Development of a Fast and Facile Analytical Approach to Quantify Radiometabolites in Human Plasma Samples Using Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

Introduction: Conventional metabolite analyses often require manual sample preparation, generating variability of measurements. This study describes a new method to quantify radiometabolites in blood, combining ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) and turbulent flow chromatography, an alternative fully automated process allowing analyte’s extraction. Methods: A new radiotracer for dopamine transporter imaging, namely LBT-999, was used to demonstrate the method’s robustness. Matrix effect, Turboflow column loading, linearity, specificity and precision were evaluated with in vitro samples of LBT-999 in human plasma. Radiodetector sensitivity and preliminary evaluation were respectively determined by analysis of calibrated samples of [18F]LBT-999 and blood samples from 4 healthy subjects injected with [18F]LBT-999, withdrawn at 5, 15, 30 and 45 min pi. Results: With three sequential loadings (3 × 100 μL) of the Turboflow column, mean coefficients of variation were 1%, below 2%, 2% and 30.9% for matrix effect, specificity, repeatability and intermediate precision, respectively. Correlation coefficients for linearity were superior to 0.97. Limits of detection and quantification of the radiodetector were fixed at 3 and 9 c/s. Retention times for [18F]LBT-999 and the two radiometabolites detected by radio-UHPLC were 6.5, 4.8 and 9.6 min. Forty-five min after the injection, parent fraction was still predominant with 57.8% ± 25% of the total radioactivity. Conclusions: An innovative approach, allying UHPLC and Turboflow column, was developed and its sensitivity, linearity, specificity and repeatability validated. Preliminary results of the clinical trial are in accordance with literature data, demonstrating its efficiency in radiometabolites quantification.