Abstract
Background: Lipoic acid is the only known chiral antioxidant that is both lipidsoluble and water-soluble. It is often used as a treatment for peripheral polyneuropathy caused by diabetes, alcohol, and chemicals. However, only a few long-term toxicological studies have been conducted on R-α-lipoic acid, which is a bioactive ingredient in lipoic acid.
Objective: In this study, a simple, efficient, sensitive and stable LC-MS/MS method was used to determine RLA in rats, using deu-lipoic acid as an internal standard.
Methods: The samples to be detected were plasma samples treated with protein precipitation and the simultaneous determination of the presence of R-α-lipoic acid and S-α-lipoic acid was conducted using LC-MS/MS. An isocratic elution program with a mobile phase composed of acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid water solution (52/48) used for chromatographic separation was set up using a CHIRALPAK® IE C18 (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) column with a flow rate of 0.9 mL/min. A negative electrospray ionization source was chosen, and the multiple monitoring (MRM) mode was applied.
Results: R-α-lipoic acid and S-α-lipoic acid both were found to be present at a linear range of 5- 5000 ng/mL. The plasma samples were stable under various storage conditions and temperatures. The toxicokinetics study indicated that there were gender differences and that R-α-lipoic acid showed bioaccumulative toxicity after long-term daily administration. In addition, R-α-lipoic acid and S-α-lipoic acid were not converted into each other in the rats.
Conclusion: The method established was successfully used for the long-term toxicokinetic study of R-α-lipoic acid administered to rats through caudal vein injection. The toxicokinetics results indicated the presence of gender differences and the toxic accumulation of R-α-lipoic acid. The two enantiomers were not converted into each other in the rats.
Keywords: R-α-lipoic acid, toxicokinetics, LC-MS/MS, isocratic elution, protein precipitation, sprague-dawley rats, intravenous injection.
Graphical Abstract
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-411462-3.00035-7]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2009.06.007] [PMID: 19716392]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmech.2018.04.058] [PMID: 29763808]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-1097.2012.01086.x] [PMID: 22236139]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.molcatb.2013.11.005]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja01589a079]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.toxlet.2015.10.019] [PMID: 26518973]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mnfr.201200608] [PMID: 23293044]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/are.13838]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201806567]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0928-0987(95)00045-3]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms160922781] [PMID: 26402669]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.2116/bunsekikagaku.61.109]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2019.01.042] [PMID: 30731341]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bmc.3006] [PMID: 23934776]
[PMID: 8932519]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2009.09.028] [PMID: 19833467]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jchromb.2011.04.017] [PMID: 21550862]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1441-8_25] [PMID: 25323519]
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bmc.375] [PMID: 15386498]