Low
molecular weight heparins (LMWHs) are heterogeneous, polydisperse,
and highly negatively charged mixtures of glycosaminoglycan chains
prescribed as anticoagulants. The detailed characterization of LMWH
is important for the drug quality assurance and for new drug research
and development. In this study, online hydrophilic interaction chromatography
(HILIC) Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FTMS) was applied to
analyze the oligosaccharide fragments of LMWHs generated by heparin
lyase II digestion. More than 40 oligosaccharide fragments of LMWH
were quantified and used to compare LMWHs prepared by three different
manufacturers. The quantified fragment structures included unsaturated
disaccharides/oligosaccharides arising from the prominent repeating
units of these LMWHs, 3-O-sulfo containing tetrasaccharides
arising from their antithrombin III binding sites, 1,6-anhydro ring-containing
oligosaccharides formed during their manufacture, saturated uronic
acid oligosaccharides coming from some chain nonreducing ends, and
oxidized linkage region oligosaccharides coming from some chain reducing
ends. This bottom-up approach provides rich detailed structural analysis
and quantitative information with high accuracy and reproducibility.
When combined with the top-down approach, HILIC LC-FTMS based analysis
should be suitable for the advanced quality control and quality assurance
in LMWH production.