Separation of the Enantiomers of Pheneturide in Serum by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Total pheneturide (PTE) was isolated from serum by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A reversed-phase column was used. The total PTE collected was separated into its two enantiomers using a chiral stationary phase. It was found that (+)-PTE was present in serum at a concentration 15 times higher than (−)-PTE. The interest of this result lies in the fact that the two enantiomers have a different pharmacological action. In guinea pigs (+)-PTE showed psychostimulation whereas (−)-PTE showed sedation. The question arises as to whether the racemic (equimolecular) mixture is the best therapeutic combination of the enantiomers or whether another concentration ratio or one of the enantiomers would give a better antiepileptic efficacy versus toxicity ratio.