The method was validated as per ICH guidelines. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are thankful to the Principal and management, R.C. Patel Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Shirpur (M.S.), India, for providing the required facilities to carry out this research work. Footnotes Source of Support: Nil Conflict all targets of Interest: None declared.
Candesartan is used in the management of hypertension, and has been investigated in heart failure.[1,2] Candesartan is an anti-hypertensive drug from a category of angiotensin-II receptor antagonists. Angiotensin II is formed from angiotensin I in a reaction catalyzed by angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE, kinase II). Angiotensin II is the principal pressor agent of the renin�Cangiotensin system, with effects that include vasoconstriction, stimulation of synthesis and release of aldosterone, cardiac stimulation and renal reabsorption of sodium.
Candesartan blocks the vasoconstrictor and aldosterone-secreting effects of angiotensin II by selectively blocking the binding of angiotensin II to the AT1 receptor in many tissues, such as vascular smooth muscle and adrenal gland. Its action is, therefore, independent of the pathways for angiotensin II synthesis. The chemical name of candesartan is (��)-1-Hydroxyethyl 2-ethoxy-1-[p-(o-1H-tetrazol-5-ylphenyl) benzyl]-7-benzimidazole carboxylate.[2] The structure of candesartan is shown in Figure 1. On a detailed literature survey, it was found that there was only one liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) gradient method reported for the estimation of candesartan from human plasma,[3] and one method was reported to estimate candesartan in rat plasma by LC-MS/MS.
[4] Some methods were reported to estimate candesartan from human plasma and solid dosage forms by the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)[5�C9] and UV spectrophotometric methods,[10] which were found to be time-consuming and costly. Hence, the objective of the present work was to develop a simple bioanalytical method to estimate candasartan from human plasma with due consideration of accuracy, sensitivity, rapidity, economy, selectivity and stability indicating according to the US-FDA guidelines. Figure 1 Structure of candesartan MATERIALS AND METHODS Chemical and reagents The working standard or Candesartan and Propranolol as internal standard were gifted by Zydus Cadila Healthcare Limited, Ahmedabad, India.
Human Batimastat plasma samples were procured from Prathama Blood Bank, Ahmedabad, India. Methanol (HPLC grade) and ammonium trifloroacetate (GR grade) were purchased from Spectrochem, Hyderabad, India. Formic acid supra pure grade was purchased from Merck, Mumbai (India) and Milli-Q water was procured from Zydus Cadila Healthcare Limited. Instrumentation An HPLC (Shimadzu Corporation, Kyoto, Japan) coupled to an API 4000 mass spectrometer (Thermo Finnigan Ltd., Stafford Ho, UK) was employed for the analysis.