Stability of glufosfamide in phosphate buffers and in biological samples

Glufosfamide is a new, potential chemotherapeutic agent currently under investigation. Stability of glufosfamide was investigated in sodium phosphate buffers with different pH and temperature and in biological samples. Glufosfamide and isophosphamide mustard were quantified simultaneously using a liquid chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometric method; precision and accuracy were within 15% for each analyte. Glufosfamide was stable in neutral buffers, but decomposed to form isophosphoramide mustard under acidic and basic conditions, which was pH- and temperature-dependent. The stability of glufosfamide varied in different biological samples. Results indicated that glufosfamide was unstable in some biological samples, such as the small intestine, smooth muscles, pancreas and urine, especially in the small intestine homogenate, with a half-life of 1.1 h. But the pH (<8) and beta-glucosidase of the tissue homogenate was found to have negligible contribution to the degradation of glufosfamide. The enzymatic inhibition experiment with the specific inhibitor, saccharo-1,4-lactone, demonstrated that it was glucuronidase that resulted in the degradation of glufosfamide in small intestine homogenate. Methanol was recommended to be used to homogenize the tissue in an ice water bath, and the container for urine collection should also be maintained in an ice water bath, and all the biological samples collected should be preserved in frozen condition until analysis.