Extraction of atenolol from spiked blood serum using a molecularly imprinted polymer sorbent obtained by precipitation polymerization

Abstract

Atenolol (ATE) is a cardio-selective β-blocker that is used in the treatment of hypertension over extended periods. However, ATE, like propranolol, has major potential for misuse as a performance-enhancing drug in several sports. Therefore, an efficient and selective separation method is required to detect and monitor the level of ATE in the body. This paper presents a molecularly imprinted polymer with specific and selective binding to ATE using precipitation polymerization. We show that when employed in an optimized molecular imprinted solid phase extraction (MI-SPE) protocol, recoveries of 93.65 ± 1.29% from spiked blood serum with excellent discrimination from other β-blocker drugs is possible. The methodology used in this study includes molecular modeling interaction between ATE and itaconic acid (ITA) as functional monomer, followed by determination of binding constants with spectrophotometry, synthesis of the polymer using precipitation polymerization and ending with characterization and application of polymers to extract ATE in serum. Docking analysis revealed a binding affinity between ATE and ITA of −2.0 kcal/mol with the formation of hydrogen bonding. The association constant between ATE and ITA was studied by UV titration in two different solvents, with evidence of an association constant 6.277 × 10 2 M −1 measured in acetonitrile: methanol (1:1). An optimized MI-SPE protocol was developed for the extraction of ATE from spiked blood serum, obtaining recoveries of 93.65% with excellent selectivity toward other β-blocker drugs.

An Update on Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Design through a Computational Approach to Produce Molecular Recognition Material with Enhanced Analytical Performance

“…The ab initio approach with the HF method with the 3-21G basis set has been used by Hasanah et al [ 51 , 52 ] and Luo et al [ 50 ]. Another basis set, namely 6-31G(d), has been used by Saad et al [ 49 ] and Hosny et al [ 53 ].…”

“…Hasanah et al [ 51 ] used the HF approach with the 3-21G basis set for geometry optimization of atenolol (ATE) as a template and itaconic acid (IA) and methacrylic acid (MAA) as functional monomers, while the interaction energy calculations were performed with the Autodock tool. Based on the computational calculations, the ATE–IA complex had a smaller interaction energy (−2.0 kcal/mol) than the ATE–MAA complex (−1.5 kcal/mol).…”

How to develop molecularly imprinted mesoporous silica for selective recognition of analytes in pharmaceutical, environmental, and food samples

“…MIPs have been applied in preparation and separation of biological, food, and environmental sample 10‐14 ; sensors 15 ; catalysts 16,17 ; and drug delivery 18 . However, MIPs have shown poor site accessibility to the target molecule because the functional groups are embedded with a high cross‐linking density in a polymer matrix, 19 there can be leakage of the molecular template, and mass transfer can be difficult 20 .…”

Synthesis of Diazepam-Imprinted Polymers with Two Functional Monomers in Chloroform Using a Bulk Polymerization Method

“…Molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MI-SPE) is the combination of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) and solid-phase extraction (SPE) methods, and it is becoming increasingly popular for selective extraction of various analytes from complex matrices, such as serum and urine. A lot of research studies develop MIP for extraction and analysis of analytes from complex matrices such as metaproterenol [10], clenbuterol [11], atenolol [12], oxazepam [13], and triamterene [14]. An MIP was first made by Wulff and Sarhan through the synthesis of polymers that use target analytes as a template, so that after elution, a cavity will be formed, which will be able to selectively bind the analytes in the sample [15].…”