Analysis of 2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-fluorophenyl)-N-(3-iodo-E-allyl)nortropane in rat plasma: I. Method development and validation by capillary electrophoresis

Altropane, 2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-fluorophenyl)-N-(3-iodo-E-allyl)nortropane, is an imaging agent that was developed recently for early detection of Parkinson’s disease. Its promise as a useful radiopharmaceutical for single-photon emission computed tomography or positron emission tomography imaging of the brain has been well demonstrated, and it is currently undergoing clinical trials. This paper presents methods development and validation of capillary electrophoresis (CE) techniques to analyze Altropane in aqueous environments as well as in rat plasma, using an internal standard, nicotinamide. N-Allylaltropane, 2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-fluorophenyl)-N-allylnortropane, which is a known degradation product of the Altropane precursor (tributyltinaltropane), was used to verify the method’s specificity. A solid-phase extraction method for extraction of Altropane from rat plasma is also described. The results presented in this paper demonstrate the applicability of CE methods to study the pharmacokinetic properties of Altropane in animal models. The results of the pharmacokinetic study will be published later, as Part II.