Spectrofluorimetric determination of vigabatrin and gabapentin in dosage forms and spiked plasma samples through derivatization with 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole

A highly sensitive and specific method is proposed for the determination of vigabatrin (I) and gabapentin (II) in their dosage forms and spiked human plasma. The method is based on coupling the drugs with 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole in borate buffer at pH 7.1 and measuring the resulting fluorescence at 532 nm after excitation at 465 nm. The fluorescence intensity was a linear function of the concentration of the drugs over the ranges of 1.3-6.5 and 1.7-8.5 microg/mL for I and II, respectively. Minimum detectability values were 0.54 microg/mL (4.2 x 10(-6)M) and 0.97 microg/mL (5.7 x 10(-6)M) for I and II, respectively, under the described conditions. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of the 2 drugs in their dosage forms, and the percent recoveries +/- standard deviation (SD) were 104.53 +/- 1.2 and 100.00 +/- 1.32 of the label claim for I and II, respectively. The method was further applied to the determination of vigabatrin in spiked plasma samples. The percent recovery +/- SD was 101.58 +/- 2.68. Interference from endogenous alpha-amino acids was overcome through selective complexation with freshly prepared Cu(OH)2. The interference likely to be encountered from co-administered drugs, such as carbamazepine, cimetidine, clonazepam, clopazam, phenobarbital, valproic acid, and lamotrigine, was also studied. A reaction pathway is suggested.     

Determination of nifuroxazide and drotaverine hydrochloride in pharmaceutical preparations by three independent analytical methods

Three new, different, simple, sensitive, and accurate methods were developed for quantitative determination of nifuroxazide (I) and drotaverine hydrochloride (II) in a binary mixture. The first method was spectrophotometry, which allowed determination of I in the presence of II using a zero-order spectrum with an analytically useful maximum at 364.5 nm that obeyed Beer's law over a concentration range of 2-10 microg/mL with mean percentage recovery of 100.08 +/- 0.61. Determination of II in presence of I was obtained by second derivative spectrophotometry at 243.6 nm, which obeyed Beer's law over a concentration range of 2-10 microg/mL with mean recovery of 99.82 +/- 1.46%. The second method was spectrodensitometry, with which both drugs were separated on a silica gel plate using chloroform-acetone-methanol-glacial acetic acid (6 + 3 + 0.9 + 0.1) as the mobile phase and ultraviolet (UV) detection at 365 nm over a concentration range of 0.2-1 microg/band for both drugs, with mean recoveries of 99.99 +/- 0.15 and 100.00 +/- 0.34% for I and II, respectively. The third method was reversed-phase liquid chromatography using acetonitrile-water (40 + 60, v/v; adjusted to pH 2.55 with orthophosphoric acid) as the mobile phase and pentoxifylline as the internal standard at a flow rate of 1 mU/min with UV detection at 285 nm at ambient temperature over a concentration range of 2-10 microg/mL for both drugs, with mean recoveries of 100.24 +/- 1.51 and 100.08 +/- 0.78% for I and II, respectively. The proposed methods were checked using laboratory-prepared mixtures and were successfully applied for the analysis of pharmaceutical formulations containing the above drugs with no interference from other dosage form additives. The validity of the suggested procedures was further assessed by applying the standard addition technique which was found to be satisfactory, and the percentage recoveries obtained were in accordance with those given by the EVA Pharma reference spectrophotometric method.     

Development and validation of three stability-indicating methods for determination of bisacodyl in pure form and pharmaceutical preparations

Three new, simple, sensitive, and accurate stability-indicating methods were developed for quantitative determination of bisacodyl in the presence of its degradation products, monoacetyl bisacodyl (I) and desacetyl bisacodyl (II), in enteric coated tablets, suppositories, and raw material. The first is a spectrodensitometric method in which the drug is separated from I and II on silica gel plates using chloroform-acetone (9 + 1, v/v) as the mobile phase with ultraviolet detection of the separated bands at 223 nm over a concentration range of 0.2-1.4 microg/band for bisacodyl with mean recovery 100.35 +/- 1.923%. The second method is fourth derivative D4 spectrophotometry, which allows determination of bisacodyl in the presence of its degradation products in raw material at 223 nm using acetonitrile as the solvent with adherence to Beer's law over the concentration range 2-18 microg/mL with mean recovery 99.77+/-1.056%. In the third method, the spectrophotometric data of bisacodyl, I, and II using absolute ethanol as solvent were processed by 3 chemometric techniques: classical least-squares, principal component regression, and partial least-squares. A training set consisting of 15 mixtures containing different ratios of bisacodyl, I, and II was used for construction of the 3 models. A validation set consisting of 6 mixtures was used to validate the prediction ability of the suggested models. The 3 chemometric methods were applicable over a concentration range between 2-14microg/mL for bisacodyl with mean recovery of 99.97+/-0.865, 100.01 +/- 0.749, and 99.97 +/- 0.616% for the 3 models, respectively. The proposed methods were checked using laboratory-prepared mixtures and were successfully applied to the analysis of raw material and pharmaceutical formulations containing bisacodyl, except for the second method that applies only for raw material. The validity of the suggested procedures was further assessed by applying the standard addition technique; the recoveries obtained were in accordance with those given by the reference method.     

Differential pulse polarography and voltammetry of di-2-pyridyl ketone benzoylhydrazone

Summary The differential pulse polarographic (DPP) and voltammetric (DPV) behaviour of di-2-pyridyl ketone benzoylhydrazone (DPKBH), has been investigated over a wide pH range (2.1–11.5). The effect of various operational parameters on the reduction current are discussed and the mechanism of the electrode reaction is also included. Both methods DPP and DPV are applied for the analytical determination of this reagent and the detection limits are found to be 1.24 mol/l and 0.86 mol/l, respectively. The DPP behaviour of DPKBH in the presence of Pb(II), Cd(II) and Cu(II) is studied and the behaviour of the Cu(II)-DPKBH complex is fully investigated. The voltammetric determination of Cu(II), based on the accumulation of its complex at the hanging mercury drop electrode, is described. Statistical analysis of the calibration curve data is included.On leave from Assuit University, Egypt     

Spectrophotometric determination of four macrolide antibiotics in pharmaceutical formulations and biological fluids via binary complex formation with eosin [corrected

A simple, rapid, and sensitive validated spectrophotometric method was developed for the determination of certain macrolide antibiotics namely, erythromycin (I), azithromycin dihydrate (II), clarithromycin (III), and roxithromycin (IV) in bulk powders, pharmaceutical formulations, and spiked biological fluids. The proposed method is based on the formation of a binary complex between each of the studied drugs and eosin Y in aqueous buffered medium. Under the optimum conditions, the binary complexes showed absorption maxima at 542-544 nm. The absorbance of the binary complexes obeyed Beer's law over the concentration range of 1-10 micro/g/mL for II, 2-20 microg/mL for I and IV, and 3-30 microg/mL for III. The mean percentage recoveries were 100.04 +/- 0.83, 99.98 +/- 0.80, 100.17 +/- 0.91, and 99.55 +/- 0.91, with minimum detectable molarities of 2 x 10(-7) for I and II, 4 x 10(-7) for III, and 3 x 10(-7) for IV. The different experimental parameters affecting the development and stability of the colors were studied and optimized. The proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of the cited drugs in some pharmaceutical formulations. The results obtained were in good agreement with those obtained using the reference methods. The proposed method was further applied to spiked human urine and plasma. A proposal of the reaction pathway is suggested.     

Voltammetric Determination of Rosiglitazone in Pharmaceutical Preparations and Human Plasma

Abstract

The voltammetric behavior of rosiglitazone was studied using direct current (DC_t), differential pulse (DPP), and alternating current (AC_t) polarography. The drug manifests cathodic waves over a pH range of 2–11.2. In Britton‐Robinson buffer (BRb; pH 4), the diffusion current–concentration relationship was found to be rectilinear over a range of 4–24 µg · mL^?1 and 0.1–16 µg · mL^?1 using DC_t and DPP modes, respectively, with minimum limits of detection (LOD) of 0.15 µg · mL^?1 and 0.07 µg · mL^?1 using the DC_t and DDP modes, respectively. The diffusion‐current constant (I _d) was 6.63±0.03 (n=5). The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of the studied compound both in pure form and in formulations. The mean percentage recoveries in tablets were 100.09±1.18 and 100.85±0.88 (n=5) using DC_t and DPP modes, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed method, adopting the DPP mode, was applied to the determination of rosiglitazone in spiked human plasma and the obtained mean percentage recoveries were 99.14±3.29 (n=4).     

Differential pulse and square-wave cathodic stripping voltammetry of xanthine and xanthosine at a mercury electrode.

The surface activity of xanthine (Xan) and xanthosine (Xano) at a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) was studied using out-of-phase ac and cyclic dc voltammetry. The results show that Xan and Xano were strongly adsorbed and chemically interacted with the charged mercury surface, which is the prerequisite step for applying the cathodic adsorptive stripping voltammetric determination of such biologically important compounds. Differential pulse cathodic adsorptive stripping voltammetry (DPCASV) and square-wave cathodic adsorptive stripping voltammetry (SWCASV) were applied for the ultratrace determination of Xan and Xano compounds. Moreover, a rapid and sensitive controlled adsorptive accumulation of Cu(II) complexes of both compounds provided the basis of a direct stripping voltammetric determination of such compounds to submicromolar and nanomolar levels. Operational and solution conditions for the quantitative ultratrace determination of Xan and Xano were optimized in absence and presence of Cu(II). The calibration curve data were subjected to least-squares refinements. The effects of several types of inorganic and organic interfering species on the determination of Xan or Xano were considered.     

Micellar enhanced spectrofluorometric determination of labetalol through complexation with aluminium(III): application to dosage forms and biological fluids

Two simple, sensitive, and specific spectrofluorometric procedures have been developed for the determination of labetalol (LBT) in pharmaceuticals and biological fluids. LBT was found to react with Al3+, both in acetate buffer of pH 4.5 (Procedure I) and borate buffer of pH 8.0 (Procedure II), to produce highly fluorescent stable complexes. The fluorescence intensity could be enhanced by the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate, resulting in 3.5- and 2.7-fold increases in the fluorescence intensity for Procedures I and II, respectively. In both procedures, the fluorescence intensity was measured at 408 nm after excitation at 320 nm. The different experimental parameters affecting the development and stability of the fluorescent products were carefully studied and optimized. The fluorescence intensity-concentration plots were rectilinear over the range of 0.02-0.1 and 0.01-0.05 microg/mL with a detection limit of 0.003 and 0.001 microg/mL for Procedures I and II, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to commercial tablets containing LBT. The results were in good agreement with those obtained using a reference spectrofluorometric method. Furthermore, the method was applied for the determination of LBT in spiked human plasma, and the recovery (n = 4) was 93.30 +/- 2.62%. A proposal of the reaction pathway was postulated for Procedures I and II, respectively.     

Adsorptive voltammetric determination of copper as its nioximate complex

A sensitive and selective stripping voltammetric ultratrace determination of copper is described, based on adsorptive accumulation of the cu(II)-nioxime complex on the surface of a hanging mercury drop electrode, followed by the reduction of the adsorbed complex during the cathodic scan. The analytical conditions for the determination of copper by differential-pulse and linear-scan absorption voltammetry have been optimized. The method is compared to the routine anodic stripping voltammetric method for copper. Its applicability to river and potable water analysis is illustrated. The detection limit, restricted by the blank, is about 0.5 microg/l.; the relative standard deviation (at microg/l. level) for a standard solution is below 5% and for water samples is 5-9%.     

Spectrophotometric stability-indicating methods for the determination of leflunomide in the presence of its degradates

Five simple and sensitive methods were developed for the determination of leflunomide (I) in the presence of its degradates 4-trifluoromethyl aniline (II) and 3-methyl-4-carboxy isoxazole (III). Method A was based on differential derivative spectrophotometry by measuring the delta(1)D value at 279.5 nm. Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration range of 2.00-20.00 microg/mL with mean percentage accuracy of 100.07 +/- 1.32. Method B depended on first-derivative spectrophotometry and measuring the amplitude at 253.4 nm. Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration range of 2.00-16.00 microg/mL with mean percentage accuracy of 98.42 +/- 1.61. Method C was based on the reaction of degradate (II) with 2,6-dichloroquinone-4-chloroimide (Gibbs reagent). The colored product was measured at 469 nm. Method D depended on the reaction of degradate (II) with para-dimethyl aminocinnamaldehyde (p-DAC). The absorbance of the colored product was measured at 533.4 nm. Method E utilized 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone in the presence of cerric ammonium sulfate with degradate (II). The green colored product was measured at 605.5 nm. The linearity range was 40.00-280.00, 2.40-24.00, and 30-250 microg/mL with mean percentage accuracy of 100.75 +/- 1.21, 100.13 +/- 1.45, and 99.74 +/- 1.39 for Methods C-E, respectively. All variables were studied to optimize the reaction conditions. The proposed methods have been successfully applied to the analysis of leflunomide in pharmaceutical dosage forms and the results were statistically compared with that previously reported.     

Kinetic spectrophotometric method for the determination of ranitidine and nizatidine in pharmaceuticals

An accurate and simple kinetic method is described for the determination of ranitidine and nizatidine in pure form and in pharmaceuticals. The method is based on the reaction of the compounds with 7-chloro-4-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazole in pH 7.4 borate buffer at 60 degrees C for a fixed time of 25 min for both compounds. The absorbance of the reaction product is measured at 495 nm for ranitidine and nizatidine. Calibration graphs were linear over the concentration range of 2-20 microg/mL, with limits of detection of 0.13 (3.7 x 10(-7) M) and 0.25 microg/mL (7.5 x 10(-7) M) for ranitidine and nizatidine, respectively. The proposed method was applied successfully to the determination of ranitidine in tablets and ampoules with average recoveries of 100.26+/-0.69 and 100.29+/-0.59%, respectively, and to the determination of nizatidine in capsules with an average recovery of 104.26+/-0.44%. The results obtained are in good agreement with those obtained by the other methods used for comparison. A proposal of the reaction pathway is also presented.     

Spectrophotometric determination of acyclovir and ribavirin in their dosage forms

Two simple, accurate, and reliable spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the determination of 2 antiviral drugs, acyclovir (ACV) and ribavirin (RBV), in their pharmaceutical formulations. These methods are based on oxidation of the 2 drugs with either cerium (IV) ammonium sulfate (Method A) or potassium persulfate (Method B). The products of oxidation in both methods are coupled with 3-methylbenzothiazolin 2-one hydrazone, producing a deep blue color with a maximum absorption wavelength at 630 nm. In Method A, the absorbance-concentration plots were linear over the ranges of 5-50 and 10-60 microg/mL with detection limits of 0.18 microg/mL (8 x 10(-7) M) and 0.63 microg/mL (2.58 x 10(-6) M) for ACV and RBV, respectively. In Method B, the ranges were 5-45 and 20-50 microg/mL with detection limits of 0.11 microg/mL (4.88 x 10(-7) M) and 1.40 microg/mL (5.73 x 10(-6) M) for the 2 drugs, respectively. The molar absorptivities were 4.1 x 10(3) and 3.65 x 10(3) L/mol/cm in Method A and 5.03 x 10(3) and 3.97 x 10(3) L/mol/cm in Method B for the 2 drugs, respectively. The proposed methods were applied successfully for the determination of the 2 drugs in their pharmaceutical formulations. The percentage recoveries +/- standard deviation were 99.57 +/- 0.86 and 100.82 +/- 0.46 for ACV; 99.41 +/- 1.08 and 100.35 +/- 1.03 for RBV. The results obtained were compared statistically with those given by official methods and showed no significant differences regarding accuracy and precision.     

Pneumatic flow injection analysis-tandem spectrometer system for iron speciation.

A pneumatic flow injection-tandem spectrometer system, without a delivery pump was used for the speciation of iron. In this system, the suction force of a pneumatic nebulizer of a flame absorption spectrometer was used for solution delivery through the manifold. The Fe(III) and total Fe concentrations were determined using thiocyanate ion in a UV-Vis spectrometer and a FAAS, respectively. The Fe(II) was determined by the difference. The calibration curves were linear up to 18 microg mL(-1) and 25 microg mL(-1) with detection limits of 0.09 microg mL(-1) and 0.07 microg mL(-1) for Fe(III) and Fe(II), respectively. The mid-range precision and accuracy were <2.5% and +/-3% for the two species, respectively, at a sampling rate of 120 h(-1). This system was applied for the determination of Fe(III) and Fe(II) in industrial water, natural water and spiked samples.     

Direct method for determination of Sudan I in FD&C Yellow No. 6 and D&C Orange No. 4 by reversed-phase liquid chromatography

A reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method was developed to determine parts-per-million and higher levels of Sudan 1, 1-(phenylazo)-2-naphthalenol, in the disulfo monoazo color additive FD&C Yellow No. 6 and in a related monosulfo monoazo color additive, D&C Orange No. 4. Sudan I, the corresponding unsulfonated monoazo dye, is a known impurity in these color additives. The color additives are dissolved in water and methanol, and the filtered solutions are directly chromatographed, without extraction or concentration, by using gradient elution at 0.25 mL/min. Calibrations from peak areas at 485 nm were linear. At a 99% confidence level, the limits of determination were 0.008 microg Sudan I/mL (0.4 ppm) in FD&C Yellow No. 6 and 0.011 microg Sudan I/mL (0.00011%) in D&C Orange No. 4. The confidence intervals were 0.202 +/- 0.002 microg Sudan I/mL (10.1 +/- 0.1 ppm) near the specification level for Sudan I in FD&C Yellow No. 6 and 20.0 +/- 0.2 microg Sudan I/mL (0.200 +/- 0.002%) near the highest concentration of Sudan I found in D&C Orange No. 4. A survey was conducted to determine Sudan I in 28 samples of FD&C Yellow No. 6 from 17 international manufacturers over 3 years, and in a pharmacology-tested sample. These samples were found to contain undetected levels (16 samples), 0.5-9.7 ppm Sudan I (0.01-0.194 microg Sudan I/mL in analyzed solutions; 11 samples including the pharmacology sample), and > or =10 ppm Sudan I (> or = 0.2 microg Sudan I/mL; 2 samples). Analyses of 21 samples of D&C Orange No. 4 from 8 international manufacturers over 4 years found Sudan I at undetected levels (8 samples), 0.0005 to < 0.005% Sudan I (0.05 to < 0.5 microg Sudan I/mL in analyzed solutions; 3 samples, including a pharmacology batch), 0.005 to <0.05% Sudan I (0.5 to <5 microg Sudan I/mL; 9 samples), and 0.18% Sudan I (18 microg Sudan I/mL; 1 sample).     

Spectrophotometric, spectrofluorometric and HPLC determination of desloratadine in dosage forms and human plasma

Four sensitive, simple and specific methods were developed for the determination of desloratadine (DSL), a new antihistaminic drug in pharmaceutical preparations and biological fluids. Methods I and II are based on coupling DSL with 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-Cl) in borate buffer of pH 7.6 where a yellow colored reaction product was obtained and measured spectrophotometrically at 485 nm (Method I). The same product could be measured spectrofluorometrically at 538 nm after excitation at 480 nm (Method II). Methods III and IV, on the other hand, involved derivatization of DSL with 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) in borate buffer of pH 9.0 producing a yellow colored product that absorbs maximally at 375 nm (Method III). The same derivative was determined after separation adopting HPLC (Method IV). The separation was performed on a column packed with cyanopropyl bonded stationary phase equilibrated with a mobile phase composed of acetonitrile-water (60 : 40, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 ml min(-1) with UV detection at 375 nm. The calibration curves were linear over the concentration ranges of 0.5-6, 0.02-0.4, 1-10 and 1-30 microg ml(-1) for Methods I, II, III and IV, respectively. The lower detection limits (LOD) were 0.112, 0.004, 0.172 and 0.290 microg ml(-1), respectively, for the four methods. The limits of quantification (LOQ) were 0.340, 0.012, 0.522 and 0.890 microg ml(-1) for Methods I, II, III and IV, respectively. The proposed methods were applied to the determination of desloratadine in its tablets and the results were in agreement with those obtained using a reference method. Furthermore, the spectrofluorometric method (Method II) was extended to the in-vitro determination of the drug in spiked human plasma, with a mean percentage recovery (n=4) of 99.7+/-3.54. Interference arising from endogenous amino acids has been overcome using solid phase extraction. The proposed methods are highly specific for determination of DSL in the presence of the parent drug loratadine. A proposal for the reaction pathways is postulated.     

Linear sweep voltammetric studies on the interaction of brilliant cresyl blue with nucleic acids and its analytical application

In this paper, the interaction of brilliant cresyl blue (BCB) with nucleic acids was studied and further applied for the microdetermination of nucleic acids. In aqueous Britton-Robinson (B-R) buffer solution, BCB can be easily reduced on the hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) and had a sensitive voltammetric reduction peak at -0.09 V (vs. SCE). The reduction peak current of BCB could be greatly decreased by the addition of DNA. The results of voltammetric measurements had indicated that a binding reaction was occurred between BCB and DNA and a new supramolecular complex was formed, which resulted in the decrease of the diffusion coefficient of the reaction solution and the decrease of the reduction peak current correspondingly. The conditions of interaction and the electrochemical detection were carefully investigated. Under the selected conditions, the calibration curves for the detection of fish sperm (fs)DNA, calf thymus (ct)DNA and yeast (y)RNA were established. The linear range of this assay was 1.0-30.0 microg/mL for fsDNA, 1.0-45.0 microg/mL for ctDNA and 1.0-25.0 microg/mL for yRNA, respectively. The detection limits were 0.38 microg/mL fsDNA, 0.43 microg/mL ctDNA, 0.64 microg/mL yRNA. The interaction parameters such as the equilibrium constant and the binding number were calculated by electrochemical method. The results showed that the 2:3 type of complex was formed in the fsDNA-BCB complex with the binding constant as 2.51 x 10(7). The proposed method was further applied to the synthetic samples determination with satisfactory results.     

Atomic absorption spectrometric determination of trace amounts of copper and zinc after simultaneous solid-phase extraction and preconcentration onto modified natrolite zeolite.

This work assesses the use of modified natural natrolite zeolite as an adsorptive material for the separation and preconcentration of trace amounts of ions. In this work we investigated the potential of modified natural natrolite zeolite for the simultaneous separation and preconcentration of trace amounts of copper and zinc ions. We have developed a simple, rapid, selective, sensitive and economical method for the simultaneous separation and preconcentration of trace amounts of copper and zinc in an aqueous medium using 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol (5-Br-PADAP) as an analytical reagent. The sorption was quantitative in the pH range 7.5 - 9.5, whereas quantitative desorption occurred instantaneously with 5.0 mL of 2 mol L(-1) nitric acid. Linearity was maintained between 0.05 - 6.0 microg mL(-1) for copper and 0.02 - 1.5 microg mL(-1) for zinc in the final solution. Ten replicate determinations of 1.0 microg mL(-1) copper and 0.5 microg mL(-1) zinc in a mixture gave mean absorbances of 0.1687 and 0.2788 with relative standard deviations of +/-1.2% and +/-1.3%, respectively. The detection limits were 0.03 ng mL(-1) for Cu(II) and 0.006 ng mL(-1) for Zn(II) in the original solution (3 sigma(bl)/m). Different parameters, such as the effect of the pH, flow rate, breakthrough volume and interference of a large number of anions and cations, were studied and the proposed method was used for the determination of these metal ions in water as well as standard samples (e.g. Nippon Keikinzoku Kogyo (NKK) CRM, No. 916 and No. 920 aluminum alloy, National Institute for Environment Studies (NIES) No. 1 pepperbush and NIES No. 2 pond sediment). The determination of these metal ions in standard samples showed that the proposed method has good accuracy (recovery > 97%).     

Adsorptive stripping voltammetric determination of azithromycin at a glassy carbon electrode modified by electrochemical oxidation.

The adsorptive and electrochemical behaviors of azithromycin were investigated on a glassy carbon electrode that was electrochemically treated by anodic oxidation at +1.8 V, following potential cycling in the potential range from -0.8 to +1.0 V. The resulting electrode showed good activity to improve the electrochemical response of the drug. An adsorptive stripping voltammetric method for the determination of azithromycin at an electrochemically activated glassy carbon electrode has been developed. Azithromycin was accumulated in phosphate buffer, pH 6, at a potential of +0.3 V (vs. Ag/AgCl electrode) for a certain time, and then determined by differential pulse voltammetry. The oxidative peak current at +0.82 V, at a scan rate of 20 mV s(-1), was a linear function of the concentration in the ranges of 0.25 - 2 microg mL(-1) and 1 - 10 microg mL(-1) using a 240 or 60 s(-1) preconcentration time, respectively. Application of the method to the determination of azithromycin in pharmaceuticals resulted in an acceptable deviation from the stated concentration. The preconcentration medium-exchange approach was utilized for the selective determination of the drug in spiked urine samples with satisfactory results. The peak current was linear with the drug concentration in the range of 0.5 - 3.5 microg per mL urine. The detection limit was 0.2 microg mL(-1) urine. The recovery levels of the method reached 96.3%.     

Microdetermination of double-stranded DNA by linear sweep voltammetry with phenosafranine.

A novel voltammetric method for the determination of microamounts of fish sperm double-stranded (ds) DNA based on its interaction with phenosafranine (PSF) is proposed in this paper. In a pH 3.5 Britton-Robinson (B-R) buffer solution, PSF had a well-defined second-order derivative linear-sweep voltammetric reductive peak at -0.32 V (vs. SCE) on a mercury electrode. After the addition of dsDNA into the PSF solution, the reductive peak current decreased significantly without a shift of the peak potential, and no new peak appeared. The experiment results showed that a new supramolecular complex was formed after the interaction of dsDNA with PSF, which resulted in a decrease of the diffusion coefficient, and then a decrease of the reductive peak current. The interaction conditions and the electrochemical detection conditions were carefully investigated. Under the optimal conditions, the decrease of the peak current was proportional to the dsDNA concentration in the range 1.0 - 40.0 microg/mL with the linear regression equation DeltaI(p)'(nA) = 32.59C(microg/mL) - 4.03 (n = 13, gamma = 0.998) and a detection limit of 0.25 microg/mL (3 sigma). The interaction mechanism was considered based on the aggregation of the dsDNA-PSF supramolecular complex; the stoichiometry of this supramolecular complex was calculated based on voltammetric data with a binding number of 3 and a binding constant of 2.76 x 10(12). This method was successfully applied to the determination of synthetic samples and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product of the nopaline synthase gene (NOS) DNA from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) with satisfactory results.     

Stability-indicating methods for determination of tiapride in pure form, pharmaceutical preparation, and human plasma

Four different stability-indicating procedures are described for determination of tiapride in pure form, dosage form, and human plasma. Second derivative (D2), first derivative of ratio spectra (1DD), spectrofluorimetric, and high-performance column liquid chromatographic (LC) methods are proposed for determination of tiapride in presence of its acid-induced degradation products, namely 2-methoxy-5-(methylsulfonyl) benzoic acid and 2-diethylaminoethylamine. These approaches were successfully applied to quantify tiapride using the information included in the absorption, excitation, and emission spectra of the appropriate solutions. In the D2 method, Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration range of 1.5-9 microg/mL with a mean recovery of 99.94 +/- 1.38% at 253.4 nm using absolute ethanol as a solvent. In 1DD, which is based on the simultaneous use of the first derivative of ratio spectra and measurement at 245 nm in absolute ethanolic solution, Beer's law was obeyed over a concentration range of 1.5-9 microg/mL with mean recovery 99.64 +/- 1.08%. The spectrofluorimetric method is based on the determination of tiapride native fluorescence at 339 nm emission wavelength and 230 nm excitation wavelength using water-methanol (8 + 2, v/v). The calibration curve was linear over the range of 0.2-3 microg/mL with mean recovery of 99.66 +/- 1.46%. This method was also applied for determination of tiapride in human plasma. A reversed-phase LC method performed at ambient temperature was validated for determination of tiapride using methanol-deionized water-triethylamine (107 + 93 + 0.16, v/v/v) as the mobile phase. Sulpiride was used as an internal standard at a flow rate of 1 mL/min with ultraviolet detection at 214 nm. A linear relation was obtained over a concentration range of 2-30 microg/mL with mean recovery of 99.66 +/- 0.9%. Results were statistically analyzed and compared with those obtained by applying the reference method. They proved both accuracy and precision.