8:2, v/v). Compounds extracted were analyzed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode for analyte detection. This method for determination of propiverine proved accurate and reproducible, with a limit of quantitation of 0.5 ng/ml in human plasma. The standard calibration curve for propiverine was linear (r2=0.9988) over the concentration range 0.5-1000.0 ng/ml in human plasma. The intra- and inter-day precision over this concentration range was lower than 8.66% (relative standard deviation, %R.S.D.), and accuracy was between 99.46 and 109.41%, respectively. This method was successfully applied to a bioequivalence study of two propiverine hydrochloride tablet formulations (20 mg) in 24 healthy subjects after a single administration.

Two high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) methods are presented for the determination of oxeladin citrate (OL) and oxybutynin hydrochloride (OB) and their degradation products. The first method was based on HPLC separation of OL from its degradation product using a Nucleosil C(18) column with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile -0.1% phosphoric acid (60:40 v/v). The second method was based on HPLC separation of OB from its degradation product using a VP-ODS C(18) column with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile/0.01 M potassium dihydrogen phosphate/diethylamine (60:40:0.2). Quantitation was achieved with UV detection at 220 nm based on peak area. The two HPLC methods were applied for the determination of OL or OB, their degradation products, methylparaben and propylparaben in pharmaceutical preparations. The proposed methods were used to investigate the kinetics of acidic and alkaline degradation processes of OL and OB at different temperatures and the apparent pseudofirst-order rate constant, half-life and activation energy were calculated. The pH-rate profiles of degradation of OL and OB in Britton-Robinson buffer solutions within the pH range 2-12 were studied.

A new UV spectrophotometric method and a reversed-phase HPLC method were developed for quantitative evaluation of oxybutynin hydrochloride (OXB) formulations. Determination of OXB by UV spectroscopic method was based on complexation of OXB with picric acid to form picrate, which was extracted to chloroform. The picrate complex showed quantifiable absorbance at 344nm. Chromatography was carried out at 25 degrees C on a 4.6mm x 250mm 5microm cyano column that contained USP packing L10 with water:methanol:acetonitrile::48:12:40 (v/v), as mobile phase. UV detector was set at 203nm. Both methods were found to be selective, linear, accurate and precise in the specified ranges. The LOD and LOQ of HPLC method were 0.5 and 1.65microg/ml, respectively. Intra-day and inter-day variability for both methods were <2% RSD. These methods were successfully used for quantification of OXB in drug-release studies from immediate-release tablets and controlled-release (CR) formulations.

The use of a second electrospray nebuliser has proved to be highly successful for exact mass measurement during high-performance liquid chromatography/Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (HPLC/FTICRMS). Much improved accuracy and precision of mass measurement were afforded by the introduction of the internal calibration solution, thus overcoming space charge issues due to the lack of control over relative ion abundances of the species eluting from the HPLC column. Further, issues of suppression of ionisation, observed when using a T-piece method, are addressed and this simple system has significant benefits over other more elaborate approaches providing data that compares very favourably with these other approaches. The technique is robust, flexible and transferable and can be used in conjunction with HPLC, infusion or flow injection analysis (FIA) to provide constant internal calibration signals to allow routine, accurate and precise mass measurements to be recorded., (Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Separation of hydroxy acid enantiomers was achieved by using capillary electrochromatography (CEC) employing a chiral stationary phase (CSP) based on MDL 63,246 (Hepta-Tyr), a macrocyclic antibiotic of the teicoplanin family. The chiral selector was chemically bonded to 5 num diol-modified silica particles and the CSP mixed with amino silica (3:1 w/w) was packed into a 75 num ID fused-silica capillary. The CEC experiments were carried out by using an aqueous reversed-phase mode for the enantiomeric resolution of hydroxy acid compounds. Good enantioresolution was achieved for mandelic acid (MA), m-hydroxymandelic acid (m-OH-MA), p-OH-MA, and 3-hydroxy-4-methoxymandelic acid (3-OH-4-MeO-MA). The CEC system was less enantioselective towards 2-phenyllactic acid (2-PhL) and 3-PhL while mandelic acid methyl ester (MA-Et-Est) enantiomers were not resolved. Several experimental parameters, such as organic solvent type and concentration, buffer pH, capillary temperature, on enantioresolution factor, retention time, and retention factor were studied.

Novel chiral bisbinaphthyl compounds have been synthesized for the enantioselective fluorescent recognition of mandelic acid. By introducing dendritic branches to the chiral receptor unit, the fluorescence signals of the receptors are significantly amplified because of the light-harvesting effect of the dendritic structure. This has greatly increased the sensitivity of the sensors in the fluorescent recognition. Study of the three generation sensors demonstrates that the generation zero sensor is the best choice for the recognition of mandelic acid because of its greatly increased fluorescence signal over the core and its high enantioselectivity. This sensor is potentially useful for the high throughput screening of chiral catalysts for the asymmetric synthesis of alpha-hydroxycarboxylic acids.

A purge-and-trap gas chromatographic (PT-GC) method for determining styrene concentrations in urine and blood samples has been used in the biological monitoring of workers exposed to styrene and acetone. Blood and urine samples were collected from 34 individuals exposed to both solvents at the end of a 4-h shift and measured for styrene in urine (Su), blood (Sb), and the two major urinary metabolites, mandelic acid (MA) and phenylglyoxylic acid (PGA). A second urine sample was taken at the beginning of the next shift. Environmental exposure was measured using passive personal monitoring and GC. Urinary excretion of MA and PGA was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. The average exposures to styrene and acetone were 70.5 mg/m3 and 370.5 mg/m3, respectively. In end-of-shift samples there was a significant correlation between concentrations of Su and Sb and the metabolites PGA, MA (r = 0.714 and 0.788, p < 0.001 for Su and r = 0.644 and 0.566, p < 0.005 for Sb). A high correlation between Sb and Su (r = 0.732, p < 0.001) also existed. Poor correlations were found between Su and metabolites in samples collected at the beginning of the next shift (r = 0.491 and 0.474 for PGA and MA, respectively, p < 0.05). There was a better correlation between the biological parameters at the end of the shift and the environmental styrene (r = 0.841 for PGA, r = 0.834 for MA, r = 0.788 for Su, and r = 0.698 for Sb; p < 0.001) compared with those at the start of the shift (r = 0.81 for PGA, 0.675 for MA, and 0.650 for Su; p < 0.001). We found that the concentration of excreted metabolites decreased significantly when environmental concentrations of acetone increased (p < 0.05), particularly at the end of the shift. Although the best correlation with environmental styrene was obtained with the sum of PGA and MA at the end of the shift (r = 0.862, p < 0.001), urine and blood styrene were shown to be more useful biological monitoring indicators because their concentrations were not affected by acetone co-exposure.

Based on the physical meaning of each term in the linear parameter log I (a constant correlating the affinity of solute to stationary phase) of stoichiometric displacement model for retention(SDM-R) of solute, the thermodynamic characteristics of log I of solute in reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) were investigated theoretically. This point was tested by experimental data with two linear relationships: (1) plot of log I vs 1/T (T is absolute temperature) with apolar, polar small solutes and proteins; (2) plot of log I vs log Po/w (partition coefficient of solute between n-octanol and water) with apolar and polar small solutes. From the comparison of the magnitude of partition coefficient between small solute and proteins, a phenomenon that the resolution of small solutes depends on column length but that of proteins almost to be independent of column length is quantitatively explained.

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method is described for the determination of oxybutynin (OXB) in human bladder samples. Following homogenization, tissue samples underwent double extraction with hexane and eventually were concentrated by freeze-drying before analysis. Chromatographic separation was performed with a mobile phase of acetonitrile-water-1 M ammonium acetate, pH 7.0 (85:13:2, v/v/v) at a flow-rate of 0.5 ml/min and double (electrochemical and UV) detection was applied. The retention time of oxybutynin eluting peak was around 18 min. Using a standard curve range of 10 to 500 ng/ml the quantification limit with electrochemical detection was 5 ng/ml with an injection volume of 100 microl. Within-day and day-to-day relative standard deviation values were 4.9 and 9.81%, respectively, while a 94% accuracy and a 72% recovery was attained. We applied this method to compare the OXB levels into bladder wall tissue samples after passive diffusion and after electromotive drug administration (EMDA), using a two-chambered poly(vinyl chloride) diffusion cell designed and developed in our laboratory. The results obtained show that EMDA enhanced OXB penetration into bladder wall and that this novel way of local drug administration can be potentially used in patients with neurogenic bladder dysfunction or urinary incontinence.

A laser-based capillary polarimeter has been configured to allow for the detection of optically active molecules in capillary tubes with a characteristic inner diameter of 250 microm and a 39-nL (10(-9)) sample volume. The simple optical configuration consists of a HeNe laser, polarizing optic, fused-silica capillary, and charge-coupled device (CCD) camera in communication with a laser beam analyzer. The capillary scale polarimeter is based on the interaction between a polarized laser beam and a capillary tube, which results in a 360 degree fan of scattered light. This array of scattered light contains a set of interference fringe, which respond in a reproducible manner to changes in solute optical activity. The polarimetric utility of the instrument will be demonstrated by the analysis of two optically active solutes, R-mandelic acid and D-glucose, in addition to the nonoptically active control, glycerol. The polarimetric response of the system is quantifiable with detection limits facilitating 1.7 x 10(-3) M or 68 x 10(-12) nmol (7 psi 10(-9) g) sensitivity.

We have previously reported that atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) increases neuronal uptake and endogenous content of norepinephrine (NE) and diminishes neuronal release, synthesis and turn-over of NE in rat hypothalamus and adrenal medulla. The aim of the present work was to study another aspect of NE metabolism and therefore investigate the possible effects of ANF on NE catabolism. The determination of monoamine oxidase (MAO) and catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) activity and deaminates metabolites formation were studied in vitro in rat hypothalamus and adrenal medulla slices. Results showed that, in the hypothalamus, 100 nM ANF diminished MAO activity while 10 nM ANF did not modify the enzyme activity. Conversely, 10 and 100 nM ANF reduced MAO activity in adrenal medulla. On the other hand, the atrial factor modified neither COMT activity nor the formation of deaminates metabolites in the hypothalamus and adrenal medulla. Present results as well as previous findings support a putative role for ANF in the modulation of NE metabolism not only in the hypothalamus but also in the adrenal medulla of the rat, affecting the storage, release and uptake of NE but not its catabolism.

Objective: The purpose of this work was to compare levels of styrene-7,8-oxide (SO) adducts of albumin (Alb) and hemoglobin (Hb) with those of two urinary metabolites of styrene, mandelic acid (MA) and phenylglyoxylic acid (PGA), among workers exposed to styrene in the reinforced-plastics industry and in unexposed subjects. We also wished to determine whether cigarette smoking influenced adduct levels among these subjects., Methods: A group of 22 male workers was selected on basis of an expectedly high level of exposure to styrene, and a group of 15 controls was selected from hospital blood donors and hospital staff. In the exposed group, MA and PGA were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of urine samples collected prior to the work shift. The SO adducts were cleaved from cysteine residues by reaction with Raney nickel to give 1-phenylethanol (1-PE) and 2-phenylethanol (2-PE), which, after derivatization, were measured using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in the negative-chemical-ionization (NCI) mode., Results: The estimated mean levels of MA and MA + PGA were 74 and 159 mg/g creatinine, respectively. Using the levels of urinary metabolites, an average styrene concentration of about 100 mg/m3 in the workplace air was estimated. The mean levels of 2-PE and 1-PE adducts in exposed workers were 2.84 and 0.60 nmol/g Alb and 5.44 and 0.43 nmol/g Hb, respectively. When subjects were stratified by level of urinary metabolites [zero (controls), low-level exposure (MA + PGA < or = 159 mg/g creatinine), and high-level exposure (MA + PGA > 159 mg/g creatinine)] and smoking status (smokers versus nonsmokers), a difference in Alb adduct levels was found among the groups (2-PE P = 0.002, I-PE P = 0.052). The difference in 2-PE-Alb levels was related to exposure category, to smoking status, and to their interaction. Correlations at or near a 0.05 level of significance were observed among the workers (n = 22) between individual levels of SO-protein adducts and MA + PGA (2-PE Alb, r = 0.54, 2-PE Hb, r = 0.40)., Conclusion: Our data suggest that only exposure to relatively high levels of styrene allows a clear relationship to be detected between styrene exposure and SO adducts, due in part to the effects of cigarette consumption and to the high background levels of these adducts observed in unexposed subjects.

Chiral interaction in capillary electrophoresis can be modeled using pK values, mobilities of analytes, and their formation constants with the chiral selector. An existing steady-state simulation program for CE (HPCESIM) was recently extended with a chiral submenu involving the chiral parameters listed above. These were experimentally determined in both our laboratories for mandelic acid and terbutaline using hydroxypropylated beta-cyclodextrin as chiral selector. A comparison was made between both sets of parameters and between experimental electropherograms and those obtained from simulation. Error analysis of the results indicate the sensitivity of the obtained results.

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection using a chiral ligand-exchange column was developed for the enantioselective determination of p-hydroxymandelic acid (HMA), a metabolite of synephrine, with high sensitivity. A good linear relationship between current ratio and amount was noted for 0.5-500 pmol HMA, with a correlation coefficient of 0.999 for each HMA enantiomer. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) was 1.6% at 100 pmol d-HMA and 2.2% at 100 pmol l-HMA. The detection limit of each HMA enantiomer was 0.5 pmol (signal to noise ratio, S/N = 3). By this method, HMA in Citrus unshiu and in urine following the ingestion of C. unshiu was determined. Although no HMA was found in c. unshiu, d- and l-HMA were present in urine after the ingestion of C. unshiu. The time courses of HMA and conjugated synephrine enantiomers excreted in urine following the ingestion of C. unshiu for 24 h could be monitored. This method should prove applicable to the study of synephrine metabolism.

The retention of the enantiomers of mandelic acid and N-benzoylalanine was studied on columns prepared by immobilizing bovine serum albumin (BSA) on an anion exchanger. The amount of BSA fixed on the column is easy to adjust and measure. The adsorption isotherms were determined. For each enantiomer, the isotherm is well accounted for by a bi-Langmuir equation. One term of the isotherm (which is the same for both enantiomers) corresponds to non-selective interactions and the other term to the chiral selective interactions. The column saturation capacity of this second term is 8% larger for the less strongly retained enantiomer. This saturation capacity corresponds approximately to one enantiomer molecule adsorbed for five BSA molecules immobilized. This result is in agreement with the assumption of the hydrophobic cavity of BSA being the chiral selective site.

Acidic metabolites of a number of biogenic amines have been identified and quantified by reaction with either acetic or propionic anhydride in the aqueous phase followed by extraction into ethyl acetate, esterification of carboxyl groups with ditrifluoromethylbenzyl bromide (DTFMBzBr), and then conversion of the remaining free hydroxyl groups to acetates. Subsequent analysis of these derivatives revealed that most (greater than 60%) of the ion current was carried by the ion resulting from the loss of DTFMBz from the molecular ion. This made the method highly specific and practical--limits of detection were established at approximately 200 pg with a potential limit of detection below the picogram level. This method establishes unequivocally that the metabolites of tyramine, dopamine, and adrenaline/noradrenaline (4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, and dihydroxymandelic acid, respectively) are present in bovine retina and in vitreous and aqueous humour. In addition, high concentrations of the dopamine metabolite homovanillic acid were found in retina and vitreous, but not in aqueous humour. p-Hydroxymandelic acid, the acidic metabolite of p-octopamine/p-synephrine, was identified in vitreous and in aqueous humour.

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry makes possible the simultaneous measurement of homovanillic acid (HVA), vanilmandelic acid (VMA) and 3, 4-dihydroxy mandelic acid (DOMA) in 2ml urine samples. The equipment used was the Shimadzu LKB 9000 GC-MS (MID-PM). The TMSi derivatives of the compounds were analysed by the GC-MS system equipped with a 3ft. X 3mm column packed with 1.5% OV-1 and the temperature was programed from 130 degrees to 260 degrees C at 10 degrees C/min increments. The mass spectrum showed molecular ions at m/e 326, 414, and 472 which correspond to the TMSi derivatives of HVA, VMA AND DOMA respectively. The peaks at m/e 326 (HVA), 297 (VMA) and 355 (DOMA) were applied to avail themselves of simultaneous multiple ion analyses by GC-MS. As little as 1pg of the compounds injected into the column could be measured reproducibly. The sensitivity is of the order of pg or ng, and the linearity of the response is maintained up to at least 200ng. The procedure was simpler and less time consuming than previous methods. It consists of extraction of the free acid into ether followed by complete silylation of the phenolic, alcoholic and carboxylic acid group with bis (trimethylsilyl) acetamide. Recoveried of HVA, VMA, DOMA added to urine were 93.8%, 71.2% and 23.6% respectively. The specificity of this method surpasses and cannot be compared to any other existing quantitative methods.