Ramzia I. El-Bagary

Liquid chromatographic determination of sitagliptin either alone or in ternary mixture with metformin and sitagliptin degradation product

Two reversed-phase liquid chromatographic (RP-LC) methods have been developed for the determination of sitagliptin phosphate monohydrate (STG). The first method comprised the determination of STG alone in bulk and plasma; and in its pharmaceutical preparation. This method was based on isocratic elution of STG using a mobile phase consisting of potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer pH (7.8)-acetonitrile (70:30, v/v) at a flow rate of 1 mL min(-1) with flourometric detection. The flourometric detector was operated at 267 nm for excitation and 575 nm for emission. In the second method, the simultaneous determination of STG and metformin (MET) in the presence of sitagliptin alkaline degradation product (SDP) has been developed. In this method, the ternary mixture of STG, MET and SDP was separated using a mobile phase consisting of potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer pH (4.6)-acetonitrile-methanol (30:50:20, v/v/v) at a flow rate of 1 mL min(-1) with UV detection at 220 nm. Chromatographic separation in the two methods was achieved on a Symmetry(®) Waters C18 column (150 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm). Linearity, accuracy and precision were found to be acceptable over the concentration ranges of 0.25-200 μg mL(-1) for STG with the first method and 5-160 μg mL(-1), 25-800 μg mL(-1) for STG and MET, respectively with the second method. The optimized methods were validated and proved to be specific, robust and accurate for the quality control of the cited drugs in pharmaceutical preparations.

Reversed-Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatographic and Thin Layer Chromatographic Methods for the Simultaneous Determination of Benazepril Hydrochloride and Hydrochlorothiazide in Cibadrex Tablets

ABSTRACT Two procedures were developed for simultaneous determination of benazepril hydrochloride (I) and hydrochlorothiazide (II) in pure, laboratory made mixtures and in pharmaceutical dosage form “Cibadrex tablets® using reversed phase high performance liquid chromatographic and thin layer chromatographic methods. For reversed phase HPLC, a new very sensitive, rapid, selective method was developed. The linearity ranges were 32-448 ng/20 μl and 40-560 ng/20 μl for benazepril hydrochloride and hydrochlorothiazide, respectively. The corresponding recoveries were 99.38 ± 1.526 and 99.2 ± 1.123. The minimum detection limits were 7 ng/20 μl and 14 ng/20 μl for benazepril hydrochloride and hydrochlorothiazide respectively. On the other hand, a new, simple, sensitive and fast thin layer chromatographic scanning densitometric method was developed for simultaneous determination of benazepril hydrochloride and hydrochlorothiazide using ethyl acetate: methanol: ammonia (85: 20: 10 v/v) as the developing system. The Rf values were 0.33 & 0.68 for benazepril hydrochloride and hydrochlorothiazide respectively. The minimum detection limit obtained was 0.12 μg/spot for benazepril hydrochloride and 0.24 μg/spot for hydrochlorothiazide. The mean percentage recoveries were 100.04 ± 1.102 and 99.31 ± 1.009 for benazepril hydrochloride and hydrochlorothiazide respectively. The two proposed methods were simple, precise, sensitive and could be successfully applied for the determination of pure, laboratory made mixtures and pharmaceutical dosage forms. The results obtained were compared with those obtained by A 1%.

LC–MS–MS Simultaneous Determination of Atorvastatin and Ezetimibe in Human Plasma

Atorvastatin and ezetimibe are lipid-lowering drugs prescribed for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. An LC-MS-MS method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous estimation of atorvastatin and ezetimibe in human plasma using pitavastatin as an internal standard. Liquid-liquid extraction was used for the purification and preconcentration of analytes from human plasma matrix. The chromatographic separation was achieved within 3.0 min by an isocratic mobile phase consisting of 0.2% formic acid in water-acetonitrile (30:70, v/v), flowing through Agilent Eclipse-plus C18, 100 × 4.6 mm, 3.5 µm analytical column, at a flow rate of 0.6 mL min(-1). Multiple reaction monitoring transitions were measured in the positive ion mode for atorvastatin and internal standard, while ezetimibe was measured in negative ion mode. A detailed validation of the method was performed as per US-FDA guidelines and the standard curves were found to be linear in the range of 0.2-30.0 ng mL(-1) with a mean correlation coefficient >0.999 for both drugs. In human plasma, atorvastatin and ezetimibe were stable for at least 36 days at -70 ± 5 °C and 6 h at ambient temperature. After extraction from plasma, the reconstituted samples of atorvastatin and ezetimibe were stable in an autosampler at ambient temperature for 6 h. Also, the cited drugs were stable in plasma samples upon subjecting to three freeze thaw cycles. The method is simple, specific, sensitive, precise, accurate and suitable for bioequivalence and pharmacokinetic studies of this combination.

Spectrophotometric and Spectrofluorimetric Studies on Azilsartan Medoxomil and Chlorthalidone to Be Utilized in Their Determination in Pharmaceuticals

The recently approved angiotensin II receptor blocker, azilsartan medoxomil (AZL), was determined spectrophotometrically and spectrofluorimetrically in its combination with chlorthalidone (CLT) in their combined dosage form. The UV-spectrophotometric technique depends on simultaneous measurement of the first derivative spectra for AZL and CLT at 286 and 257 nm, respectively, in methanol. The spectrofluorimetric technique depends on measurement of the fourth derivative of the synchronous spectra intensities of AZL in presence of CLT at 298 nm in methanol. The effects of different solvents on spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric responses were studied. For, the spectrofluorimetric study, the effect of pH and micelle-assisted fluorescence enhancement were also studied. Linearity, accuracy, and precision were found to be satisfactory over the concentration ranges of 8–50 μg mL−1 and 2–20 μg mL−1 for AZL and CLT, respectively, in the spectrophotometric method as well as 0.01–0.08 μg mL−1 for AZL in the spectrofluorimetric method. The methods were successfully applied for the determination of the studied drugs in their co-formulated tablets. The developed methods are inexpensive and simple for the quality control and routine analysis of the cited drugs in bulk and in pharmaceuticals.

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%.

Spectrofluorometric Determination of Certain Antihyperlipidemic Agents in Bulk and Pharmaceutical Preparations

A simple, rapid, and sensitive spectrofluorometric method was developed for the determination of three antihyperlipidemic drugs, namely, rosuvastatin calcium (RSV), ezetimibe (EZE), and pitavastatin calcium (PIT). The method is based on measuring the native fluorescence of the cited drugs at their optimum excitation and emission wavelengths. The fluorescence intensity was measured at λem 362 nm, 309 nm, and 373 nm upon excitation at λex 315 nm, 260 nm, and 245 nm for RSV, EZE, and PIT, respectively. The calibration graphs were linear over the concentration ranges 0.50–10.0, 0.25–4.0, and 0.10–3.00 μg mL−1 for RSV, EZE, and PIT, respectively. Besides, a spectrofluorometric method for the simultaneous determination of RSV and EZE was developed. The fluorescence was measured at λem 309 nm for EZE and 432 nm for RSV upon excitation at λex 260 nm for both. The proposed methods were applied to the determination of the cited drugs either in bulk and pharmaceutical preparations.

Novel liquid chromatographic methods for the determination of varenicline tartrate.

Two simple, sensitive, rapid, and stability-indicating liquid chromatographic (LC) methods have been developed for the determination of varenicline tartrate. They comprised the determination of varenicline (VRC) in the presence of its oxidative degradates and related impurity (N-formyl varenicline) (NFV). The first method was a LC with diode array detection (DAD) at 235 nm using Ristek-Ultra® C18 column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 5 µm). Isocratic elution of VRC was employed using a mobile phase consisting of buffer mixture (1.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate and 0.08% octane sulphonic acid): acetonitrile (86:14, v/v), pH (5.0). In the second method; a fluorimetric detection technique was developed, based on precolumn derivatization of VRC using 7-chloro-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1, 3-diazole (NBD-Cl). The fluorescence detector (FLD) was operated at 474 nm for excitation and 539 nm for emission. Isocratic elution was applied with a mobile phase consisting of methanol-distilled water (70:30, v/v). Separation was achieved using Symmetry® Waters C18 column (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 µm). Linearity, accuracy and precision were found to be acceptable over the concentration ranges of 0.5-20.0 µg mL(-1) and 0.2-20.0 µg mL(-1) with the first and the second method, respectively. The optimized methods were validated and proved to be specific, simple, and accurate for the quality control of the drug in its pharmaceutical preparation.

On-line solid-phase enrichment coupled to packed reactor flow injection analysis in a green analytical procedure to determine low levels of folic acid using fluorescence detection

BackgroundAnalysis of folic acid (FA) is not an easy task because of its presence in lower concentrations, its lower stability under acidic conditions, and its sensitiveness against light and high temperature. The present study is concerned with the development and validation of an automated environmentally friendly pre-column derivatization combined by solid-phase enrichment (SPEn) to determine low levels of FA.ResultsCerium (IV) trihydroxyhydroperoxide (CTH) as a packed oxidant reactor has been used for oxidative cleavage of FA into highly fluorescent product, 2-amino-4-hydroxypteridine-6-carboxylic acid. FA was injected into a carrier stream of 0.04 M phosphate buffer, pH 3.4 at a flow-rate of 0.25 mL/min. The sample zone containing the analyte was passed through the CTH reactor thermostated at 40°C, and the fluorescent product was trapped and enriched on a head of small ODS column (10 mm x 4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm particle size). The enriched product was then back-flush eluted by column-switching from the small ODS column to the detector with a greener mobile phase consisting of ethanol and phosphate buffer (0.04M, pH 3.4) in the ratio of 5:95 (v/v). The eluent was monitored fluorimetrically at emission and excitation wavelengths of 463 and 367 nm, respectively. The calibration graph was linear over concentrations of FA in the range of 1.25-50 ng/mL, with a detection limit of 0.49 ng/mL.ConclusionA new simple and sensitive green analytical procedure including on-line pre-column derivatization combined by SPEn has been developed for the routine quality control and dosage form assay of FA at very low concentration level. The method was a powerful analytical technique that had excellent sensitivity, sufficient accuracy and required relatively simple and inexpensive instrumentation.

Simultaneous determination of sildenafil citrate and some nitric oxide releasing drugs in human plasma using UPLC MS/MS.

OBJECTIVE The inadvertent combination of sildenafil (SLD) and nitric oxide releasing compounds (NRC) may cause a life threatening hypotension and conversion of coital angina into an irreversible one. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a UPLC MS/MS method for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of SLD, nicorandil (NRD), and ARG in human plasma to determine the safety margins for drug combinations. DESIGN AND METHOD Chromatographic elution was achieved in 4min using gradient elution and an injection volume of 10μL. Electro-spray positive ionization (ESI+ve) detection and multiple-reaction monitoring mode (MRM) were used for detection. RESULTS The method was found to be linear (10-900ng/mL for SLD and NRD while 1-30μg/mL for ARG), accurate and precise (99.35±1.58, 99.62±1.13, and 100.04±1.22% for SLD, NRD and ARG; respectively) and met all other validation requirements. CONCLUSION The developed UPLC MS/MS method is suitable for fast, sensitive, accurate and simultaneous determinations of SLD, NRD, and ARG in plasma.

Simultaneous Determination of Aliskiren Hemifumarate, Amlodipine Besylate and Hydrochlorothiazide in Spiked Human Plasma Using UPLC-MS/MS

A sensitive UPLC-MS/MS method was developed and validated for simultaneous estimation of aliskiren hemifumarate (ALS), amlodipine besylate (AML) and hydrochlorothiazide (HCZ) in spiked human plasma using valsartan as an internal standard (IS). Liquid-liquid extraction was used for purification and pre-concentration of analytes. The mobile phase consisted of 0.1% formic acid in ammonium acetate buffer (0.02 M, pH 3.5) and methanol (25:75, v/v), flowing through XBridge BEH (50 × 2.1 mm ID, 5 µm) C18 column, at a flow rate of 0.6 mL min(-1). Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) transitions were measured using an electrospray source in the positive ion mode for ALS and AML, whereas HCZ and IS were measured in negative ion mode. Validation of the method was performed as per US-FDA guidelines with linearity in the range of 2.0-400.0, 0.3-25.0 and 5.0-400.0 ng mL(-1) for ALS, AML and HCZ, respectively. In human plasma, ALS, AML and HCZ were stable for at least 1 month at -70 ± 5°C and for at least 6 h at ambient temperature. After extraction from plasma, the reconstituted samples of ALS, AML and HCZ were stable in the autosampler at ambient temperature for 6 h. The LC-MS/MS method is suitable for bioequivalence and pharmacokinetic studies of this combination.