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Development of a novel method of misoprostol detection on filter paper: Proof-of-concept

Biomedical Engineering Letters volume 6, pages 94–99 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose

Uteronics are critical to managing and treating postpartum hemorrhaging (PPH), the global leading cause of maternal mortality that kills 800 women daily. While oxytocin is a widely used uteronic, misoprostol has been used in some low-resource countries as it is significantly cheaper, easier to administer, and not reliant on a cold chain. However, recent studies suggest that degradation of misoprostol tablets is accelerated if exposed to humidity at any point during manufacture. State-of-the-art means of assessing misoprostol quality involve high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), which is expensive and requires high technical skill. Therefore, there is a need for a low-cost, light-weight, and easy-to-use alternative for quality testing. We investigated the use of enzymatic-based assays, which are widely used in point-of-care analysis but has not been studied for misoprostol.

Methods

We hypothesized that misoprostol, which contains a secondary alcohol, could be selectively metabolized by alcohol dehydrogenase. Two methods were developed to assess the feasibility to detect pure misoprostol in aqueous solution: a previously-developed amperometric assay on paper-screen printed electrodes, and a colorimetric test. Approximate binding constants were estimated and the accuracy of misoprostol quantification was compared to that measured by HPLC.

Results

Pure misoprostol in both a standard acetonitrile/water mixture and aqueous solution was quantified with high sensitivity by HPLC. The accuracy of misoprostol detection by the amperometric method was 87.1 ± 2.3% (n = 3).

Conclusions

Based on this proof-of-concept study, enzymatic-based assays for misoprostol quantification can be considered as a novel method for low-cost and point-of-care quality testing. Further development is warranted to optimize the accuracy and sensitivity of this method for tablet products.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Grace Wu, Hatice Imran Gungordu & Muhammad H. Zaman

  2. Concept Foundation, Bangkok, Thailand

    Navaporn Tagontong & Peter Hall

  3. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 44 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Muhammad H. Zaman

Authors
  1. Grace Wu
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  2. Hatice Imran Gungordu
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  3. Navaporn Tagontong
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  4. Peter Hall
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  5. Muhammad H. Zaman
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Correspondence to Muhammad H. Zaman.

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Wu, G., Gungordu, H.I., Tagontong, N. et al. Development of a novel method of misoprostol detection on filter paper: Proof-of-concept. Biomed. Eng. Lett. 6, 94–99 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13534-016-0221-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13534-016-0221-7

Keywords

  • Amperometry
  • Developing countries
  • Misoprostol
  • Alcohol dehydrogenase