Development of predictive retention–activity relationship models of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs by micellar liquid chromatography: comparison with immobilized artificial membrane columns

The predictive and interpretative capability of quantitative chromatographic retention–biological activity models is supported by the fact that under adequate experimental conditions the solute partitioning into chromatographic system can emulate the solute partitioning into lipid bilayers of biological membranes, which is the basis for drug and metabolite uptake, passive transport across membranes and bioaccumulation. The use of micellar solutions of Brij35 as mobile phases in reversed-phase liquid chromatography has proven to be valid to predict some biological activities of different kinds of drugs. In this study, quantitative retention–activity relationship (QRAR) models to describe some of the biological activities and pharmacokinetic properties of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) with predictive and interpretative ability are obtained. These models are compared with those obtained using immobilized artificial membrane (IAM) column data taken from the literature. For NSAIDs, the statistical characteristics of the micellar liquid chromatography (MLC) QRAR models were better than or at least comparable to those of the IAM-QRAR models.