title: Determination of new 2,3-benzodiazepines in rat plasma using high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection.
abstract: A method for the analysis of [1-(4-aminophenyl)-3,5-dihydro-7, 8-dimethoxy-4H-2,3-benzodiazepin-4-one] (CFM-2) and its analogues CFM-3, CFM-4 and CFM-5 in rat plasma was developed. The 2,3-benzodiazepines (2,3-BZs) were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction and analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet detection (UV) at 240 nm. The method exhibited a large linear range from 0.05 to 2 micrograms/ml with an intra-assay accuracy for all studied compounds ranging from 92 to 105.5%; whereas the intra-assay precision ranged from 0.59 to 8.16% in rat plasma. The inter-assay accuracy of CFM-2, CFM-4 and their 3-methyl derivatives, CFM-3 and CFM-5 ranged from 92.2 to 107% and the inter-assay precision ranged from 2.17 to 11.9% in rat plasma. The lower limit of detection was 5.5 ng/ml for CFM-2, 6.5 ng/ml for CFM-3, 7 ng/ml for CFM-4 and 8.5 ng/ml for CFM-5 in rat plasma. The pharmacokinetic study demonstrated that 2,3-BZs achieved a peak plasma concentration between 45 and 75 min after drug administration. Moreover, we observed that plasma chromatograms of rats treated with CFM-3, CFM-4 and CFM-5, respectively, showed a peak consistent with CFM-2. Our study suggests that CFM-4, CFM-5 and CFM-3 are prodrugs of CFM-2, in which they are biotransformed in vivo via different metabolic pathways. In particular, CFM-2 has been proven to possess anticonvulsant activity in various models of seizures, acting as alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-isoxazole-4-propionate (AMPA) receptor antagonist.
authors.affiliation: Chair of Chemistry, School of Pharmacy at Catanzaro, University of Catanzaro, Roccelletta di Borgia, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Sarro
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zappalà
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chimirri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000097:blood* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D001711:Biotransformation; D002138:Calibration; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
chemical_list: D001569:Benzodiazepines