Marwa A. Fouad

Validated stability-indicating derivative and derivative ratio methods for the determination of some drugs used to alleviate respiratory tract disorders and their degradation products

Derivative and derivative ratio methods are presented for the determination of butamirate citrate, formoterol fumarate, montelukast sodium, and sodium cromoglycate. Using the second derivative ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometry, butamirate citrate and formoterol fumarate were determined by measuring the peak amplitude at 260.4 and 261.8 nm, respectively, without any interference of their degradation products. Butamirate citrate degradation product, 2-phenyl butyric acid, was determined by the measurement of its second derivative amplitude at 246.7 nm where butamirate citrate displays zero crossing. Formoterol fumarate degradation product, desformyl derivative, could be evaluated through the use of the first derivative at peak amplitude of 264.8 nm where interference of formoterol fumarate is negligible. In the first mode, the zero-crossing technique was applied at 305 nm for the determination of montelukast sodium in the presence of its photodegradation product, cis-isomer. The derivative of ratio spectra of montelukast sodium and its cis- isomer were used to determine both isomers using the first derivative of the ratio spectra by measuring the amplitudes of the trough at 305 nm and the peak at 308 nm, respectively. The later technique was also used for the determination of a ternary mixture of sodium cromoglycate and its two degradation products using zero-crossing method. In the derivative ratio spectra of the ternary mixture, trough depths were measured at 271.6, 302.8 and 302.2 nm, using the second, the first, and the second mode to evaluate sodium cromoglycate, degradation product (1) and degradation product (2), respectively. All the methods were applied successfully to the pharmaceutical preparation and were validated according to ICH guidelines.

Synthesis and cytotoxic activities of some pyrazoline derivatives bearing phenyl pyridazine core as new apoptosis inducers

The cyclization of chalcones 3a-3u with 3-hydrazinyl-6-phenylpyridazine 7 under basic condition led to the formation of new pyrazoline derivatives 8a-8u. All final compounds were characterized by spectral and elemental analyses. They were screened for their antiproliferative activities against A549 (lung), HepG-2 (liver), CaCo-2 (intestinal) and MCF-7 (breast) cancer cell lines. Some of the synthesized compounds exhibited promising antiproliferative activities especially compound 8k with IC50 values of 8.33, 1.67 and 10 μM against HepG-2, MCF-7 and CaCo-2 cancer cell lines, respectively. Moreover, their antiproliferative activity was due to apoptosis rather than necrosis induction except compound 8h which exhibited equal apoptotic and necrotic properties. Compound 8k showed 5 fold increase in caspase-3 activity indicating that the apoptosis proceeds via caspase-3 activation.

Field-Amplified Sample Stacking β-Cyclodextrin Modified Capillary Electrophoresis for Quantitative Determination of Diastereomeric Saponins

Successful simultaneous diastereomeric separation and sensitive determination of two pairs of triterpenoidal saponins have been achieved by capillary electrophoresis (CE) using β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) as a stereoselective agent to cooperate with borate complexation. A usual technique for isolation and group separation of saponins was developed as an appropriate purification step prior to the determination of individual saponins by CE. Soyasaponin I ( S1: ), azukisaponin V ( S2: ), bersimoside I ( S3: ) and bersimoside II ( S4: ) could be well separated within 14 min in a fused-silica capillary (60 cm long to the detector with an additional 10 cm to the cathode; 75 µm i.d.). The background electrolyte was borate buffer (80 mM, pH 10), containing 24 mM β-CD. The separation voltage was 14 kV with a detection wavelength of 195 nm. The sample was electrokinetically injected using a voltage of 16 kV for 12 s. Methanol (70%) was used as the diluent for field-amplified sample stacking after hydrodynamic injection of short water plug (5 cm, 4 s). The method was partially validated for linearity, repeatability, reproducibility, limits of detection and limits of quantification. The correlation coefficients of the calibration curves were all >0.998, and the recoveries were from 98.23 to 96.21%.

TWO LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHIC METHODS FOR THE SIMULTANEOUS DETERMINATION OF IBUPROFEN AND METHOCARBAMOL OR CHLORZOXAZONE IN THE PRESENCE OF THEIR DEGRADATION PRODUCTS

Two RP-LC methods have been developed for the simultaneous determination of ibuprofen (IBU) and two skeletal muscle relaxants, namely methocarbamol (MET) or chlorzoxazone (CHZ), in the presence of their degradation products. In the first method, the simultaneous determination of IBU and MET in the presence of guaifenesin (GUF), a degradation product of MET, was developed. Chromatographic separation was achieved on an Inertsil CN-3 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 µm). Gradient elution based on 0.5% aqueous phosphoric acid (pH 2.8) - acetonitrile at a flow rate of 1 mL min−1 was applied with UV detection at 229 nm for IBU and 274 nm for MET and GUF. Linearity, accuracy, and precision were found to be acceptable over the concentration ranges of 5–160 µg mL−1 for IBU and 2.5–160 µg mL−1 for MET and GUF. In the second method, the simultaneous determination of IBU and CHZ in the presence of CHZ degradation product, 2-amino-4-chlorophenol (CDE), was developed. In this method, chromatographic separation was achieved on Reprosil-Pur C8 (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 µm). A gradient mobile phase system consisting of acetonitrile and 0.2% aqueous triethylamine (pH 5.1) at a flow rate of 1 mL min−1 was applied with UV detection at 229 nm for the three compounds. Linearity, accuracy, and precision were found to be acceptable over the concentration ranges of 2.5–250 µg mL−1 IBU and CHZ, and 2.5–150 µg mL−1 CDE. The optimized methods were validated and proved to be specific, robust, and accurate for the quality control of the cited drugs in synthetic mixtures and pharmaceutical preparations.

Multidrug efflux pumps and their role in antibiotic and antiseptic resistance: a pharmacodynamic perspective

ABSTRACT Introduction: Worrying levels of bacterial resistance have been reported worldwide involving the failure of many available antibiotic treatments. Multidrug resistance (MDR) in Gram-negative bacteria is often ascribed to the presence of multiple and different resistance mechanisms in the same strain. RND efflux pumps play a major role and are an attractive target to discover new antibacterial drugs. Areas covered: This review discusses the prevalence of efflux pumps, their overexpression in clinical scenarios, their polyselectivity, their effect on the intracellular concentrations of various antibiotics associated with the alteration of the membrane permeability and their involvement in pathogenicity are discussed. Expert opinion: Efflux pumps are new targets for the development of adjuvant in antibiotic treatments by of efflux pump inhibition. They may allow us to rejuvenate old antibiotics acting on their concentration inside the bacteria and thus potentiating their activity while blocking the release of virulence factors. It is a pharmacodynamic challenge to finalize new combined therapy.

Forced degradation study to develop and validate stability-indicating RP-LC method for the determination of ciclesonide in bulk drug and metered dose inhalers

A simple, selective and precise stability-indicating reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method was developed and validated for the determination of ciclesonide. Ciclesonide was subjected to acid and alkali hydrolysis, oxidation, thermal and photo-degradation. The degradation products were well separated from the pure drug. The method was based on isocratic elution of ciclesonide and its degradation products on reversed phase C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 10 μm) - Phenomenex using a mobile phase consisting of ethanol-water (70:30, v/v) at a flow rate of 1 mL min(-1). Quantitation was achieved with UV detection at 242 nm. Linearity, accuracy and precision were found to be acceptable over the concentration range of 5-200 μg mL(-1). Desisobutyryl-ciclesonide was prepared by selective alkaline hydrolysis of the ester and proved to be the main degradation product. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of ciclesonide in bulk and in its pharmaceutical preparation.

Stability-Indicating RP-HPLC Methods for the Determination of Fluorometholone in Its Mixtures with Sodium Cromoglycate and Tetrahydrozoline Hydrochloride

Two stability-indicating reversed-phase liquid chromatographic methods were developed and validated for the determination of fluorometholone (FLU) in its mixtures with sodium cromoglycate (SCG) and tetrahydrozoline hydrochloride (THZ). The first HPLC method (Method 1) was based on isocratic elution of FLU and SCG along with their alkaline degradation products on a reversed phase C18 column (250 × 4.6 mm id)-ACE Generix 5, using a mobile phase consisting of methanol-water (70 : 30, v/v), pH adjusted to 2.5 using orthophosphoric acid at a flow rate of 1.2 mL min(-1) Quantitation was achieved with UV detection at 240 nm. The second HPLC method (Method 2) was based on isocratic elution of FLU, its alkaline degradation product and THZ on a reversed phase C8 column (250 × 4.6 mm)-ACE Generix 5, using a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-50 mM potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate (40 : 60, v/v) at a flow rate of 2 mL min(-1) Quantitation was achieved by applying dual-wavelength detection, where FLU and its alkaline degradation product were detected at 240 nm and THZ was detected at 215 nm at ambient temperatures. Linearity, accuracy and precision were found to be acceptable over the concentration range of 5-50 and 10-500 μg mL(-1) for FLU and SCG (Method 1) and over the concentration range of 5-80 and 5-60 μg mL(-1) for FLU and THZ (Method 2), respectively. Besides, the FLU alkaline degradation product was verified using IR, NMR and LC-MS spectroscopy. The two proposed methods could be successfully applied for the routine analysis of the studied drugs either in their pure bulk powders or in their pharmaceutical preparations without any preliminary separation step.

UPLC-MS-MS Method for the Determination of Vilazodone in Human Plasma: Application to a Pharmacokinetic Study.

A sensitive, rapid and simple liquid chromatographic-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometric (LC-ESI-MS-MS) method was developed for the quantitative determination of vilazodone in human plasma and for the study of the pharmacokinetic behavior of vilazodone in healthy Egyptian volunteers. With escitalopram as internal standard (IS), liquid-liquid extraction was used for the purification and preconcentration of analytes from human plasma matrix using diethyl ether. The separation was performed on an Acquity UPLC BEH shield RP C18 column (1.7 µm, 2.1 × 150 mm). Isocratic elution was applied using methanol-0.2% formic acid (90:10, v/v). Detection was performed on a triple-quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer with multiple reaction monitoring mode via an electrospray ionization source at m/z 442.21 → 155.23 for vilazodone and m/z 325.14 → 109.2 for escitalopram. Linear calibration curves were obtained over the range of 1-200 ng/mL with the lower limit of quantification at 1 ng/mL. The intra- and inter-day precision showed relative standard deviation ≤3.3%. The total run time was 1.5 min. This method was successfully applied for clinical pharmacokinetic investigation, and a preliminary metabolic study was also carried out.

An Eco-Friendly Direct Injection HPLC Method for Methyldopa Determination in Serum by Mixed-Mode Chromatography Using a Single Protein-Coated Column

A simple, rapid and environment-friendly direct injection HPLC method for the determination of methyldopa (MTD) in human serum has been developed and validated. The method was based on cleanup and separation of MTD from serum by mixed-mode liquid chromatography using a single protein-coated TSK gel ODS-80 TM analytical column (50 × 4.0 mm i.d., 5 µm). The protein-coated column exhibited excellent resolution, selectivity and functioned in two chromatographic modes: size-exclusion chromatography [i.e., solid-phase extraction (SPE) for serum proteins] and reversed-phase chromatography for the final separation of MTD. SPE and HPLC separation were carried out simultaneously with a green mobile phase consisting of acetate buffer (0.1 M, pH 2.4) at a flow rate of 1 mL/min and at room temperature (23 ± 1°C). The eluent was monitored at emission and excitation wavelengths of 320 and 270 nm, respectively. A calibration curve was linear over the range of 0.1-30 µg/mL with a detection limit of 0.027 µg/mL. This online SPE method was successfully applied to real samples obtained from patients receiving MTD therapy.

Screening and optimization of samarium-assisted complexation for the determination of norfloxacin, levofloxacin and lomefloxacin in their corresponding dosage forms employing spectrofluorimetry

Multivariate strategy was applied for setting a fluorescent technique for the determination of three fluoroquinolones: norfloxacin (NOR), levofloxacin (LEV) and lomefloxacin (LOM) in their pure powder and dosage forms. Based on their known interaction with lanthanides, and augmented fluorescence intensity obtained by antenna effect at λex/λem = 314/553, 312/553 and 310/556 for NOR, LEV and LOM, respectively, the current research was scrutinized. Four continuous factors were selected for study in the screening step by means of Plackett-Burman Design, where temperature factor was excluded for being non-significant and the other factors as volume of metal ion solution, pH and reaction time were evaluated through Central Composite Design. 3-D surfaces demonstrations and 2-D contour plots designated the factors interactions followed by optimization plots, which defined the best blend for factors conjunction. pH factor was the chief motor force affecting the response as the number of coordinated ligands formed depends on the pH, whereas 1:2 complex is the main species at higher pH values followed by the volume of metal ion solution and ended by little effect of the reaction time. Model verification was monitored, which showed the model superiority for the three fluoroquinolones, where all target points tested were in good agreement with the predicted ones. The linear range for the tested drugs were found to be 0.090-1.280 μg/mL for NOR, 0.068-1.448 μg/mL for LEV and 0.077-1.552 μg/mL in case of LOM, thus approving the suitability of this method for Quality Control testing. Furthermore, applying these conditions to test the fluoroquinolones in their pharmaceuticals was done as well as intra and inter-day effects as to confirm the validity of this technique for routine analysis. Recovery % and RSD were found to be 99.958 ± 0.797, 99.887 ± 0.935 and 100.427 ± 0.698 for NOR, LEV and LOM respectively in their pure powder. While it was calculated to be 100.200 ± 0.785, 100.530 ± 0.396 and 100.620 ± 0.896 for NOR, LEV and LOM in their corresponding dosage forms. This excellent precision and accuracy obtained in results impulse it to be one of the most appropriate methods for further analysis.