The speciation of Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Zn²⁺ ions in the presence of the fluoroquinolones (FQs) moxifloxacin, ofloxacin, levofloxacin and ciprofloxacin, in human blood plasma was studied under physiological conditions by computer simulation. The speciation was calculated using an updated model of human blood plasma including over 6,000 species with the aid of the program Hyss2009. The identity and stability of metal-FQ complexes were determined by potentiometric (310 K, 0.15 mol/L NaCl), spectrophotometric, spectrofluorimetric, ESI-MS and ¹H-NMR measurements. In the case of Cu²⁺ ion the concentration of main low molecular weight (LMW) plasma complex (Cu(Cis)His) is very slightly influenced by all examined FQs. FQs show much higher influence on main plasma Ni²⁺ and Zn²⁺ complexes: (Ni(His)₂ and Zn(Cys)Cit, respectively. Levofloxacin exhibits the highest influence on the fraction of the main nickel complex, Ni(His)₂, even at a concentration level of 3 × 10⁻⁵ mol/L. The same effect is seen on the main zinc complex, Zn(Cys)Cit. Calculated plasma mobilizing indexes indicate that ciprofloxacin possesses the highest mobilizing power from plasma proteins, toward copper ion, while levofloxacin is the most influential on nickel and zinc ions. The results obtained indicate that the drugs studied are safe in relation to mobilization of essential metal ions under physiological conditions. The observed effects were explained in terms of competitive equilibrium reactions between the FQs and the main LMW complexes of the metal ions.

Complex formation equilibria of aluminum(III), gadolinium(III), and yttrium(III) ions with the fluoroquinolone antibacterials moxifloxacin, ofloxacin, fleroxacin, lomefloxacin, levofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin were studied in aqueous solution by potentiometric and spectroscopic methods. The identity and stability of metal–fluoroquinolone complexes were determined by analyzing potentiometric titration curves (310 K, μ = 0.15 M NaCl, pH range = 2–11, C_L/C_M = 1 : 1 to 3 : 1, C_M = 1.0 mM) with the aid of Hyperquad2006 program. The main species formed in the system may be formulated as M_pH_qL_r (p = 1, q = −2 to 2, r = 1–3, L = fluoroquinolone anion, logarithm of overall stability constant, log β_p,q,r = in the range ca. −10 to 45). The stability of complexes is mostly influenced by metal ion properties (ionization potential, ionic radius) indicating partial ionic character of the coordination bond. The complexes were also characterized by spectroscopic measurements: spectrofluorimetry, ¹H-NMR, and ESI-MS. Fluorimetric data were evaluated with the aid of HypSpec2014 and indicated the formation of ML_r (r = 1–3) complexes with cumulative conditional stability constants significantly lower than the thermodynamic ones. NMR and MS data corroborate potentiometrically determined speciation. Calculated plasma mobilizing capacity of the ligands generally follows the order levofloxacin > moxifloxacin > ciprofloxacin at concentration levels of the ligands higher or equal to ca. 10⁻⁴ M.