Detection and quantification of Covid-19 antiviral drugs in biological fluids and tissues

Abstract

Since coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) started as a fast-spreading pandemic, causing a huge number of deaths worldwide, several therapeutic options have been tested to counteract or reduce the clinical symptoms of patients infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Currently, no specific drugs for COVID-19 but many antiviral agents have been authorised by several national agencies. Most of them are under investigation in both preclinical and clinical trials; however, pharmacokinetic and metabolism studies are needed to identify the most suitable dose to achieve the desired effect on SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, the efforts of the scientific community have focused on the screening of therapies able to counteract the most severe effects of the infection, as well as on the search of sensitive and selective analytical methods for drug detection in biological matrices, both fluids and tissues. In the last decade, many analytical methods have been proposed for the detection and quantification of antiviral compounds currently being tested for COVID-19 treatment. In this review, a critical discussion on the overall analytical procedure is provided, i.e (a) sample pre-treatment and extraction methods such as protein precipitation (PP), solid-phase extraction (SPE), liquid–liquid extraction (LLE), ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe), (b) detection and quantification methods such as potentiometry, spectrofluorimetry and mass spectrometry (MS) as well as (c) methods including a preliminary separation step, such as high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled to UV-Vis or MS detection. Further current trends, advantages and disadvantages and prospects of these methods have been discussed, to help the analytical advances in reducing the harm caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

HPV Vaccination Attitudes and Behaviors among General Practitioners in Italy

“…In addition, this is also important because increases in misinformation about vaccines may also limit or influence the acceptance, and with the pandemic emergency of COVID-19, there has been the shifting of healthcare resources with the accumulation of susceptible individuals and a higher likelihood of vaccine-preventable diseases outbreaks. Furthermore, it should be pointed out that the evaluation of vaccination depends on used methods, therefore, it is important to refer to the detection and quantification of corresponding pharmaceuticals [ 26 ].…”

First electrochemical evaluation of favipiravir used as an antiviral option in the treatment of COVID-19: A study of its enhanced voltammetric determination in cationic surfactant media using a boron-doped diamond electrode

“…Given the facts mentioned above, the development of suitable analytical methodologies for the determination of promising antiviral agents used for COVID 19, such as favipiravir, is strongly required not only for routine quality control in pharmaceutical formulations but also to support pharmacokinetic and metabolic studies in biological samples of both human and animal origin. Apart from these requirements, such studies in biological matrices will assist in the development of new drugs [ 16 ]. Survey of the literature revealed that only two studies have been made on the quantification of favipiravir by using high performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultraviolet (UV) detection [ 17 ], and spectrofluorimetric method [ 18 ].…”

Toxic Metals and Non-Communicable Diseases in HIV Population: A Systematic Review

“…There are also varied statistical methods used for the analysis such as chi-square test, t -test, Wilcoxon, Fisher’s exact, two-tail tests, correlation coefficient, p -values, etc. For the same reasons, analytical procedures, e.g., from sample pre-treatment to separation, detection, and quantification (e.g., [ 81 ]), were not investigated in the present study. Additionally, few studies were found in the literature linking heavy metal toxicity to the occurrence of non-communicable diseases in PLWHIV, and all the studies included in the review are cross-sectional and lack the strength to evaluate causality.…”