Hoda M. Marzouk

Multi-residues determination of antimicrobials in fish tissues by HPLC–ESI-MS/MS method

A rapid, simple, sensitive and specific LC-MS/MS method was developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of four antimicrobials commonly used in aquaculture, namely ciprofloxacin (CPX), trimethoprim (TMP), sulphadimethoxine (SDM) and florphenicol (FLOR) in fish tissues. The LC-MS/MS was operated under the multiple-reaction monitoring mode using electrospray ionization. Sample preparation involves simple liquid extraction step followed by post-extraction clean-up step with n-hexane. The purified extracts were chromatographed on Agilent Poroshell 120 EC, C18 (50 mm × 3 mm, 2.7 μm) column by pumping an isocratic mobile phase consisting of 0.1% formic acid in water:0.1% formic acid in methanol (20:80, by volume) at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. A detailed validation of the method was performed as per FDA guidelines and the standard curves were found to be linear in the range of 1-100 ng/g for both CPX and TMP, 0.5-100 ng/g for SDM and 1-50 ng/g for FLOR. The intra-day and inter-day precision and accuracy of the results were within the acceptable limits. A run time of 1.5 min for each sample made it possible to analyze multiple fish tissue samples per day. The developed assay method was successfully applied for the detection of antimicrobials in real fish tissue samples obtained from different fish farms.

Simultaneous Determination of Cinchocaine Hydrochloride and Betamethasone Valerate in Presence of Their Degradation Products

Cinchocaine hydrochloride (CIN) and betamethasone valerate (BMV) are co-formulated in pharmaceutical formulations that could be used for local treatment of hemorrhoids. Both drugs are susceptible to hydrolytic degradation. Two sensitive and precise stability-indicating chromatographic methods were developed for the simultaneous determination of both active pharmaceutical ingredients. The developed methods were applied for quantitation of CIN and BMV in their pure forms, in presence of their corresponding degradation products and in their pharmaceutical formulation. The first method was a high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) one, separation and quantitation was achieved using a Waters Spheriosorb® 5 μm ODS2 C18 analytical column and an isocratic mobile phase formed of acetonitrile-acetate buffer (pH 6.5 ± 0.1) in a ratio of (55:45, v/v). The mobile phase was pumped at a flow rate of 1.2 mL/min. UV-detection was done at 240 nm using photodiode array detector. The second method was based on thin layer chromatography (TLC) fractionation coupled with densitometric determination. Separation was done on high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) silica gel 60F254 plates using a developing system formed of chloroform-toluene-ethanol-acetic acid in a ratio of (4.5:4.5:1:1, by volume). The separated bands were scanned densitometrically at 240 nm. For the HPLC method, linearity was confirmed over concentration ranges of 4-300 and 4-350 μg/mL for CIN and BMV, respectively. For the HPTLC-densitometric method, the obtained ranges were 0.5-12 and 0.5-10 μg/band for CIN and BMV, respectively. The developed methods were optimized and validated according to the ICH guidelines. CIN acid degradation products were separated and identified by mass spectroscopy. The developed HPLC method was used to study the kinetics of acid and alkali degradation of the both drugs. The results obtained were statistically analyzed and compared with those obtained by applying the official methods for both drugs.

Chromatographic Determination of Cyclopentolate Hydrochloride and Phenylephrine Hydrochloride in the Presence of Their Potential Degradation Products.

Two sensitive, selective, and precise stability-indicating methods have been developed for the simultaneous determination of the active pharmaceutical ingredients cyclopentolate hydrochloride (CLO) and phenylephrine hydrochloride (PHE) in their pure forms and in the presence of their degradation products. The methods were applied for the determination of CLO and PHE in a pharmaceutical formulation. Method A was based on isocratic elution HPLC determination. Separation was achieved using a Waters Spherisorb ODS2 C18 analytical column (5 μm particle size) and a mobile phase of 0.1% heptane-1-sulphonic acid sodium salt in methanol-water (80 + 20, v/v). The flow rate was 1.0 mL/min and detection was performed at 210 nm. Method B was an HPTLC- densitometric method using HPTLC silica gel 60 F254 plates and an optimized mobile phase of ethyl acetate-methanol-ammonia (8 + 2 + 0.1, v/v/v). The separated spots were densitometrically scanned at 210 nm. Polynomial equations were used for regression. The developed methods are suitable for the determination of CLO and PHE in their binary mixture and in the presence of their corresponding degradation products. The two methods were validated in compliance with International Conference on Harmonization guidelines and successfully applied for the determination of CLO and PHE as synthetically prepared in laboratory mixtures and in the presence of their possible degradation products. CLO alkaline degradation products were stated as potential impurities in British Pharmacopoeia. The degradation products were separated and identified by mass spectra. Postulation of a PHE oxidative degradation pathway was suggested. The obtained results were statistically analyzed and compared with those obtained by applying the official methods for both drugs.

Comparative Study of Different Chromatographic Techniques for the Analysis of Multi-Residues of Some Approved Antimicrobials in Fish Tissues

Two chromatographic methods were developed, optimized and validated for the simultaneous determination of three approved aquaculture antimicrobials, namely sulphadimethoxine sodium, trimethoprim and florphenicol in fish tissues. The developed methods were based on simple liquid extraction technique. The first method employs thin-layer chromatography as a clean-up procedure coupled with densitometric determination for the separated drugs. The second method is an HPLC one using X-Terra™ C18 column. Several mobile-phase systems and extracting solvents were tried to optimize the separation and the extraction procedures from fish tissues. The procedures were applied for the analysis of spiked fish tissue samples at three different concentration levels (10, 50 and 100 ppm). A comparative study was conducted between the proposed methods to discuss the advantage of each one. The methods were validated according to the international conference on harmonization guidelines. The proposed methods were successfully applied for the determination of the studied drugs in spiked fish tissues, pure powders and in their veterinary pharmaceutical formulation.

Potentiometric ion-selective electrodes for determination of cyclopentolate hydrochloride and phenylephrine hydrochloride in their challenging ophthalmic formulation

Introduction of potentiometric ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) opened a new bright area in pharmaceutical analysis acknowledged as being an eco-friendly, simple, and energy-saving technique that is well-suited with microfabrication. In this contribution, potentiometric ISEs were employed as an alternative green analytical tool with the crucial goal of expanding the effective application of the potentiometric sensors in different disciplines of drug-stability studies and quality-control investigations. Four novel cyclopentolate hydrochloride and phenylephrine hydrochloride selective membrane sensors were constructed and evaluated. Sensors’ fabrication was achieved using potassium tetrakis (4-chlorophenyl) borate, a cationic exchanger, in a polyvinyl chloride polymeric matrix plasticized with 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether and using 2-hydroxy propyl-β-cyclodextrin as an ionophore. A comparative potentiometric study was implemented using two designs of ISEs; a conventional liquid inner contact and a glassy carbon solid-contact one. Using solid-contact ISEs, detection limit was substantially decreased and the discriminative ability in the presence of the most interfering substances was enhanced. This permits simultaneous estimation of both drugs, in spite of their similar ionic characteristics, abolishing the need for any pretreatment or separation steps in their challenging combined ophthalmic formulation as well as in rabbit aqueous humor and in the presence of their degradation products.

A Capillary Zone Electrophoresis Method with Multiresponse Chemometric Optimization for the Simultaneous Determination of Zofenopril Calcium and Hydrochlorothiazide in Presence of Hydrochlorothiazide Major Impurities

In the present decade, great importance has been focused on the development of green analytical methods (GAM) as eco-friendly techniques. Minimizing the wastes, analysis time, hazardous reagents, sample size and energy are the main important principles for development of GAM. This manuscript describes a green, novel, rapid, accurate and reliable capillary zone electrophoresis method (CZE) for the simultaneous separation and determination of zofenopril calcium (ZOF) and hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) in presence of two major impurities of HCT, namely; chlorothiazide (CT) and salamide (DSA). Uncoated fused-silica capillary (50 μm i.d. × 48.5 cm and 40 cm effective length) was used. The main factors affecting the separation were the buffer concentration, pH of the buffer and applied voltage. Optimization of the experimental conditions was performed by applying response surface methodology (RSM). The experiments were designed using central composite face-centered design (CCD). The model obtained from the design described the linear, non-linear and interaction effects of factors on the responses. The optimum conditions given by the design were running buffer of sodium borate (pH 9.15; 10 mM) and 17 kV as positive mode applied voltage. Upon applying these conditions, baseline separation for the four compounds with short analysis time of 5.0 min was achieved. UV detection was performed at 225.0 nm and the capillary temperature was maintained at 25°C. The method was validated and applied for quantitative determination of the studied drugs according to the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines. Good linearity was obtained in the range of 10.0-100.0 μg/mL for both ZOF and HCT. As for CT and DSA (HCT impurities), linearity range was 5.0-100.0 μg/mL. The proposed method was successfully applied for the analysis of these drugs in their synthetic mixtures and in their co-formulated pharmaceutical formulations.

A Validated High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatographic Method for the Simultaneous Determination of Zofenopril Calcium and Hydrochlorothiazide in the Presence of the Hydrochlorothiazide Impurities; Chlorothiazide and Salamide

The chromatographic analysis of either process-related impurities or degradation products is very important in the pharmaceutical industry. In this work, a simple, selective, and sensitive HPTLC method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of zofenopril calcium (ZOF) and hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) in the presence of the HCT impurities: A) chlorothiazide (CT) and B) salamide, in raw materials and in pharmaceutical formulation. The separation was carried out on HPTLC silica gel 60 F254 using ethyl acetate-glacial acetic acid-triethylamine (10 + 0.1 + 0.1, v/v/v) as a developing system. The separated bands were scanned densitometrically at 270 nm. Polynomial equations were used for the regression. Calibration curves were constructed for ZOF, HCT, CT, and salamide in the ranges of 0.5-10, 0.2-4, 0.05-1.4, and 0.05-1.0 μg/band, respectively. Different parameters affecting the suggested method, including developing systems of varying composition/ratios and different detection wavelengths, were studied to achieve the best resolution and precision with good sensitivity. System suitability parameters were also tested. The proposed method was validated as per the International Conference on Harmonization guidelines and was successfully applied for the quantification of the studied drugs in their pharmaceutical formulation, with no interference from excipients observed. The results obtained by the developed HPTLC method were compared statistically with those obtained by the reported HPLC method using Students t and F ratio tests, and no significant difference was obtained, indicating the ability of the proposed method to be used for routine analysis of drug product.

Simultaneous Determination of Sulphadiazine Sodium and Trimethoprim in Medicated Fish Feed, Fish Tissues and in Their Veterinary Pharmaceutical Formulation by Thin-Layer Chromatography-Densitometry

A specific, precise, and accurate thin-layer chromatographic method for the simultaneous estimation of sulphadiazine sodium (SDZ) and trimethoprim (TMP) in medicated fish feed and in fish tissues was developed and validated. This method is based on simple liquid extraction technique and employing thin-layer chromatography (TLC) as a cleanup step. In order to optimize the extraction procedure from fish tissues, several mobile phase systems and extracting solvents were tried. The method employed TLC aluminum plates precoated with silica gel 60 F254 as the stationary phase and chloroform-toluene-ethanol-glacial acetic acid (4.5:4.5:1.0:1.0 by volume) mixture as the developing solvent. This system was found to give compact and dense spots for both sulphadiazine sodium (RF value of 0.48) and trimethoprim (RF value of 0.16) without interference from either medicated fish feed or fish tissues coextractives. Densitometric analysis of both drugs was carried out in the reflectance-absorbance mode at 270 nm for SDZ and 225 nm for TMP to maximize sensitivity for each drug. The linearity of the proposed method was established over the ranges 0.1–2.0 and 0.1–1.0 µg/band for sulphadiazine sodium and trimethoprim, respectively. The method was validated for linearity, specificity, precision, and accuracy. Statistical analysis proves that the method is repeatable and selective for the estimation of both drugs in various matrices. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of SDZ and TMP either in bulk pure powder or in their veterinary pharmaceutical formulation.