Extraction of Pregabalin in Urine Samples Using a Sulfonated Poly(ether ether ketone) Membrane

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Pregabalin is an anticonvulsant drug commonly prescribed for various neurological conditions.
• Accurate quantification of pregabalin in biological matrices like urine is crucial for therapeutic drug monitoring and pharmacokinetic studies.
• Existing methods for pregabalin determination may involve complex procedures or lack sufficient sensitivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and optimize a simple, efficient polymer-assisted microextraction technique for determining pregabalin in urine samples.
• To compare the performance of a sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) membrane with a conventional polydimethylsiloxane membrane for pregabalin extraction.
• To evaluate the method's linearity, sensitivity, precision, and applicability to real urine samples.

Main Methods:

• Development of a polymer-assisted microextraction technique utilizing a sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) membrane as the sorbent.
• Optimization of extraction parameters including time, stirring speed, and pH.
• Comparison of extraction efficiency with a polydimethylsiloxane membrane.
• Validation of the method for linearity, limit of detection, limit of quantification, preconcentration factor, and precision.
• Determination of pregabalin in spiked urine samples to assess recovery and matrix effects.

Main Results:

• The sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) membrane demonstrated superior performance compared to the polydimethylsiloxane membrane, achieving a 105-fold preconcentration factor.
• The optimized method showed excellent linearity (r² = 0.9998) in the range of 0.05 to 2 µg/mL.
• High recoveries (>92%) were achieved for pregabalin in urine samples, with no significant matrix effects observed.
• The method exhibited good within-day and between-day precision (RSD < 7%).

Conclusions:

• The developed polymer-assisted microextraction technique using a sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) membrane is a simple, rapid, and highly efficient method for pregabalin determination in urine.
• The method's high preconcentration factor, sensitivity, and recovery make it suitable for clinical and forensic analysis.
• The use of electrostatic interactions between the functionalized membrane and pregabalin enhances extraction efficiency and reduces analysis time.