Dirucotide is a synthetic drug candidate for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. This 17-aminoacid peptide was successfully purified by ion exchange centrifugal partition chromatography. The optimized conditions involved the biphasic methyl tert-butyl ether/acetonitrile/n-butanol/water (2:1:2:5, v/v) solvent system in the descending mode, the di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid cation-exchanger with an exchanger (di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid)/dirucotide mole ratio of 100 and Ca2+ ions in aqueous solution as displacer. Critical impurities were efficiently eliminated and dirucotide was recovered in high yield and purity (69% and 98%, respectively) and with a productivity of 2.29g per liter of stationary phase per hour.
Keywords: Bioactive peptide; Centrifugal partition chromatography; Dirucotide; Ion exchange; Multiple sclerosis.
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