Stereoselective analysis of drugs with application in biotransformation studies employing fungi

Author(s)

Keyller Bastos Borges

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Ribeirão Preto.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC)
• Defense date: 2010-07-27

Examining board members

Pierina Sueli Bonato; Emanuel Carrilho; Luiz Alberto Beraldo de Moraes; Monica Tallarico Pupo; Susanne Rath

• Advisor: Pierina Sueli Bonato; Monica Tallarico Pupo

Abstract

This work aimed the development and validation of suitable methods for the stereoselective analysis of some drugs and metabolites, as well as, the application of these methods to assess the potential of fungi, mainly the endophytic ones, in biotransformation processes. The following drugs were selected for this study: fluoxetine, propranolol, omeprazole, oxybutynin and ibuprofen. The simultaneous determination of fluoxetine (FLX) and norfluoxetine (NFLX) enantiomers in culture media of endophytic fungi was carried out by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV-detection, in a system of two columns coupled in series, in which one of them was a reversed phase (C18) column and the another one was a chiral stationary phase column (Chirobiotic ® V). The mobile phase consisted of ethanol: ammonium acetate buffer, 15 mol L-1, pH 5.90: acetonitrile (77.5: 17.5: 5, v/v/v) and the detection was performed at 227 nm. Liquid-liquid extraction was employed for sample preparation. The analytical curves were linear over the concentration range of 12.5 to 3750 ng mL-1 (r 0.996) for all enantiomers evaluated. The coefficients of variation and relative errors obtained in the evaluation of method precision and accuracy were lower than 10%. In the studied conditions, the five endophytic fungi used were not able to perform the biotransformation of FLX (demethylation reaction). Capillary electrophoresis was employed for the enantioselective analysis of propranolol (PROP) and 4-hydroxypropranolol (4-OHPROP). The best condition for enantiomer resolution was obtained by applying an experimental design of Box-Behnken: electrolyte solution composed of triethylamine / phosphoric acid (TEA/H3PO4) buffer, 25 mmol L-1, pH 9.00, with 4% (w/v) carboxymethyl--cyclodextrin as the chiral selector and analysis performed at 17 kV. Liquid-liquid extraction was also used for sample preparation. The analytical curves were linear over the concentration range of 0.25 to 10.0 g mL-1 for 4-OHPROP and 0.10 to 10.0 g mL-1 for PROP, presenting correlation coefficients (r) 0.995 for all enantiomers evaluated. The coefficients of variation and relative errors obtained in the evaluation of precision and accuracy were lower than 15%. All the five endophytic fungi (Phomopsis sp. (TD2), Glomerella cingulata (VA1), Penicillium crustosum (VR4), Chaetomium globosum (VR10) and Aspergillus fumigatus (VR12)) showed effectiveness in the stereoselective biotransformation of PROP, with higher formation of (-)-(S)-4-OH-PROP. The fungus Glomerella cingulata (VA1), in particular, showed a concentration of 1.745 g mL-1 for the enantiomer (-)-(S)-4-OHPROP after 72 hours of incubation, whereas there was no formation of the enantiomer (+)-(R)-4-OHPROP. Therefore, the use of this fungus in large scale may be a promising source to obtain 4-OHPROP in the enantiomerically pure form. A fast analytical method based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography / diode array detector (UPLC/DAD) using a monolithic reversed phase column and gradient elution was developed for the simultaneous determination of omeprazole (OMZ), 5-hydroxyomeprazole (5-HOMZ) and omeprazole sulfone (OMZ SUL) in modified and buffered Czapek-Dox culture medium. OMZ, 5-HOMZ and OMZ SUL were extracted using a mixture of ethyl acetate: methyl t-butyl ether (9: 1, v/v). The separation was achieved using a Chromolith Fast Gradient RP 18 endcapped column with the mobile phase consisting of 0.15% (v/v) trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in water (solvent A) and 0.15% (v/v) TFA in acetonitrile (solvent B). Retention times were 0.70 min for 5-HOMZ, 0.74 min for OMZ, 0.77 min for OMZ SUL and 0.91 min for internal standard (bupropion, BUP). The method was linear over the concentration range of 0.2 to 10.0 g mL-1 (r 0.995) for all analytes. The biotransformation process was carried out only within 24 hours of incubation, due to OMZ instability. For the same reason, the stereoselectivity in this process was not evaluated. The formation of the metabolite 5-HOMZ was observed only for three fungi, and among them, only the fungus Botrytis cinerea (BC) produced this metabolite in concentrations higher than the limit of quantification. The formation of OMZ SUL was observed for all fungi, except for Guignardia mangiferae (VA1) and Glomerella cingulata (VA15). The fungi evaluated in this study can be useful to obtain the metabolites of OMZ, but detailed study of the drug stability in culture conditions is required, since this substrate can undergo degradation in acidic conditions and in the presence of light. The simultaneous analysis of oxybutinin (OXY) and N-desethyloxybutinin (DEOB) enantiomers in Czapek culture medium was carried out by liquid chromatography with UV detection (HPLC/UV). The analytes were separated using a Chiralpak AD column employing as mobile phase hexane: isopropanol: ethanol: diethylamine (94: 4: 2: 0.05, v/v/v/v) and detection at 210 nm. A pilot study of biotransformation using the same fungi and conditions employed for the biotransformation of the other drugs showed that the metabolite of interest was not formed. Moreover, the decrease in the concentration of OXY, which could be indicative of the formation of other metabolites not monitored under the conditions of analysis, was not observed. Since the reaction of OXY desethylation to form DEOB was not observed in the experiments, the validation of the analytical method was not required. The method for the simultaneous analysis of ibuprofen (IBP), 2-hydroxyibuprofen (2-OH-IBP) enantiomers and carboxyibuprofen (IBP-COOH) stereoisomers was developed using a Chiralpak AS-H column and a mobile phase consisting of hexane: isopropanol: TFA (95: 5: 0.1, v/v/v). A mixture of hexane: ethyl acetate (1: 1, v/v) was used as solvent extractor for sample preparation. The detection was performed by tanden mass spectrometry (MS/MS) with the electrospray interface operated in the positive mode (ESI+). The method was linear over the concentration range of 0.1 to 20.0 g mL-1 for IBP, 0.05 to 7.5 g mL-1 for each 2-OH-IBP enantiomer and 0.025 to 5.0 g mL-1 for each COOH-IBP stereoisomer. The other validation parameters studied were within the limits established in the literature. The seven studied endophytic fungi showed to be efficient in the biotransformation of IBP to its main metabolite 2-OH-IBP, however, only the fungi Nigrospora sphaerica (SS67) and Chaetomium globosum (VR10) biotransformed IBP enantioselectively, with greater formation of the active metabolite (+)-(S)-2-OH-IBP. The lack of stereoselectivity observed for the other fungi could be caused by a possible chiral inversion process occurring for IBP, in a similar way that happens in humans. The formation of COOH-IBP stereoisomers was not observed probably because the route of formation of this metabolite requires a sequence of reactions. The results presented here show that fungi, particularly the endophytic ones, may be a promising source to obtain the metabolites of drugs, including in their enantiomerically pure form. (AU)