title: Determination of the catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor Ro 40-7592 in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with coulometric detection.
abstract: A sensitive and specific high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed to measure the catechol-O-methyl-transferase (COMT) inhibitor 3,4-dihydroxy-4'-methyl-5-nitrobenzophenone (Ro 40-7592) in human plasma. The compound and the internal standard were extracted from plasma at pH 2 with n-butyl chloride-ethyl acetate (95:5, v/v). The extract was chromatographed on a reversed-phase column (Hypersil ODS, 5 microns) using a mixture of phosphate buffer (0.05 M, pH 2), methanol and tetrahydrofuran (45:55:5, v/v/v) as the mobile phase. Long-retained components were removed from the system by means of a simple column-switching system. Quantification of the catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor was performed by means of coulometric detection (0.1 V). The limit of quantification was about 1 ng/ml, using a 1-ml specimen of plasma. The recovery from human plasma was greater than 88%. The mean inter-assay precision was 5.3% in the range 2.5-1000 ng/ml. Linearity of the standard curve was obtained in the concentration range 2.5-500 ng/ml. The catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor was stable in human plasma when stored for six months at -20 degrees C and for 24 h at room temperature. The practicability of the new method was demonstrated by the analysis of more than 400 plasma samples from a tolerance study performed in human volunteers.
authors.affiliation: Pharma Division, Preclinical Research, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basle, Switzerland.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Timm
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Erdin
mesh_terms: D001577:Benzophenones / Q000097:blood*; D065098:Catechol O-Methyltransferase Inhibitors; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004563:Electrochemistry; D006801:Humans; D009596:Nitrophenols; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D000077867:Tolcapone
chemical_list: D001577:Benzophenones; D065098:Catechol O-Methyltransferase Inhibitors; D009596:Nitrophenols; D000077867:Tolcapone