Study of the interaction of structurally similar bioactive compounds by thin-layer chromatography

The interaction between steroids and cholesterol is studied by reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography (TLC) using TLC plates impregnated by cholesterol and methanol-water mixtures as the eluents. The R(M) values obtained are in linear correlation with the methanol concentration of the eluent. The slope obtained from the linear regression analysis, which is characteristic of the strength of interaction, is determined. Stepwise regression and principal component analysis are carried out to find a relationship between the physicochemical parameters of steroid drugs and the strength of the interaction, which is followed by nonlinear mapping and cluster analysis to visualize the obtained results. The results show that steric and electronic parameters of the steroid drugs have a significant effect on the strength of the interaction between these structurally similar molecules.