A Comparative Study on the Reduction Modes for Quinone to Determine Ubiquinone by HPLC with Luminol Chemiluminescence Detection Based on the Redox Reaction

Ubiquinone (UQ) is considered one of the important biologically active molecules in the human body. Ubiquinone determination in human plasma is important for the investigation of its bioavailability, and also its plasma level is considered an indicator of many illnesses. We have previously developed sensitive and selective chemiluminescence (CL) method for the determination of UQ in human plasma based on its redox cycle with dithiothreitol (DTT) and luminol. However, this method requires an additional pump to deliver DTT as a post-column reagent and has the problems of high DTT consumption and broadening of the UQ peak due to online mixing with DTT. Herein, an HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography) system equipped with two types of online reduction systems (electrolytic flow cell or platinum catalyst-packed reduction column) that play the role of DTT was constructed to reduce reagent consumption and simplify the system. The newly proposed two methods were carefully optimized and validated, and the analytical performance for UQ determination was compared with that of the conventional DTT method. Among the tested systems, the electrolytic reduction system showed ten times higher sensitivity than the DTT method, with a limit of detection of 3.1 nM. In addition, it showed a better chromatographic performance and the best peak shape with a number of theoretical plates exceeding 6500. Consequently, it was applied to the determination of UQ in healthy human plasma, and it showed good recovery (97.9%) and reliable precision (6.8%) without any interference from plasma components

Analytical method for lipoperoxidation relevant reactive aldehydes in human sera by high-performance liquid chromatography?fluorescence detection

A validated, simple and sensitive HPLC method was developed for the simultaneous determination of lipoperoxidation relevant reactive aldehydes: glyoxal (GO), acrolein (ACR), malondialdehyde (MDA), and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE) in human serum. The studied aldehydes were reacted with 2,2′-furil to form fluorescent difurylimidazole derivatives that were separated on a C 18 column using gradient elution and fluorescence detection at excitation and emission wavelengths of 250 and 355 nm, respectively. The method showed good linearity over the concentration ranges of 0.100-5.00, 0.200-10.0, 0.200-40.0, and 0.400-10.0 nmol/mL for GO, ACR, HNE, and MDA, respectively, with detection limits ranging from 0.030 to 0.11 nmol/mL. The percentage RSD of intraday and interday precision did not exceed 5.0 and 6.2%, respectively, and the accuracy (%found) ranged from 95.5 to 103%. The proposed method was applied for monitoring the four aldehydes in sera of healthy, diabetic, and rheumatic human subjects with simple pretreatment steps and without interference from endogenous components. By virtue of its high sensitivity and accuracy, our method enabled detection of differences between analytes concentrations in sera of human subjects under different clinical conditions

Quinone-based antibody labeling reagent for enzyme-free chemiluminescent immunoassays. Application to avidin and biotinylated anti-rabbit IgG labeling

Chemiluminescence-enzyme immunoassays make it possible to measure trace components with high sensitivity and selectivity due to the high specificity of the antigen-antibody reaction and the high sensitivity of chemiluminescence assays. However, using an enzyme-labeled antibody suffers from many problems such as low reproducibility due to the instability of the enzyme and inhibition of antigen-antibody reaction due to its steric effect. Therefore, herein we report an innovative non-enzymatic chemiluminescence immunoassays labeling reagent through using quinone as a signal-generating tag coupled with biotin as a binder, to overcome enzymatic labeling problems. Biotinylated-1,4-naphthoquinone (biotin-NQ) was synthesized and characterized and it could produce long-lasting chemiluminescence upon mixing with dithiothreitol and luminol based on the redox cycle of quinone. Biotin-NQ showed exceptional stability towards different stress factors that may be encountered during performing the immunoassay such as high temperatures, highly acidic and alkaline conditions, and repeated freeze-thaw cycles. On the other hand, all these conditions lead to decreased labeling enzyme reactivity due to possible denaturation of its protein structure. Finally, the measurement of the biotin-labeled antibody was successfully performed using biotin-NQ and avidin. As a result, the antibody could be detected down to 25.7 nM which is 2.5 times sensitive than biotin-HRP chemiluminescence-enzyme immunoassays. Moreover, our method was applied successfully for determination of avidin using immobilized biotinylated antibody and biotin-NQ, which simulates immunoassays. Avidin could be detected down to 23.4 nM with excellent linearity (r = 0.996). Accordingly, our developed reagent, biotin-NQ, could be used as a universal highly stable, cost-effective, and steric free non-enzymatic label for immunoassays

Determination of Anthraquinone-Tagged Amines Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Online UV Irradiation and Luminol Chemiluminescence Detection

Quinones are frequently used as derivatization reagents in HPLC analysis to improve detection sensitivity. In the present study, a simple, sensitive, and selective chemiluminescence (CL) derivatization strategy for biogenic amines, prior to their HPLC-CL analysis, was developed. The novel CL derivatization strategy was established based on using anthraquinone-2-carbonyl chloride as derivatizing agent for amines and then using the unique property of the quinones’ moiety to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) in response to UV irradiation. Typical amines such as tryptamine and phenethylamine were derivatized with anthraquinone-2-carbonyl chloride and then injected into an HPLC system equipped with an online photoreactor. The anthraquinone-tagged amines are separated and then UV-irradiated when they pass through a photoreactor to generate ROS from the quinone moiety of the derivative. Tryptamine and phenethylamine can be determined by measuring the chemiluminescence intensity produced by the reaction of the generated ROS with luminol. The chemiluminescence disappears when the photoreactor is turned off, suggesting that ROS are no longer generated from the quinone moiety in the absence of UV irradiation. This result indicates that the generation of ROS could be controlled by turning the photoreactor on and off. Under the optimized conditions, the limits of detection for tryptamine and phenethylamine were 124 and 84 nM, respectively. The developed method is successfully applied to determine the concentrations of tryptamine and phenethylamine in wine samples

Ultrasensitive determination of pyrroloquinoline quinone in human plasma by HPLC with chemiluminescence detection using the redox cycle of quinone

A fast, accurate, and ultrasensitive high-performance liquid chromatography method with chemiluminescence detection (HPLC-CL) was optimized and validated for the determination of pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) concentration in human plasma following solid-phase extraction (SPE). This method is based on the redox cycle of the reaction between PQQ and dithiothreitol, which generates reactive oxygen species that can be detected using luminol as a CL probe. The isocratic HPLC system comprised an ODS column and 4.0 mM tetra-n-butylammonium bromide in Tris-HNO3 buffer (pH 8.8; 50 mM)-acetonitrile (7:3, v/v) as mobile phase. A novel, rapid, and simple SPE method was also developed providing excellent %recovery (?95.2%) for PQQ from human plasma samples. The proposed method was linear over the range of 4.0?400 nmol/L plasma of PQQ with a lower detection limit (S/N=3) of 1.08 nmol/L plasma (0.27 nM). The method was successfully implemented to determine PQQ concentration in the plasma of healthy individuals after administration of PQQ supplements

Facile conversion of the quinone-semicarbazone chromophore of Naftazone into a fluorescent quinol-semicarbazide: kinetic study and analysis of naftazone in pharmaceuticals and human serum

Naftazone is a quinone-semi carbazone drug that possesses a strong orange color, and hence it was usually analyzed colorimetrically or by HPLC-UV. However, these methods are not sensitive enough to determine naftazone in biological samples. Naftazone lacks intrinsic fluorescence and does not possess easily derivatizable functional groups. In this contribution, we introduced the first spectrofluorimetric method for naftazone assay through reduction-elicited fluorogenic derivatization through the reduction of its quinone-semicarbazone moiety to the corresponding quinol-semicarbazide derivative by potassium borohydride as a reduction probe. The solvent-dependent fluorescence of the reaction product was studied in various protic and aprotic solvents. Eventually, the fluorescence of the reduced naftazone was measured in 2-propanol at λemission of 350 nm after excitation at λecxitation of 295 nm. The relative fluorescence intensity was linearly correlated to the drug concentration (r = 0.9995) from 10.0 to 500 ng/mL with high sensitivity, where the lower detection limit was 2.9 ng/mL. Hence, the method was effectively applied for naftazone tablets quality control with a mean %recovery of 100.3 ± 1.5, and the results agreed with those of the comparison HPLC-UV method. Furthermore, a new salting-out assisted liquid-liquid extraction (SALLE) method was established for naftazone extraction from human serum, followed by its determination using the developed reduction-based fluorogenic method. The developed SALLE method showed excellent recovery for naftazone from human serum (92.3−106.5%) with good precision (RSD ≤ 6.8%). Additionally, the reaction of naftazone with potassium borohydride was kinetically monitored, and it was found to follow pseudo-first-order kinetics with an activation energy of 43.8 kcal/mol. The developed method’s greenness was approved using three green analytical chemistry metrics

Synchronous fluorescence spectrofluorimetric method for the simultaneous determination of metoprolol and felodipine in combined pharmaceutical preparation

A rapid, simple and sensitive synchronous specrtofluorimetric method has been developed for the simultaneous analysis of binary mixture of metoprolol (MTP) and felodipine (FDP). The method is based upon measurement of the synchronous fluorescence intensity of the two drugs at Δλ of 70 nm in aqueous solution. The different experimental parameters affecting the synchronous fluorescence intensities of the two drugs were carefully studied and optimized. The fluorescence intensity-concentration plots were rectilinear over the ranges of 0.5-10 μg/mL and 0.2-2 μg/mL for MTP and FDP, respectively. The limits of detection were 0.11 and 0.02 μg/mL and quantification limits were 0.32 and 0.06 μg/mL for MTP and FDP, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of the two compounds in their commercial tablets and the results obtained were favorably compared to those obtained with a comparison method

Scaffold Repurposing Reveals New Nanomolar Phosphodiesterase Type 5 (PDE5) Inhibitors Based on Pyridopyrazinone Scaffold: Investigation of In Vitro and In Silico Properties

Inhibition of PDE5 results in elevation of cGMP leading to vascular relaxation and reduction in the systemic blood pressure. Therefore, PDE5 inhibitors are used as antihypertensive and antianginal agents in addition to their major use as male erectile dysfunction treatments. Previously, we developed a novel series of 34 pyridopyrazinone derivatives as anticancer agents (series A–H). Herein, a multi-step in silico approach was preliminary conducted to evaluate the predicted PDE5 inhibitory activity, followed by an in vitro biological evaluation over the enzymatic level and a detailed SAR study. The designed 2D-QSAR model which was carried out to predict the IC50 of the tested compounds revealed series B, D, E and G with nanomolar range of IC50 values (6.00–81.56 nM). A further docking simulation model was performed to investigate the binding modes within the active site of PDE5. Interestingly, most of the tested compounds showed almost the same binding modes of that of reported PDE5 inhibitors. To validate the in silico results, an in vitro enzymatic assay over PDE5 enzyme was performed for a number of the promising candidates with different substitutions. Both series E and G exhibited a potent inhibitory activity (IC50 = 18.13–41.41 nM). Compound 11b (series G, oxadiazole-based derivatives with terminal 4-NO2 substituted phenyl ring and rigid linker) was the most potent analogue with IC50 value of 18.13 nM. Structure–activity relationship (SAR) data attained for various substitutions were rationalized. Furthermore, a molecular dynamic simulation gave insights into the inhibitory activity of the most active compound (11b). Accordingly, this report presents a successful scaffold repurposing approach that reveals compound 11b as a highly potent nanomolar PDE5 inhibitor worthy of further investigation

Utility of certain nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions for the assay of pregabalin in capsules

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Pregabalin (PG) is an anticonvulsant, analgesic and anxiolytic drug. A survey of the literature reveals that all the reported spectrophotometric methods are either don't offer high sensitivity, need tedious extraction procedures, recommend the measurement of absorbance in the near UV region where interference most probably occurs and/or use non specific reagent that don't offer suitable linearity range.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two new sensitive and simple spectrophotometric methods were developed for determination of pregabalin (PG) in capsules. Method (I) is based on the reaction of PG with 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulphonate sodium (NQS), yielding an orange colored product that was measured at 473 nm. Method (II) is based on the reaction of the drug with 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) producing a yellow product measured at 373 nm. The different experimental parameters affecting the development and stability of the reaction product in methods (I) and (II) were carefully studied and optimized. The absorbance-concentration plots were rectilinear over the concentration ranges of 2-25 and 0.5-8 μg mL^-1for methods (I) and (II) respectively. The lower detection limits (LOD) were 0.15 and 0.13 μg mL^-1and the lower quantitation limits (LOQ) were 0.46 and 0.4 μg mL^-1for methods (I) and (II) respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The developed methods were successfully applied to the analysis of the drug in its commercial capsules. The mean percentage recoveries of PG in its capsule were 99.11 ± 0.98 and 100.11 ± 1.2 (n = 3). Statistical analysis of the results revealed good agreement with those given by the comparison method. Proposals of the reaction pathways were postulated.</p

9,10-Phenanthrenequinone as a mass-tagging reagent for ultra-sensitive liquid chromatography?tandem mass spectrometry assay of aliphatic aldehydes in human serum

9,10-Phenanthrenequinone (PQ) was successfully used as a new mass-tagging reagent for sensitive labeling of aliphatic aldehydes (C3-C10) prior liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization?tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI?MS/MS). This reagent could overcome the drawbacks of previous amine or hydrazine-based reagents, such as lower sensitivity, formation of two stereoisomeric reaction products for each single analyte, need for longer derivatization time, and poor reactivity with aliphatic aldehydes. The PQ-aldehyde derivatives exhibited intense [M+H]+ and a common product ion with ESI in the positive-ion mode. The derivatives were monitored at the transition of [M+H]+ → m/z 231.9 with detection limits from 4.0 to 100 pM (signal to noise ratio = 3). 3-Phenylpropanal was used as an internal standard (IS) and the separation of the eight aldehydes and IS was achieved in less than 10 min employing gradient elution with methanol and ammonium formate buffer (20 mM, pH 4.0). The method employed salting out liquid?liquid extraction for aliphatic aldehydes form serum for the first time with excellent recoveries (92.6?110.8%). The developed method was validated and applied for quantification of the target aldehydes in serum of healthy volunteers (n = 14)