Thermodynamic Evaluation of Activated Charcoal as a Poison Antidote by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography II: In Vitro Method for the Evaluation of Activated Charcoal as a Poison Antidote

Abstract

A previous report detailed the derivation and validation of an equation for calculating the Gibbs free energy of liquid-solid adsorption via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). This study utilizes an improved form of that equation in conjunction with an in vitro model of solute adsorption to give an ordered listing of the antidotal activity of activated charcoal towards different drugs and other chemicals. The in vitro model consists of an activated charcoal column with a nominal particle diameter of 15 μm and a surface area of 447 × 104cm2/g, together with a series of acetonitrile: water mobile phases at pH 3. A simple and efficient procedure was developed for ranking the solutes. First, each compound was run in an acetonitrile(ACN): water mobile phase chosen to give a convenient retention time and ideal chromatographic response. The capacity factor for this mobile phase was extrapolated to give a predicted capacity factor for a 35:65 (v/v) ACN: water mobile phase using an empirical equation developed from the exhaustive chromatography of four standard compounds (phenobarbital, strychnine, cyclohexanone, methyl ethyl ketone) in a variety of ACN: water mobile phases. In addition to the standards, 12 other compounds (glutethimide, chlordiazepoxide, quinine, brucine,d-propoxyphene, pentobarbital, methyprylon, methadone, meperidine, codeine, antipyrine, morphine) were evaluated. Based on these data, the Gibbs free energies of liquid–solid adsorption for these compounds were calculated and used to evaluate activated charcoal as a poison antidote for them. The results indicate that a rapid and accurate estimation of the utility of activated charcoal as an antidote for drugs and toxic substances can be obtained from a single chromatographic run of the test compound.