ubiquinone and 2-cyanoacetamide

Idebenone is a benzoquinone analog that is used in the treatment of several neurological disorders including Friedreich's ataxia. It was found that the reaction of idebenone with 2-cyanoacetamide under alkaline conditions generates fluorescent products, and the reaction was considered to proceed via Craven's reaction. The reaction mixture from idebenone gave fluorescence with excitation and emission maximum wavelengths at 358 nm and 409 nm, respectively. It was adopted for HPLC with post-column fluorescence derivatization of idebenone. Idebenone in the plasma showed a linear response in the range of 0.5-32 ng (25-1600 ng/mL), and the quantitation limit (S/N=10) was 12.5 ng/mL. The detection limit (S/N=3) of the standard solution of idebenone was 0.1 ng. The HPLC system was applied to the human blood plasma obtained by finger prick. The plasma sample obtained by finger prick gave a similar chromatogram to that of venous blood obtained by venipuncture.

Topics: Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Humans; Nitriles; Spectrometry, Fluorescence; Ubiquinone

It was shown that ubiquinone (CoQ(10)) and ubiquinol (CoQ(10)H(2)) produce fluorescence products under alkaline conditions when reacted with 2-cyanoacetamide. The reaction mixture from CoQ(10) gave fluorescence with excitation and emission maximum wavelengths at 442 nm and 549 nm, respectively. This reaction was considered to proceed via Craven's reaction. Moreover, 2-cyanoacetamide was shown to be a useful reagent for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with post-column fluorescence derivatization of CoQ(10) and CoQ(10)H(2) in blood. CoQ(10) showed a linear response in the range of 0.32-1276 ng, and the detection limit (S/N = 3) was 0.16 ng. Moreover, the sample pretreatment by deproteinization and extraction of CoQ(10) and CoQ(10)H(2) from plasma using 1-propanol with potassium formate was effective for excellent separation of CoQ(10) and CoQ(10)H(2) from other fluorescent substances in the blood. This simple and rapid pretreatment was considered to minimize the oxidation of CoQ(10)H(2). On the other hand, CoQ(10) and CoQ(10)H(2) in plasma samples obtained by finger prick were detected, as in venous blood obtained by venipuncture. Our method involving the simple and rapid collection of plasma by finger prick and sample pretreatment is thought to be applicable for the determination of CoQ(10)H(2)/total CoQ(10) ratio as a biomarker of oxidative stress.

Topics: Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Fluorescence; Humans; Molecular Structure; Nitriles; Reference Values; Spectrometry, Fluorescence; Ubiquinone