Targeted screening and profiling of massive components of colistimethate sodium by two-dimensional-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry based on self-constructed compound database
a Jiangsu Institute for Food and Drug Control, Nanjing, 210019, China;
b School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 211112, China;
c National Medical Products Administration Key Laboratory for Impurity Profile of Chemical Drugs, Nanjing, 210019, China;
d School of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210046, China;
e Agilent Technologies Inc., Beijing, 100102, China;
f Jiangsu Zhengda Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., Lianyungang, 222006, Jiangsu, China;
g School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, 212003, China;
h School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210046, China;
i Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117543, Singapore
Funds:
The authors are grateful for the financial support from the Science Research Program Project for Drug Regulation, Jiangsu Drug Administration, China (Grant No.: 202207), the National Drug Standards Revision Project, China (Grant No.: 2023Y41), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.: 22276080), and the Foreign Expert Project, China (Grant No.: G2022014096L).
In-depth study of the components of polymyxins is the key to controlling the quality of this class of antibiotics. Similarities and variations of components present significant analytical challenges. A two-dimensional (2D) liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric (LC-MS) method was established for screening and comprehensive profiling of compositions of the antibiotic colistimethate sodium (CMS). A high concentration of phosphate buffer mobile phase was used in the first-dimensional LC system to get the components well separated. For efficient and high-accuracy screening of CMS, a targeted method based on a self-constructed high resolution mass spectrum database of CMS components was established. The database was built based on the commercial MassHunter Personal Compound Database and Library (PCDL) software and its accuracy of the compound matching result was verified with 6 known components before being applied to genuine sample screening. On this basis, the unknown peaks in the CMS chromatograms were deduced and assigned. The molecular formula, group composition and origins of a total of 99 compounds, of which the combined area percentage accounted for more than 95% of CMS components, were deduced by this 2D-LC-MS method combined with the MassHunter PCDL. This profiling method was highly efficient and could distinguish hundreds of components within 3 h, providing reliable results for quality control of this kind of complex drugs.