Quantitative capillary electrophoresis determination of oversulfated chondroitin sulfate as a contaminant in heparin preparations

A simple, accurate and robust quantitative CE method for the determination of oversulfated chondroitin sulfate (OSCS) as a contaminant in heparin (Hep) preparations is described. After degradation of the polysaccharides by acidic hydrolysis, the hexosamines produced, i.e., GlcN from Hep and GalN from OSCS, were derivatized with anthranilic acid (AA) and separated by means of CE in approx. 10 min with high sensitivity detection at 214 nm (limit of detection (LOD) of approx. 200 pg). Furthermore, AA-derivatized GlcN and GalN showed quite similar molar absorptivity allowing for direct and simple quantification of OSCS in Hep samples. Moreover, a preliminary step of specific enzymatic treatment by using chondroitin ABC lyase may be applied for the specific elimination of interference in the analysis due to the possible presence in Hep samples of natural chondroitin sulfate and dermatan sulfate impurities, making this analytical approach highly specific for OSCS contamination, since chondroitin ABC lyase is unable to act on this semi-synthetic polymer. The CE method was validated for specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision, LOD and limit of quantification (LOQ). Due to the very high sensitivity of CE, as little as 1% OSCS contaminant in Hep sample could be detected and quantified. Finally, a contaminated raw Hep sample was found to contain 38.9% OSCS while a formulated contaminated Hep was calculated to have 39.7% OSCS.