Pharmacokinetics of pulmonary indacaterol in rat lung using molecular imprinting solid-phase extraction coupled with RP-UPLC

AbstractIndacaterol, a β2 agonist prescribed for long-term management of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. In this study the first MISPE cartridges was developed using indacaterol as a template for its selective extraction from rat lung tissues, enabling precise pharmacokinetic evaluation at the drug’s site of action. A molecular imprinting polymer was synthesized using indacaterol as a template, methacrylic acid as a functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as a cross-linker with a molar ratio (1: 4: 20). The polymer was characterized by a high binding capacity of 9840 ± 0.86 and high selectivity with an imprinting factor of 4.53 ± 0.12. The synthesized polymer was utilized as a sorbent in solid-phase extraction to purify and extract indacaterol from lung tissue matrix. The optimum molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) conditions were 20.0 mg of molecular imprinting polymer and non-imprinting polymer, acetonitrile as the loading solvent, acetonitrile: water (20: 80; by volume) as the washing solvent, and methanol: acetic acid (90: 10; by volume) as the eluting solvent. A pharmacokinetic study was performed for indacaterol in rat lungs using the synthesized and optimized MISPE cartridge as a tool for sample purification. These parameters were determined in the lung tissues of rats emphasizing the local exposure of indacaterol to its target organ. The Cmax and Tmax were 51.020 ± 2.810 µg mL− 1 and 0.083 ± 0.001 h, respectively. The AUC 0−24 and AUC0 − inf were 175.920 ± 1.053 and 542.000 ± 5.245 µg h mL− 1, respectively. The elimination rate constant was 0.014 ± 0.00012 h− 1 and the half-life time was 48.510 ± 0.012 h. This study successfully developed and optimized MISPE cartridges using indacaterol as a template, enabling precise pharmacokinetic evaluation in rat lung tissues. The cartridges demonstrated high binding capacity and selectivity, providing crucial insights into the local exposure of indacaterol at its site of action.