Fatma A. Aly

UV-spectrophotometric determination of ampicillin sodium and sulbactam sodium in two-component mixtures

A simple spectrophotometric method is used for the resolution of the binary mixtures of ampicillin sodium and sulbactam sodium. In aqueous solution, zero-order spectra are subject to interference, so first-derivative spectrophotometry was used to enhance the spectral details allowing the determination of ampicillin sodium from the signal at the zero-crossing point for sulbactam sodium at 268 nm. In 0.1 N sodium hydroxide, sulbactam sodium was determined from the absorbance at 260 nm with negligible contribution from ampicillin sodium. Also, sulbactam sodium was determined without interference using first- and second-derivative spectra in 0.1 N sodium hydroxide at 276 nm (peak-height) and 262-284 nm (peak-to-peak), respectively. The method is rapid, simple, does not require a separation step and allows the determination of each drug without interference from the other. The proposed method has been applied successfully to the assay of these drugs in mixtures and in commercial injections.

Flow-injection chemiluminometric analysis of some benzamides by their sensitizing effect on the cerium-sulphite reaction

A simple, highly sensitive chemiluminescent method using flow injection is described for the determination of three substituted benzamides, namely: sulpiride, sultopride and tiapride. The method is based on the sensitizing effect of these drugs on the chemiluminometric oxidation of sulphite by cerium(IV). The different experimental parameters affecting the chemiluminescence intensity were carefully studied and incorporated into the procedure. The method permits the determination of 0.05-2.5 mug ml(-1) sulpiride, 0.01-2.5 mug ml(-1) sultopride hydrochloride and 0.01-1.5 mug ml(-1) tiapride hydrochloride with minimum detectability of 0.01 mug ml(-1). The method was applied to the determination of these benzamides in pharmaceutical preparations and biological fluids.

Permanganate-based chemiluminescence analysis of cefadroxil monohydrate in pharmaceutical samples and biological fluids using flow injection

A chemiluminescent method using flow injection is described for the determination of cefadroxil monohydrate. The method is based on the chemiluminescence reaction of cefadroxil with potassium permanganate in sulphuric acid, sensitized by quinine. The proposed procedure allows the determination of cefadroxil over the concentration range 0.1-30 mug ml(-1) with a detection limit of 0.05 mug ml(-1) and a sample measurement frequency of 150 samples h(-1). The method was successfully applied to the determination of cefadroxil in pharmaceutical preparations and biological fluids.

Sensitive assay for clavulanic acid and sulbactam in pharmaceuticals and blood serum using a flow-injection chemiluminometric method

A sensitive, simple and inexpensive chemiluminescence (CL) method using flow injection is described for the determination of two beta-lactamase inhibitors sulbactam sodium and clavulanic acid (potassium salt) in their pure form, in pharmaceutical preparations and added to blood serum. The method is based on the enhancing effect of these compounds on the CL generated by the oxidation of luminol with hydrogen peroxide in alkaline medium. The CL intensity is a linear function of sulbactam sodium concentration over the range 0.1‐150m gm l 1 with a detection limit (2noise) of 0.05m gm l 1 , and for clavulanic acid over the range 0.01‐12m gm l 1 with a detection limit of 0.01m gm l 1 . The method is applied successfully to the determination of the drugs in their dosage forms without interference from co-formulated drugs. The method is specific for the intact drugs in the presence of their degradation products.

Kinetic spectrophotometric methods for the determination of alfuzosin hydrochloride in bulk and pharmaceutical formulations

Simple and sensitive kinetic spectrophotometric methods were established for the determination of alfuzosin hydrochloride in bulk and in its pharmaceutical preparations using alkaline potassium permanganate as an oxidizing agent. The methods involve determination of alfuzosin HCl by kinetic studies of its oxidation at room temperature for a fixed time of 15 min. The absorbance of the colored manganate ions was measured at 610 nm. Alternatively, the decrease in the absorbance of permanganate upon addition of the studied drug was also measured at 525 nm. The absorbance-concentration plots in both procedures were rectilinear over the range of 2.0–30.0 μg/mL. The different experimental parameters affecting the development were carefully studied and optimized. The determination of alfuzosin HCl by the fixed concentration and initial rate methods is also feasible with the calibration equations obtained but the fixed time method has been found to be more applicable. Both procedures were applied to the determination of alfuzosin HCl in formulations. The results obtained were in good agreement with those obtained using reference methods.

Determination of enalapril maleate and atenolol in their pharmaceutical products and in biological fluids by flow-injection chemiluminescence

A chemiluminescent method using flow injection (FI) was investigated for rapid and sensitive determination of enalapril maleate and atenolol, which are used in the treatment of hypertension. The method is based on the sensitizing effect of these drugs on the Ce(IV)-sulfite reaction. The different experimental parameters affecting the chemiluminescence (CL) intensity were carefully studied and incorporated into the procedure. The method permitted the determination of 0.01-3.0 microg mL(-1) of enalapril maleate in bulk form with correlation coefficient r = 0.99993, lower limit of detection (LOD) 0.0025 microg mL(-1) (S/N = 2) and lower limit of quantitation (LOQ) 0.01 microg mL(-1). The linearity range of atenolol in bulk form was 0.01-2.0 microg mL(-1) (r = 0.99989) with LOD of 0.0003 microg mL(-1) (S/N = 2) and LOQ of 0.01 microg mL(-1). In biological fluids the linearity range of enalapril maleate was 0.1-2.0 microg mL(-1) in both urine and serum, and for atenolol the linearity range was 0.1-1.0 microg mL(-1) in both urine and serum. The method was also applied to the determination of the drugs in their pharmaceutical preparations.

Spectrofluorimetric determination of prenalterol hydrochloride in pharmaceutical preparations and biological fluids

A simple and highly sensitive fluorimetric method was developed for the routine determination of prenalterol hydrochloride in bulk, in dosage forms and in biological fluids. The method is based on the fluorescence induced by reaction of the nitroso-derivative of prenalterol hydrochloride with 2-cyanoacetamide in the presence of ammonia. The different experimental parameters were carefully studied and incorporated into the procedure. The fluorescence is measured at 440 nm after excitation at 368 nm. Fluorescence intensity is a linear function of prenalterol hydrochloride concentration over the range of 0.1-2.8 microg x ml(-1) in the solution finally measured. A proposal for the reaction pathway was suggested.

Application of silver nanoparticles to the chemiluminescence determination of cefditoren pivoxil using the luminol–ferricyanide system

A new simple, accurate and sensitive sequential injection analysis chemiluminescence (CL) detection method for the determination of cefditoren pivoxil (CTP) has been developed. The developed method was based on the enhancement effect of silver nanoparticles on the CL signal arising from a luminol-potassium ferricyanide reaction in the presence of CTP. The optimum conditions relevant to the effect of luminol, potassium ferricyanide and silver nanoparticle concentrations were investigated. The proposed method showed linear relationships between relative CL intensity and the investigated drug concentration at the range 0.001-5000 ng/mL, (r = 0.9998, n = 12) with a detection limit of 0.5 pg/mL and quantification limit of 0.001 ng/mL. The relative standard deviation was 1.6%. The proposed method was employed for the determination of CTP in bulk drug, in its pharmaceutical dosage forms and biological fluids such as human serum and urine. The interference of some common additive compounds such as glucose, lactose, starch, talc and magnesium stearate was investigated. In addition, the interference of some related cephalosporins was tested. No interference was recorded. The obtained sequential injection analysis-CL results were statistically compared with those from a reported method and did not show any significant differences.

Spectrofluorimetric analysis of gemifloxacin mesylate in pharmaceutical formulations.

A simple, rapid and highly sensitive spectrofluorimetric method was developed for determination of gemifloxacin mesylate (GFX) in tablets. The method is based on measuring the native fluorescence of GFX in isopropanol at 400 nm after excitation at 272 nm. The fluorescence-concentration plot was rectilinear over the range of 0.01-0.50 µg/mL with a lower detection limit of 1.19 ng/mL and quantification limit of 3.6 ng/mL. The method was fully validated and successfully applied to the determination of GFX tablets with an average percentage recovery of 99.65 ± 0.532. The method was extended to the stability study of GFX. The drug was exposed to acidic, alkaline, oxidative and photolytic degradation according to International Conference on Harmonization guidelines. The rate of GFX degradation was found at its highest in acidic conditions, and in its lowest in the neutral one. However, it was stable under dry heat and photolytic degradation conditions.

ELECTROCHEMICAL SENSORS FOR DIRECT DETERMINATION OF SIMVASTATIN IN PHARMACEUTICAL FORMULATIONS AND BIOLOGICAL FLUIDS

The construction and performance characteristics of simvastatin (SIM) selective electrodes were developed. Three types of electrodes: plastic membrane I, coated wire II, and coated graphite rod III were constructed based on the incorporation of simvastatin with phosphotungstic (PTA) or phosphomolybdic (PMA) acids and mixed ion pair (PTA/PMA) for the three electrodes, respectively. The influence of membrane composition, kind of plasticizer, type of ion-pair, pH of the test solution, soaking time, and foreign ions on the electrodes was investigated. The electrodes showed a Nernstain response with a mean calibration graph slope of 56.24±0.43, 55.44±0.14 and 58.93±0.34 mV decade-1 at 25oC over simvastatin concentration range from 1.0 x 10-6-5.0 x 10-2, 9.0 x 10-6-5.0 x 10-3 and 9.0 x 10-7-1.0 x 10-2 mol L-1, with detection limit of 5.0 x 10-7, 3.9 x 10-6 and 3.2 x 10-7 mol L-1 for electrode I, II and III, respectively. The pH range for the proposed electrodes was 4-7. The influence of possible interfering species such as common inorganic cations, many sugars, amino acids and a pharmacologically related drug ‘ezetimibe’ was studied. Statistical student’s t-test and F test showed insignificant systematic error between proposed and official methods.